SAMUELS DEFEATS INTERNATIONAL FIELD AT PEGASUS

Nicky Samuels proved too strong for international field at the Oceania Super Sprint Cup at Pegasus in the latest round of the .kiwi Tri Series, backing up from her win at Takapuna a fortnight ago.

Meanwhile, Tony Dodds turned the tables in a sprint finish over great rival Ryan Sissons.
With racing in heats and final over a super sprint format, athletes had to come to terms with tactics as well as the fast paced racing on a cold and blustery day.  And with a strong international representation in both men’s and women’s fields the Kiwis were never going to have it all their own way.

Nicky Samuels and Sophie Corbidge had won the previous .kiwi Tri Series races, with Corbidge taking out the Oceania Sprint Championships in Kinloch last weekend.  A group of five formed on the exit from the water, including Samuels, Kiwi’s Rebecca Clarke and Jaimee Leader, and Dutch stars Maaike Caelers and Sarissa de Vries. Samuels had set her stall out at Takapuna with a solo bike leg, and was at it again, breaking away after half a lap and taking a 16 second lead to the bell.

Tri NZ HP Squad colleagues Corbidge, Maddie Dillon and Elise Salt along with Rebecca Kingsford and Japan’s Hideko Kikuchi were a further 20 seconds back. Samuels held her advantage and there was no catching her over the fast 2.4 km run, followed home by Caelers (second also at the ITU Auckland WTS in 2013), with Corbidge running through to complete the podium.

Samuels was pleased with another solid performance.

“My plan was to see how the group formed on the bike to see if it was worth attacking. I came here to find out what needs work, and my run is not quite there yet, but I knew I could run strong. The super-sprint is an exciting format, and while it was a shame we didn’t have the full semi-finals, it is good to do something different”.

Next stop for the .kiwi Tri Series is in Wellington on 8 March, also featuring the National Junior (U19) Championships. The High Performance Squad now returns to training in preparation for the Oceania Championships in Devonport (Australia) on 1 March, the Port Taranaki ITU World Cup Sprint on 23 March, and the Barfoot & Thompson Auckland ITU World Triathlon Series and Commonwealth Games selection races on 6 April.

Oceania Super Sprint Cup
.kiwi Tri Series, Pegasus
Elite Men
1 Tony Dodds                       Wanaka, NZL           25:47
2 Ryan Sissons                    Auckland, NZL         25:47
3 Martin van Barneveld      Wgtn, NZL                  25:58
4 Jesse Featonby                Australia                   25:58
5 Ron Darmon                      Israel                         26:04
Full results CLICK HERE

Elite Women
1 Nicky Samuels                  Wanaka, NZL            29:04
2 Maaike Caelers                 Netherlands              29:24
3 Sophie Corbidge              Auckland, NZL           30:04
4 Fiona Crombie                  Chch, NZL                 30:12
5 Jaimee Leader                  P Nth, NZL                30:16
Full results CLICK HERE