For immediate release, Nice, France: A beautiful morning on the Cote d'Azur for round 10 of the ITU World Cup Series, as the largest women's field of the season dove into a calm Mediterranean Sea for the 1 lap, 1.5km swim section. Sheila Taormina of the USA, an Olympic gold medallist (Atlanta 1996, swimming), moved to the front immediately after the start, along with her American teammates Laura Reback and Becky Gibbs. Siri Lindley, the world ranked #1 athlete and winner of 4 World Cup titles so far this season had a disappointing swim start following an injury sustained on the rocky beach of Nice.

Becky Gibbs emerged from the swim first, followed closely by Taormina and Reback. The trio soon joined forces once onto the 5 lap, 40km bike, but as fate would have it, Becky Gibbs suffered a crash on the second lap of the very technical course and Laura Reback was unable to stay the pace at the front. However, Julie Dibens of Britain overcame a 30 second deficit after the swim to join up with Taormina at the front on her way to posting the fastest bike split of the day. The pair steadily increased their lead over a large chase pack of over 20, despite Siri Lindley's efforts to pull the group up to the leaders. The chase pack also included: Carla Morena of Brazil, who placed 3rd in the recent Hamburg ITU World Cup, Anja Dittmer and Christiane Pilz of Germany, and Leanda Cave of Britain.

At the end of the bike, Dibens and Taormina had built up a huge lead of 2:30 on the main chase pack. At the second transition, Siri Lindley, overcome by the injury she sustained on the beach and her efforts on the bike, decided to call it a day.

Once onto the run, Sheila Taormina moved into the lead and soon had a 20 second lead on a flagging Julie Dibens. One by one, the running specialists started to reel in both Taormina and Dibens, but the gap to Taormina was too great on this day, and she was able to hold off all would-be challengers. For Dibens it was a different story, as first her British team-mates Michelle Dillon passed her by, then the Germany trio of Anja Dittmer, Christiane Pilz and Anja Heil, Carla Morena from Brazil, Andrea Whitcombe and Leanda Cave from Britain, and French newcomer Marion Lorblanchet.

Despite a last minute charge by Carla Morena, Sheila Taormina was able to keep her lead to almost 30 seconds as she hung on to claim her first World Cup title of 2002. Carla Morena was 2nd, and a further 19 seconds back, Michelle Dillon claimed the final step on the podium.

Top 10 results are:
1. TAORMINA, Sheila, USA, 2:02:04
2. MORENO, Carla, BRA, 2:02:30
3. DILLON, Michelle, GBR, 2:02:49
4. DITTMER, Anja, GER, 2:02:54
5. PILZ, Christiane, GER, 2:03:00
6. WHITCOMBE, Andrea, GBR, 2:03:18
7. CAVE, Leanda, GBR, 2:03:33
8. BURGOS, Ana, ESP, 2:03:39
9. HEIL, Anja, GER, 2:03:40
10. LORBLANCHET, Mari, FRA, 2:03:42

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