For immediate release - Lausanne, Switzerland: Despite a threatening storm over Lake Geneva, it was a picture perfect day in Lausanne, as a strong field of 40 women dove from the pontoon to start the 2002 Lausanne ITU World Cup Triathlon. Jill Savege of Canada was 1st out of the 2-lap 1.5km swim, followed closely by Silvia Gemignani of Italy and Lucie Zelenkova from the Czech Republic.

Once on the bike, a group of 9 formed at the front that included Savege, the 2002 European Champion Kathleen Smet from Belgium, World Champion Siri Lindley from the USA and the silver medallist from the recent Commonwealth Games in Manchester, Leanda Cave from Britain. A second group of 9 formed behind the lead pack, and over the 6-lap, 40km bike course slowly dropped back to over a minute behind the leaders. The Olympic Champion, Brigitte McMahon of Switzerland withdrew from the race following a disappointing swim.

At this point in the race, the yellow lights on the lake starting flashing warning all boats to return to shore because of a serious storm that was sweeping up the lake from Geneva. However, weather conditions in Lausanne continued to be calm and sunny, and the women's race continued without a glitch.

Leanda Cave was first onto the run course, followed closely by her British teammates Jessica Harrison and Julie Dibens. The chase pack of 9 was led into transition by Silvia Gemingani, 1:35 back. A further 45 seconds back was the third pack which included Argentina's Nancy Alvarez, Maribel Blanco from Spain, and a newcomer to World Cup racing, Kate Allen of Austria.

The current world ranked #1, Siri Lindley took control of the race from the beginning of the 4 lap, 10km run, as Jill Savege and Kathleen Smet set things up for a repeat of the podium at the recent Corner Brook ITU World Cup.

By the end of the second lap, Lindley had a 50 metre lead over Savege and Smet, who were running shoulder to shoulder. Further back, Liz Blatchford of Australia, Leanda Cave, and Nina Anisimova were running together, just ahead of Jessica Harrison, Julie Dibens, Andrea Whitcombe (GBR), Stefanie Gros (FRA), and Michelle Dillon (GBR).

Siri Lindley powered her way to the finish, much to the delight of her many Lausanne fans. This is after all the city where Siri captured her first World Cup title on her road to becoming the World Ranked #1: Jill Savege and Kathleen Smet had a spectacular finish with Savege sprinting ahead of Smet in the final metres of the race. Leanda Cave was 4th, and her British teammate Andrea Whitcombe 5th.

Top 10 results:
Last Name, First Name, Country, Finish Time
1., LINDLEY, Siri, USA, 2:02.42
2., SAVEGE, Jill, CAN, 2:02.57
3. SMET, Kathleen, BEL, 2:03.08
4. CAVE, Leanda, GBR, 2:04.08
5. WHITCOMBE, Andrea, GBR, 2:04.31
6. BLATCHFORD, Liz, AUS, 2:04.46
7. DILLON, Michelle, GBR, 2:05.11
8. ANISIMOVA, Nina, RUS, 2:05.17
9. BERKOVA, Renata, CZE, 2:05.31
10. DIBENS, Julie, GBR, 2:05.35

For complete results, video and photos see www.triathlon.org For further information please contact ITU Headquarters at: ituhdq@triathlon.org or Tel: 1.604.926.7250

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