For immediate release, Nice, France: It was picture-perfect for the start of the Nice ITU World Cup Triathlon - the Promenade des Anglais lined with thousands of spectators, an azure, calm Mediterranean Sea, and 90 of the world's best men on the line. As soon as the starter's horn had sounded, Richard Stannard of Britain made his drive for open water at the front of the field, followed by Ivan Vassiliev of Russia and Vladimir Polikarpenko of the Ukraine, who was 3rd in the last World Cup event in Hamburg, Germany. Pre-race favourites Simon Whitfield and Greg Bennett, seemed lost among a sea of churning water and limbs.

At the finish of the 1 lap, 1500m swim, it was Vladimir Polikarpenko who emerged first out of the warm, 23oC water, with Ivan Vassiliev 2nd, Richard Stannard 3rd and French team-mates Franch Bignet and Frederic Belaubre 4th and 5th. However, the separation in the swim did not provide much opportunity for the leaders to escape on the bike, as within 20 seconds, most of the field was clear of the swim and onto their bikes.

Olivier Marceau of Switzerland, the 2000 Triathlon World Champion, was left in the chase pack after the swim, but used his incredible cycling skills to bridge the gap to the leaders. Once he caught them, he organized a couple of breakaway attempts with his former French teammates Franck Bignet and Sylvain Dodet. The two attempts were not enough to get away from the chasers, and both times they were swallowed up again by the pack.

At the mid-way point of the bike, Greg Bennett of Australia, the current #1 ranked athletes in the world was involved in a crash with Frederic van Lierde of Belgium. Both athletes required medical attention and had to retire from the race. After the race, Bennett reported his injuries would not keep him from further competitions and the crash was a result of too much speed on a very technical section of the course. Training mate and Olympic Champion Simon Whitfield also withdrew after the bike, claiming fatigue and stating, "just not my day!"

By the end of the 5-lap, 40km bike section, almost the entire field came together, so the drama of 80 athletes sweeping through the second transition was spectacular. Paul Amey (GBR), who along with Spain's Jose Merchan posted the fastest bike split for the day, was the first onto the run course. Miles Stewart, the wizard of fast transitions was second out, followed by the remainder of the field.

During the first 2 laps of the 5 lap, 10km course, the field gradually spread out with 5 familiar faces slowly emerging at the front: Miles Stewart (AUS), Vladimir Polikarpenko (UKR), Czech team-mates Filip Ospaly and Martin Krnavek and Tim Don of Britain. - The seesaw battle for the lead continued through the final laps, when Stewart and Ospaly gradually pulled away from the other three. With the tension building and the finish-line approaching, Miles Stewart showed the world that he can still muster incredible speed, the way he did in 1991 when he claimed the World Championship in one of the most famous sprint finishes in the sport. Back then it was Rick Wells (NZL) and Mike Pigg (USA) who succumbed to his finishing finesse - today it was Filip Ospaly. Vladimir Polikarpenko, continuing one of his best seasons ever held on for 3rd, while Tim Don put in his best World Cup finish in years by stealing 4th place from Martin Krnavek who was 5th.

An ecstatic Miles Stewart said after the race, "I have had some hard times over the past months with disappointing race results, but I'm delighted to be back on top of my form."

The medal ceremony that followed featured Ms Marisol Casado (ESP), the President of the European Triathlon Union (ETU) presenting the flowers and Mr. Henri Serandou (IOC), President of the French Olympic Committee presenting the medal. The champagne was presented by ITU President Les McDonald.

The World Cup Series now takes 2 weeks off then moves on to Makuhari, Japan for round 11 on October 6th. For more information, complete results, photos and race video, see www.triathlon.org

High resolution photos are also available - please contact ITU Headquarters at ituhdq@triathlon.org

Top 10 results are:
1 STEWART, Miles, AUS, 1:48:57
2 OSPALY, Filip, CZE, 1:49:01
3 POLIKARPENKO, Vladimir, UKR, 1:49:13
4 DON, Tim, GBR, 1:49:23
5 KRNAVEK, Martin, CZE, 1:49:30
6 PETZOLD Maik, GER, 1:49:36
7 BELAUBRE Frederik, FRA, 1:49:42
8 AMEY Paul, GBR, 1:49:49
9 MERCHAN Jose, ESP, 1:49:56
10 JENKINS Marc, GBR, 1:50:02