Maloy and Gentle take Noosa
American Joe Maloy won the 2015 Noosa Triathlon, a race that has traditionally been completely dominated by Aussie men. Australian men, however, filled out the remaining spots in the top ten. Aussie Ashleigh Gentle from Australia defended the women's title ahead of Charlotte McShane, and Brit Emma Pallant prevented an Aussie podium sweep. Just like the men's race, Australian women have historically been supreme here, but in 2010 Caroline Steffen from Switzerland showed the world that long course athletes can display good speed too. And Steffen was again in the mix in 2015.
The men
Aaron Royle won the Noosa Triathlon in 2013 and 2014 but he was not at the start with an apparent injury, and there were plenty of other folks ready and willing to take over that spot.
Matthew Roberts led the men out of the water in 17:35, but he had several fast athletes not far behind him. Luke Willian, Ryan Fisher, Joe Maloy, and Peter Kerr also had very fine swims and reached the beach in around 17:45.
Maloy had a fast transition and then stepped on the throttle on the bike. The chasing bunch of Aussies was unable to reel the American back in, and by the time Maloy reached the second transition his lead was right around one minute thanks to a race best 54:07 bike split.
But had the American spent too many bullets on the bike? Maloy actually ran well too, and his 32:24 run split was the second best of the front running men. Maloy crossed the line with no one else in sight and took this important win in 1:47:04.
“Honestly, it is huge. One of my goals in triathlon is to reestablish the American work ethic as a hallmark of success, and I think this win was a step in that direction. I want athletes of all levels to realize that hard work toward your goal pays off,” said Maloy to slowtwitch when asked what this victory meant to him.
Ryan Fisher ran a race best 32:14 to capture the runner up spot and Jacob Birtwhistle earned 3rd place with a 32:56 run.
The women
Danielle De Francesco was first out of the water in 18:27 and had thus a 45 second lead over the chasers led by Emma Moffatt.
Ashleigh Gentle took over the lead on the bike and ended up with a race best bike split of 1:00:34, but apparently both Emma Moffatt and Radka Vodickova had received drafting penalties on the course and finished 5 minutes adrift of Gentle. De Francesco rode a solid 1:02:35 and Charlotte McShane a 1:02:46 to be next into transition. Steffen rode 1:03:27, but she had lost more time during the opening swim.
Gentle then ran 35:35 and that gave her an uncontested win in 1:59:18. McShane finished in second place in 2:01:32, and a race best run of 24:58 helped Emma Pallant grab the final podium spot.
2015 Noosa Triathlon
Noosa, Australia / November 1, 2015
1.5k swim / 40k bike / 10k run
Top men
1. Joe Maloy (USA) 1:47:04
2. Ryan Fisher (AUS) 1:47:53
3. Jacob Birtwhistle (AUS) 1:48:35
4. Luke Willian (AUS) 1:49:44
5. Brad Kahlefeldt (AUS) 1:50:25
Top women
1. Ashleigh Gentle (AUS) 1:59:18
2. Charlotte McShane (AUS) 2:01:32
3. Emma Pallant (GBR) 2:02:48
4. Emma Moffatt (AUS) 2:03:32
5. Caroline Steffen (SUI) 2:04:45
