Brownlee crushes, Macca DNFs Kitzbuhel
Alistair Brownlee set fastest swim, led a three-man breakaway on the bike and absolutely crushed the field on the run to win the World Championship Series event in a driving chilling rain in the Austrian Alps at Kitzbuhel.
At the finish, 2009 ITU World Championship Series winner Brownlee hit the finish in 1:51:54 with a 44-seconds lead on Alexandr Brukhankov of Russia and a 1 minute, 5 seconds margin on third place Sven Riederer of Switzerland. Perhaps saving themselves for next week’s ITU European Championship, top WCS contenders Jonathan Brownlee and Javier Gomez did not compete.
In his heralded return to ITU Olympic-style racing, two-time Ironman World Champion Chris McCormack looked every bit of his 38 years, trailing by 90 seconds after the swim, and falling 5 more minutes back on the bike before pulling out on the 6th of 8 laps on the bike. “Empty tank for me today,” Macca wrote on his Twitter account, referring to his recent 8:19 winning finish at the Ironman distance win at Challenge Cairns. “13 days after Ironman. Kids R fast. I had nothing.” Had he finished his dismal day, McCormack would have been lapped by Brownlee and finished near the end of the 60-man field.
Joining McCormack in the ranks of the DNFs was two-time Olympic medalist Simon Whitfield of Canada, who pulled the plug even earlier, at lap 4 of the bike.
After a bike breakaway with Brazil’s Reinaldo Colucci and defending Kitzbuhel champion and fellow Brit Stuart Hayes gave the trio with a 30-seconds margin on the chase pack, Brownlee turned on the jets in a chilling, soggy rain with a race-best 31:01 10k run. As Colucci and Hayes fell back to 12th and 13th respectively, Brukhankov soon separated himself from the serious chasers with a second fastest 31:06 run to take 2nd. Riederer, the Swiss man who won bronze at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, looked at home in the Alps as ran a third-best 31:29 to take the final spot on the podium.
In a three-man duel for 4th ;place, William Clarke of Great Britain prevailed in 1:53:08, trailed 2 seconds later by Brad Kahlefeldt of Australia and 3 seconds further back was Laurent Vidal of France. Manuel Huerta topped all US men with a 24th place finish in 1:54:04, trailed 6 seconds later by Greg Bennett. Matt Chrabot, who made a brave but ultimately failed attempt to bridge the gap on the bike, fell back to 37th in 1:55:11.
Dextro Energy World Championship Series
Kitzbuhel, Austria
June 18, 2011
S 1.5k / B 40k / R 10k
Results
Elite Men
1. Alistair Brownlee (GBR) 1:51:52 – 1,690
2. Alexandr Brukhankov (RUS) 1:52:38 — 1663
3. Sven Riederer (SUI) 1:52:59
4. Will Clarke (GBR) 1:53:08
5. Brad Kahlefeldt (AUS) 1:53:10
6. Laurent Vidal (FRA) 1:53:13
7. Vladimir Turbaevskiy (RUS) 1:53:17
8. Dimitry Polyansky (RUS) 1:53:20
9. Vincent Luis (FRA) 1:53:23
10. Bevan Docherty (NZL)
13. Stuart Hayes (GBR) 1:53:xx
24. Manuel Huerta (USA) 1:54:04
25. Greg Bennett (USA) 1:54:10
37. Matt Chrabot (USA) 1:55:11
45. Tim Don (GBR) 1:56:43
DNF Chris McCormack (AUS), Simon Whitfield (CAN)
Current Dextro Energy World Triathlon Series Rankings
1. Alistair Brownlee (GBR) 1690 points
2. Alexandr Brukhankov (RUS) 1663
3. Javier Gomez (ESP) 1485
4. Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) 1480
5. Sven Riederer (SUI) 1460
6. Dimitry Polyansky (RUS) 1447
7. David Hauss (FRA) 1222
8. William Clarke (GBR) 1195
9. Laurent Vidal (FRA) 881
10. Maik Petzold (GER) 794
43. Greg Bennett (USA) 189
44. Jarrod Shoemaker (USA) 182
45. Manuel Huerta (USA) 174
56. Hunter Kemper (USA) 77
63. Matt Chrabot (USA) 48
