For immediate release, Funchal, Madeira: The sun came out for the men's event, and the sight of over 70 men diving from the pontoon in a picture perfect start created one of the most dramatic scenes in Triathlon history.

Richard Stannard of Britain and Paulo Miyashiro of Brazil moved immediately to their familiar place at the front of the 2-lap 1500m swim. They were followed closely by French brothers Franck and Stefan Bignet, and teammates Stefan Poulat and Frederic Belaubre. Andrea Gluschenko of the Ukraine and Beven Docherty of New Zealand were also close behind clinging to their toes for fear of missing the lead pack on the bike. The rest of the field stayed very close together throughout the swim and were all out of the water and through the first transition within one minute.

Onto the 8-lap challenging bike course, the French team of the Bignet brothers, Belaubre and Poulat quickly took control at the front and led a group of 6 out of the milieu. Richard Stannard and Bevan Docherty were also with the French at the front. The leaders hammered for 2 laps, and as they started the 3rd lap they had a lead of over 30 seconds on the rest of the field that was in one large group of almost 50 athletes.

Despite its size, the chase pack led by Reto Hug of Switzerland and Ivan Rana of Spain closed in on the leaders on the 3rd lap. It was at this point that Franck Bignet took matters into his own hands and broke from the pack and rode alone at the front for the final laps. By the second transition, Bignet had built up over 45 seconds on the chase pack, which thrilled the thousands of spectators that lined the course. However, the question on everyone's mind was, "Is this enough to hold off the runners like Ivan Rana and Martin Krnavek in the chase pack?"

After pulling the second chase pack to within 6 seconds of lead group, Ivan Rana of Spain began to charge through the field as soon as his feet hit the ground. The 2002 European Champion had his sights set on Franck Bignet, and before the end of the first lap he had reached his objective. Rana led through the second lap, but was not able to break from the rest of the field, and he himself was caught by his Spanish teammate Jose Merchan and Marc Jenkins of Britain. Most people suspected that Rana had made his move too early and would not be able to hold on to the finish. On the third lap, Carl Blasco of France, who won last year's International race in Funchal appeared ready to catch the leaders, with Reto Hug, Martin Krnavek and Bevan Docherty only metres behind and still within reach.

As the drama built to a boiling point, the trio at the front: Rana, Jenkins and Merchan exchanged the lead several times through the final lap, as they pulled away from the other challengers and set things up for a sprint finish. Just before moving into the finish straight, Rana slipped into that extra gear that some triathletes seem to possess and charged home for his first World Cup title of the season. Although Jose Merchan was out-sprinted by Marc Jenkins for the second step on the podium, he was overcome with joy at being able to make a little history by delivering Spain a second medal in a World Cup event.

After the event, Ivan Rana expressed his delight with the organization and the people of Madeira, "The people that lined the streets gave us all great support - this is such a beautiful course and the bike is very difficult which is great!" Bevan Docherty, who came 8th in today's event said "This is the best triathlon course that I know of." These are all good things for the organization and venue which will welcome the world to the 2004 ITU Triathlon World Championships - the final qualifying event for the Athens Olympic Games. (An example of the Olympic Qualification is available on www.triathlon.org, using the results of the Funchal Maderia World Cup)

The Funchal Madeira World Cup is the last event in the 2002 series before the Cancun ITU Triathlon World Championships on 9, 10 November. Please see www.triathlon.org for the latest qualification table for the Cancun World Championships.
Top 10 Results
1. RANA, Ivan ESP 1:46:11
2. JENKINS, Marc GBR 1:46:14
3. MERCHAN, Jose ESP 1:46:18
4. HUG, Reto SUI 1:46:23
5. FERRARO, Giuseppe ITA 1:46:25
6. KRNAVEK, Martin CZE 1:46:31
7. BLASCO, Carl FRA 1:46:35
8. DOCHERTY,Bevan NZL 1:46:41
9. RIEDERER, Sven SUI 1:46:45
10. MACEDO, Leandro BRA 1:46:46

For more information, complete results, photos and race video, see www.triathlon.org
For more information, please contact ITU Headquarters at ituhdq@triathlon.org
The 52 minute television show of the Funchal ITU World Cup will be distributed for broadcast into many millions of homes around the world within 10 days.