Hewitt Top Ten In Triathlon World Series

Christchurch triathlete Andrea Hewitt was the best of the Kiwis finishing 6th at the latest round of the Dextro Energy ITU World Champs Triathlon Series in Washington this morning.

Hewitt could do nothing to stop an Aussie one-two while Debbie Tanner finished 11th and Rebecca Spence failed to finish on debut as the Aussie Emma show dominated as they did in Tongyeong in round one, albeit this time with Moffatt outgunning Snowsill.

Meanwhile in the men’s race neither Bevan Docherty nor Clark Ellice featured, both failing to finish the event raced in the shadow of the White House.

Alistair Brownlee of Great Britain made it two from two as he won from Spaniard Javier Gomez and German Michael Petzold. The win is the second in three weeks after the 20 year old ran away from the field in Madrid and moves the young Brit to the top of the World Series rankings.

New Plymouth’s Ellice fell victim to illness and was sick during the bike leg before pulling out of the race in the hot and humid conditions while Docherty made a tactical decision to save himself for Des Moines next weekend.

Docherty was comfortably in the main chase group on the bike but found himself the lone ranger unable to combat the American team tactics to slow the pack. Rather than risk emptying the tank at this early stage of the season and hammer his way to a possible top ten, the Taupo triathlete pulled the pin on the day, knowing that the rich Des Moines World Cup and the World Team Championships are just a week away.

Docherty emerged from the Potomac River in the main chase group with the currents making the 1500m into something of a lottery. A lead group of five rode superbly well with Brownlee and Gomez to the fore, working hard to establish what turned into a race winning gap.

Docherty described himself as having ‘heavy legs’ early on the run and made the decision to keep some powder dry for next week and later in the long season.

In the women’s race a similar pattern emerged early with a lead group of seven breaking clear early on the bike. The group included Beijing bronze medalist Emma Moffatt (AUS) and three Americans looking to impress their home crowd.

Andrea Hewitt and Debbie Tanner were safely in a chase group of 8 riders that included Beijing gold medalist Emma Snowsill (AUS) and renowned riders Daniela Ryf (SUI) and Lisa Norden (SWE) and slowly but surely they cut into the lead, until the two groups became one with just under half of the 40km bike journey to go.

Urged on by a home crowd, Sarah Haskins and Mary Beth Ellis opened up a 25 second lead heading into transition, with the rest of the group content to let them go.

The run though quickly became the Emma show – only it wasn’t the Emma most expected to dominate with Emma Moffatt running strongly to the lead and an eventual win, leaving behind Emma Snowsill and the rest of the chasers, including the Kiwis.

Neither Hewitt nor Tanner was able to make an impression during the run, having to settle for 6th and 11th respectively, both respectable placings in a quality field and for Hewitt a good follow up to her win in Madrid 3 weeks ago. The other Kiwi in the field Rebecca Spence, failed to finish the race on debut in the World Champs Series.

Many of the athletes now head to Des Moines, Iowa next weekend for the one million dollar ITU Hy-Vee race, followed by the inaugural ITU World Team Championships at the same venue.

ITU Dextro Energy World Champs Series Triathlon
Washington
Elite Women
1 Emma Moffatt AUS 1:59:55
2 Emma Snowsill AUS 2:00:20
3 Daniela Ryf SUI 2:01:01
Plus
6 Andrea Hewitt NZL 2:01:44
11 Debbie Tanner NZL 2:03:13
DNF Rebecca Spence NZL

ITU Dextro Energy World Champs Series Triathlon
Washington
Elite Men
1 Alistair Brownlee GBR 1:48:58
2 Javier Gomez ESP 1:49:11
3 Maik Petzold GER 1:49:24
4 Andy Potts USA 1:49:51
5 Hunter Kemper USA 1:50:24
Plus
DNF Bevan Docherty NZL
DNF Clark Ellice NZL