Dodds Emphatic in Oceania Sprint Triathlon Victory While Samuels Continues Wonderful Summer

Wanaka’s Tony Dodds was in imperious form as he claimed victory at the Oceania Sprint Triathlon Championships in Kinloch, Taupo today, leaving a trail of international triathletes behind him in idyllic conditions as the mercury threatened thirty degrees while fellow Wanaka based triathlete Nicky Samuels won for the third consecutive race, crushing an international field in the process.

Dodds was in a lead group of eight out of the water behind early leader James Elvery (Auckland) and rode strongly as this group put distance between themselves and the rest of the field. The eight included Australians Brendan Sexton and Jamie Huggett, Austrian Andreas Giglmayr and fellow Kiwi’s Aaron Barclay and Ryan Sissons who made up ground in transition to make catch the lead group on the bike.

Those to miss the lead train though included former winner in Kinloch Clark Ellice (New Plymouth) and Martin Van Barneveld (Christchurch). Ellice would soon withdraw early on the bike leg, along with U23 contender Michael Poole (Auckland) as the lead group dictated terms and shut the door on the chasers.

Dodds showed his growing maturity with a stunning bike to run transition as he led in and led out, putting ten to fifteen seconds on the group, in the process demoralising some before the 5km run had even begun.

Not so Sexton though, the gritty Australian clawed back the deficit and at the midway point was running toe to toe with Dodds and looking strong. Dodds though had gas left in the tank and made his move with 1500m to go up the slight incline on the two lap run course, breaking Sexton and running clear to win by 12 seconds to claim both the New Zealand and Oceania Sprint titles and vital ITU ranking points to boot.

Dodds was delighted with his victory.

“That is a first ITU win for me and the first one is always good to get, especially on a tough honest course like Kinloch. Today I swam well, rode strong and ran away from them. I am really stoked; it is going to be a big year.”

The race pretty much went to plan for the 23 year old.

“I had a good swim, James was swimming well with me and Aaron Barclay close on his heels. Out on to the bike we went hard on the first lap, I knew the hill would break people and split the field, although Ryan (Sissons) did superbly to bridge up to us so I kept an eye on him but I think the Tour of Wellington might have taken a little out of his legs.

“I stayed pretty much at the front the whole time with a couple of us doing most of the work and then had the transition of a lifetime. I did what Ryan did last year, went flying out and after about 500m I thought ‘maybe this is a bad idea’ but I kept the pace on and the Aussies crumbled one by one. Sexton and Huggett hung around though heading into the last lap I heard Greg (Fraine) and Stephen (Sheldrake) yelling ‘break them on the hill’ and that’s exactly what I did. I hurt myself to do it at around 4km but then cruised to the end, no way did I want a sprint finish to this one.

“I am delighted, I didn’t realise with the big miles I am doing in training but the speed was there today which is good. I think I work better off aerobic training, Tim (Brazier – coach) and I have worked that out so we will adjust for this throughout the year.”

If Dodds was emphatic in the men’s, Nicky Samuels smashed the international women’s field, leaving a host of Dutch triathletes behind her as she won her third race in the Contact Tri Series in 4 weeks.

Samuels was in a class of her own on the bike as she rode away from the field and cruised to the title without exerting herself too much on the run.

“The swim was a little choppy swim but I led most of the way till just out of the water, then decided to ride with the lead group for one lap on the bike to see what they might try, then made my move, stayed away and the rest was a cruise home.”

Samuels was testing the field on that first lap and quickly realised they would struggle to match her strength on the bike.

“I didn’t know how they would ride so I thought I would see for a lap, it was slow so I went for it, gave it a bash and within half a lap had 20 seconds which by the time I got off was a minute 40.

“I actually felt a little flat this week in training, the run was OK but I was glad I had the lead off the bike and could cruise home without it being too strenuous. I am definitely happy, this is an ITU race with an international field which puts things in perspective, shows where you are. I’m happy with result.”

Earlier in the day Kieran Doe and Jo Lawn took out the prestigious Erin Baker Trophy race over the standard distance as a number of high profile triathletes tuned up for next month’s Ironman New Zealand just around the corner at Taupo. Doe won the men’s race from young up and comer Tom Francis (Wanganui) and defending Ironman NZ champion Cameron Brown while in the women’s race Lawn won with ease from Michelle Bremer (Auckland) and Flossie van Dyke (Nelson).

In all over 700 people took part in a variety of races and distances, from the Contact 1:2:1 for children to the 3:9:3 for beginners and the sprint races for age groups and elites. Full results will be posted at www.triseries.co.nz

ITU Oceania Sprint Cup (also New Zealand Sprint Championship)

750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run

Men

1 Tony Dodds Wanaka 1:00:16

2 Brendan Sexton Australia 1:00:28

3 Jamie Huggett Australia 1:00:32

4 Andreas Giglmayr Austria 1:00:37

5 Aaron Royle Australia 1:00:48

Women 1 Nicky Samuels Wanaka 1:06:59

2 Neiske Becks Holland 1:07:59

3 Maaike Caelers Holland 1:08:02

4 Lisa Mensink Holland 1:08:18

5 Rebecca Kingsford Tirau 1:08:39

Erin Baker Trophy Race

1500m swim, 40km bike, 10km run

Men

Kieran Doe Auckland 1:57:43

Tom Francis Wanganui 2:02:35

Cameron Brown Auckland 2:04:11

 

Women

Jo lawn Auckland 2:14:33

Michelle Bremer Auckland 2:23:09

Flossie van Dyke Nelson 2:26:53