Barb Lindquist (USA) has won the women's event, with Sheila Taormina (USA) second and Laura Reback (USA) third – a complete American sweep. In the men's event Simon Whitfield outran Hunter Kemper of the USA and Greg Bennett of Australia. This event was a highly technical and emotional success.

There were perfect race conditions for the start of the Edmonton ITU World Cup – with both air and water temperature over 20oC.

As predicted, American teammates Barb Lindquist and Sheila Taormina joined forces to lead the swim from the start. Laura Reback (USA) exited the water just a short distance behind. The chase group from the swim and onto the 6 lap cycle course included Jill Savege (CAN) followed by Susie Gallucci (USA), Joanna Zeiger(USA), Sylvia Gemignani (ITA), Becky Gibbs Lavelle(USA), Nina Anisimova(RUS) and Brazilian teammates Sandra Soldan and Mariana Ohata.

After the first lap on the bike, Laura Reback was dropped by Lindquist and Taormina and swallowed by the chase group. By the end of the first lap, Lindquist and Taormina had built up a 45 second lead on the chase group. Kathleen Smet of Belgium was in the lead of the second chase pack which also included Carla Morena Simone Burli (SUI).

Lindquist and Taormina continued to build their lead through lap 4 and by start of the 5^th lap they had a lead of 1:47. Laura Reback continued to lead the chase pack which was reduced to 9 after Canadian Jill Savege suffered a flat tire. The second chase pack, down over two minutes, was led by Olympic Champion Brigitte McMahon. Lindquist and Taormina entered the second transition with a lead of over two minutes as they headed out onto the 3 lap 10km run.

Barb Lindquist began to pull away from Taormina throughout the run and ran to the top of the podium in a time of 1:57:30. Taormina finished almost a minute behind while Laura Reback remained in third position, 8 seconds ahead of Mariana Ohata of Brazil. Becky Gibbs Lavelle and Joanna Zeiger were fifth and sixth respectively. The strength of the American women was clearly demonstrated with 5 of the top 6 women hailing from the USA.

Following the race Barb Lindquist indicated; "it was a great field and for Sheila and I to get away was great, the people second pack were not slack bikers and runners."

The spectators by the start of the men’s race were estimated as 30,000 in number. The mens swim saw a large group of more than 30 remaining in a pack throughout the 2 lap 1500m swim. Paula Miyashiro of Brazil led through the first lap before allowing Marko Albert of Estonia take over. Albert was the first athlete onto the 6 lap 40km bike course, with Joe Umphenour of the USA close behind. Miyashiro was third out of the water followed closely by Andy Potts (USA) and Simon Lessing (GBR).

A large group of men remained intact through the third lap of the bike when Matt Reed and Shane Armstrong broke away from the main group. Richard Allen of Great Britain lead the large group trying to bridge to the breakaway, followed by Andy Potts and Simon Lessing. This large group also included Greg Bennett and Simon Whitfield.

By the bell lap of the bike, the big group at the front seemed to be slowing down in anticipation of the run. Gilberto Gonzalez of Venezuela rode well at the front with the pack of 30 on his tail. Onto the last lap the spectators were startled by the pop of a bike tire as Emilio D’Aquino of Italy was forced to withdraw from the race. Emilio was riding a borrowed bike after the airlines lost the bikes of the entire Italian team. A local Edmonton bike shop replaced the bikes the day before the event.

Axel Zeebroek broke away from the large pack on the last lap and with a very fast transition led onto the run. Simon Whitfield and Greg Bennett also pulled out of transition quickly out onto the first lap of the run.

A pack of 6 men ran close together throughout the run including; Hunter Kemper (USA), Greg Bennett (AUS), Simon Lessing (GBR), Martin Krnavek (CZE) and Simon Whitfield.

In the end Simon Whitfield was buoyed by the enthusiastic crowd to the top spot on the podium and said following the race, "I didn't have a great swim but biked well and thanks to the crowd felt as though I was floating on the run." This was Simon's second World Cup win in a row on the course.

Hunter Kemper ran to a fantastic second place finish, Greg Bennett was third. Martin Krnavek and Bevon Docherty rounded out the top five.

For complete results and event coverage visit www.triathlon.org.

Email: ITU Headquarters: ituhdq@triathlon.org

Phone: Lisa Ogilvie, ITU Media Manager - 1.604.250.8561