Javier Gomez dominates Chicago
After a slight hiccup due to injury before the London round of the WTS a few weeks ago, Javier Gomez returned to the ranks of the superhuman with a dominating win at Chicago – his unprecedented fourth win in five WTS races this year.
Gomez broke away from duel with fellow Spaniard Mario Mola at the 7th kilometer of the run, then sped off to a race-best 31:21 split on Chicago’s hot streets to break the finish tape in 1:47:21.
Mola, who beat Gomez in two World Cup races before the WTS season started and who won the London event where Gomez finished an imperfect 6th, faded in the final kilometer and let rising Portuguese star Joao Pereira through to second place – 8 seconds behind Gomez. Mola held on for the final spot on the podium, 19 seconds back of the winner.
The race began with a swim in choppy, wind-swept waves in Lake Michigan where Gomez stayed in close touch with swim leaders Aurelien Raphael of France and Ben Kanute of the U.S. while Mola came across 25 seconds down, Pereira minus 27 and run threat Richard Murray 42 seconds arrears.
Despite the sharp corners and many U-turns on the bike course, the flat terrain on city streets did not allow breakaways for the first half of the bike. Pereira and Mola hung on in the first pack, but Murray missed the train and struggled to find any help bridging pack to the leaders and fell 1 minute back at Lap 5 of 8.
New Zealand’s Tom Davison, a super cyclist who has served as a domestique for fellow Kiwis and others in WTS races this year, got impatient and, with Australian newcomer Cameron Good, made a break on Lap 6 which grew to 45 seconds by T2. While all the serious contenders ignored the duo, their absence did affect the dynamics of the leaders. Without Davison’s engine to keep the 33-man lead pack pulling away, the chasers led by Murray and joined by Sven Riederer and Hunter Kemper, bridged the gap and hit T2 in a massive clot with Gomez and company.
Murray, who entered the day in fourth place on points, decided to roll the dice at the start of the run and shot right up to Gomez and Mola. But after expending all his energy trying to catch the lead pack, Murray' surge left him out of gas halfway through the first lap and he surrendered to a pace which would still earn him some points and 13th place.
Gomez relayed to the media before the race that he wasn't sure he was back to form, and presumably Mola was content to roll along on Gomez’ heels. Halfway through the run, Mola’s easy strides compared favorably with Gomez’s apparent hard-effort. Meanwhile, Pereira, a much larger man than Gomez and the diminutive Mola, joined the party but seemed most likely to fade in Chicago’s heat.
On the third lap about kilometer 7, Gomez surprised many by making a move that quickly put 20 meters on Mola and left Pereira even further behind. Historically, that was when Gomez made his moves when he was known for lacking a finish line sprint. But during the past few seasons when he clearly had acquired one of the best closing sprints in the game, this move appeared to be a sign of weakness likely due to lingering effects from his London injury.
However, Gomez surprised himself as he was in fine working order and pulled away like a train. Mola was the one who faded and Pereira rejoiced in his very first silver medal performance.
Several top men in the WTS points standings did not compete, including Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee, who are saving themselves for the upcoming Commonwealth Games. So with his fourth 800-point race, Gomez now stands atop the WTS standings with a total of 3,742 points. He is now 420 ahead of Mola, who advanced to second in the standings. Jonathan Brownlee dropped to 3rd in the standings with 2,652. Richard Murray, who wore himself out on the bike and run, dropped to 13th place and remains 4th with 2,325. Pereira, who had a breakthrough 3rd place finish in London before Chicago, now stands 5th with 2,067 points.
In a race within the race, Joe Maloy won the U.S. National elite title by finishing 17th overall in a time of 1:49:24. Four-time Olympian Hunter Kemper finished 23rd overall and 2nd U.S. Elite, 28 seconds behind Maloy. William Huffman finished 26th overall and 3rd U.S. Elite, 20 seconds back of Kemper.
WTS Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
June 29, 2014
S 1.5k / B 40k / R 10k
Results
Elite men
1. Javier Gomez (ESP) 1:47:21
2. Joao Pereira (POR) 1:47:29
3. Mario Mola (ESP) 1:47:40
4. Dmitry Polyanskiy (RUS) 1:48:00
5. Fernando Alarza (ESP) 1:48:05
6. Alessandro Fabian (ITA) 1:48:11
7. Adam Bowden (GBR) 1:48:16
8. Brendan Sexton (AUS) 1:48:28
9. Alexander Bryukhankov (RUS) 1:48:45
10. Sven Riederer (SUI) 1:48:52
17. Joe Maloy (USA) 1:49:24
23. Hunter Kemper (USA) 1:49:52
26. William Huffman (USA) 1:50:12
Threadneedle World Triathlon Series Men's Point Standings
1. Javier Gomez (ESP) 3742
2. Mario MOla (ESP) 3322
3. Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) 2652
4. Richard Murray (RSA) 2325
5. Joao Pereira (POR) 2067
