Graves, Ficker win in Estonia
Philip Graves won the 2010 TriStar111 Estonia after a battle on the bike with Bjorn Andersson. Desiree Ficker also found the 1k swim, 100k bike and 10k run event distances to her liking and dominated the women's race.
Once on the bikes, Graves and Andersson charged away from all other competitors but towards the end of the bike segment the Swede got away from the younger Brit. When Andersson reached T2 he had a 2 minute lead on Graves and a 10 minute gap on Thomas Hellriegel.
Graves though had not left it all on the bike and quickly caught Andersson who struggled on the run. When the pass was made, no resistance came from Andersson and Graves crossed the line victorious in 3:13:42. Andersson held on to second place and Hellriegel crossed the line in third.
"I am overjoyed to have won a race which I believe is firmly the future of triathlon. There were so many big names on the start line, 2 past Hawaii winners and Bjorn Andersson. I managed to get away with Bjorn on the bike for the first 80kms and then he really put down the hammer and I just couldn't go with him," said Graves to slowtwitch. "I have to say the heat was just crazy and I am so happy I managed to hold things together, it is my first race I have won in heat like that, so it bodes well for the future!"
Desiree Ficker didn't quite have as tough of a field to deal with as her boyfriend Graves, but the Austin, Texas resident put up a very impressive performance just the same.
Estonian Kairi Schmidt was the first out of the water in 13:36, closely followed by Tanja Slater, Helen Schmidt and Desiree Ficker.
Ficker quickly charged into the lead on her bike and steadily rode away from the other competitors. By the time she reached T2 her advantage over Slater was more than 10 minutes, plus the gap after Slater was equally large.
Ficker managed to add even more time to her lead during the 10k run and crossed the line first in 3:37:02. Slater hung on to second place and Alma Sarapuu crossed the finish in third position.
TriStar 111 Estonia
1k swim / 100k bike / 10k run
Top 10 men
1. Philip Graves (GBR) 3:13:42
2. Bjorn Andersson (SWE) 3:19:04
3. Thomas Hellriegel (GER) 3:21:30
4. Nicholas Ward (GBR) 3:25:27
5. Chris McCormack (AUS) 3:27:22
6. Priit Ailt (EST) 3:30:32
7. Rinalds Sluckis (LAT) 3:35:49
8. Gerhard de Bruin (RSA) 3:35:50
9. Urmas Utar (EST) 3:37:45
10. Slim Holts (EST) 3:42:51
Top 10 women
1. Desiree Ficker (USA) 3:37:02
2. Tanja Slater (EST) 3:51:26
3. Alma Sarapuu (EST) 4:06:58
4. Venia Kolvula (FIN) 4:08:27
5. Kairi Schmidt (EST) 4:16:48
6. Maria Popova (RUS) 4:22:40
7. Valentina Kisiukhina (RUS) 4:26:50
8. Iryna Pavlyshcheva (UKR) 4:35:33
9. Liisi Rist (EST) 4:44:29
10. Karmen Reinpold (EST) 4:58:12
