Gomez and Snowsill win in Mooloolaba
Mooloolaba, Australia: Javier Gomez won the 2008 Mooloolaba ITU World Cup and relegated last year’s winner Brad Kahlefeldt to second place. Tim Don rounded out the podium. In the women’s race Emma Snowsill edged out Vanessa Fernandes for the title and a surprising Lisa Norden finished third.
Under clear and calm conditions a field of 70 Elite males started this season opening World Cup event. Coiln Jenkins and Alistair Brownlee led all swimmers out of the water followed closely by a host of contenders. 2007 World Cup winner Javier Gomez though found himself after the swim in a very surprising 24th place about 22 seconds behind.
During the bike leg a huge pack formed that contained almost the complete field. Gomez even had a small bike crash but managed to get back into transition with the pack.
Once on the run a battle between Gomez and Brad Kahlefeldt soon emerged. They ran side by side for the first half of the run, but Gomez had more power for the final 5km and cruised to victory in 1:49:50. Kahlefeldt hung on for the silver in 1:50:14 and Tim Don out battled Bevan Docherty for the final podium spot.
2008 Mooloolaba BG Triathlon World Cup
1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run
Top 10 Elite men
1. Javier Gomez (ESP) 1:49:50
2. Brad Kahlefeldt (AUS) 1:50:14
3. Tim Don (GBR) 1:50:24
4. Bevan Docherty (NZL) 1:50:27
5, Greg Bennett (AUS) 1:50:29
6. Oliver Freeman (GBR) 1:50:34
7. Paul Tichelaar (CAN) 1:50:38
8. Brendan Sexton (AUS) 1:50:45
9. Simon Thompson (AUS) 1:50:53
10. Kyle Jones (CAN) 1:50:58
A field of 60 women started the 2008 Mooloolaba World Cup but most eyes were on favorites Emma Snowsill and Vanessa Fernandes. Last year at this event Snowsill had snapped the 12 event World Cup win streak of Fernandes, and this time Fernandes was trying to garner her record breaking 20th World Cup title.
The two favorites emerged from the water together right in the front group and rode together during the complete bike leg. Laura Bennett also stayed close to the favorites throughout the swim and the bike and seemed poised to play the role of the spoiler.
In the end it would come down to the run and soon Fernandes and Snowsill separated themselves from any other contenders. They pushed each other early on in the run, but on this day Snowsill proved to be stronger. Encouraged by the Australian home crowd, Snowsill ran away from Fernandes during the second half of the run and crossed the finish line first in 2:00:44. Fernandes lost 38 seconds on the final 5km but finished second, meanwhile U-23 World Champion Lisa Norden showed that she is ready for the big time by finishing third here. Laura Bennett finished fourth and Andrea Whitcombe rounded out the top five.
2008 Mooloolaba BG Triathlon World Cup
1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run
Top 10 Elite women
1. Emma Snowsill (AUS) 2:00:44
2. Vanessa Fernandes (POR) 2:01:22
3. Lisa Norden (SWE) 2:02:07
4. Laura Bennnett (USA) 2:02:37
5. Andrea Whitcombe (GBR) 2:02:45
6. Olga Zausaylova (RUS) 2:02:50
7. Alee Sharp (AUS) 2:02:52
8. Juri Ide (JAP) 2:03:12
9. Emma Moffatt (AUS) 2:03:16
10. Anja Dittmer (GER) 2:03:33
