Nicola Spirig (SUI) & Etienne Diemunsch (FRA) victorious at ITU Cozumel World Cup

Olympic gold medallist Nicola Spirig (SUI) completed a perfect record in Cozumel, winning the race for the second consecutive time. In the men's race, France's Etienne Diemunsch scored his first World Cup win in three years with impressive run speed.


Credit: Rich Cruse/ITU Media

Women's Review
It was only Nicola Spirig's (SUI) third ITU race since winning gold at the London 2012 Olympic Games, but she made it three-for-three with the top finishing time on Sunday at the Cozumel World Cup. Lisa Perterer (AUT) improved on her third-place finish from last year to take the silver, and Yuliya Yelistratova (UKR) finished third for her second-straight World Cup podium finish.

Sophie Coldwell (GBR), Anastasia Abrosimova (RUS), Erin Jones (USA) and Carolina Routier (ESP) led the field out of the water, but after one lap of the bike 34 women were part of the lead group including the three podium finishers. Though there were just over 60 women on the start list, only 20 seconds separated the top 55 in the field as they left the second transition to start the run.

With a number of fast runners in the group and the heat starting to rise, the field broke apart a bit on the first lap of the run, which worked well for Spirig.

Clocking in at 58:47, Spirig grabbed her second consecutive World Cup title in Cozumel. Perterer was not far behind in 58:55. Yelistratova echoed those sentiments after earning bronze, adding to the bronze she won last weekend at the Alanya World Cup in 58:58.
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2014 Cozumel ITU World Cup - Elite Women
750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run
1. Nicola Spirig SUI  00:58:47
2. Lisa Perterer AUT  00:58:55
3. Yuliya Yelistratova UKR  00:58:58
4. Paula Findlay CAN  00:59:04
5. Alexandra Razarenova RUS  00:59:06
6. Tamara Gomez Garrido ESP  00:59:09
7. Emma Pallant ITU  00:59:16
8. Hanna Philippin GER  00:59:20
9. Amelie Kretz CAN  00:59:20
10. Julia Hauser AUT  00:59:21
View full results


Etienne Diemunsch. Credit: Rich Cruse/ITU Media

Men's Review
With rising temperatures and a full slate of competitors in Sunday's Cozumel World Cup, no obstacle appeared to be too much for Etienne Diemunsch (FRA), who won his first world cup title since 2011. Diemunsch sprinted across the line to capture the win after trailing through the first part of the race, finishing just seconds ahead of Americans Jarrod Shoemaker and Joe Maloy.

Diemunsch missed a podium spot earlier this year in Huatulco and had not finished on the podium in a World Cup since Guatape in 2011. Along with eventual podium finishers Shoemaker and Maloy, Diemunsch came out of the water in the middle of the pack, which was led by Richard Varga (SVK). The trio was part of a chase group that had to work to gain time on the leaders over the course of four laps, merging the packs in the last lap.

It didn't take long for Diemunsch to move to the front of the pack after the second transition, with Shoemaker and Maloy hot on his heels at the end of the first run lap. Shoemaker improved on his fourth-place photo finish from 2013 to lock up his second World Cup podium finish of the season.

Maloy had never finished on the podium at a World Cup prior to today, with his best finish a fifth place in Tongyeong in 2013. Click here for the full review