Kahlefeldt repeats in Mooloolaba
Brad Kahlefeldt took the win at the 2011 season opening ITU Mooloolaba World Cup and repeated his title from 2010, but for the fast Aussie this was actually his third win in Mooloolaba, having won this event in 2007 before. Fellow Aussie Brendan Sexton grabbed second place and France's David Hauss rounded out the podium.
The race
Danish Pro Jens Toft was first out of the choppy waters but he had most of the favorites including defending champion Brad Kahlefeldt, Javier Gomes and Courtney Atkinson hot on his heels after the one lap 1.5k swim.
Once on the bikes, initially there were 3 groups out on the road, but they slowly came together and by the time they reached the 20k mark a monster sized pack of 68 was riding together. There had been a couple breakaway attempts in the windy conditions in Mooloolaba but with a bit more than 10k to go the 68 were pretty much still together. Stuart Hayes though was relentless and at about that time he managed to get a gap with Jens Toft and Attila Fecskovics. With 5k to go the trio had almost 40 seconds on the bunch, but when they entered T2 a chase pack of six athletes (Dylan McNeice, Arturo Garza, Fabio Carvalho, Diogo Sclebin, Leonardo Chacon and Ruedi Wild) had clawed their way back to just about 20 seconds. The main pack though was now 1:10 behind.
Hayes soon dropped his breakaway companions on the run and meanwhile the front runners of the main pack lead by Kahlefeldt, Atkinson and Laurent Vidal were picking up the remnants of the other chase group rather fast. Halfway through the run Hayes was still leading, but now Kahlefeldt, Atkinson, Vidal, Gomez, Sexton, Hauss and surviving breakaways guys Chacon, Fecskovics and Wild were breathing down his neck. When the bell lap rang with 2.5k to go Kahlefeldt led Hauss, Atkinson, Gomez, Wild and Sexton and it was clear that the winner would come from this group of 6 athletes. In the end Kahlefeldt proved just too strong and the man known as Sticksy repeated his title with a very solid performance. For Kahlelfeldt this was his 3rd Mooloolaba title and 7th career World Cup win. Brendan Sexton had his best World Cup finish to date and sprinted past France's David Hauss to take second place.
"On the last lap I made my move and pushed hard up over the hill and managed to get clear of David and get a buffer of about 20 seconds with 1500m to go and backed off a bit to enjoy the win in front of the thousands that lined the course," said Kahlefeldt to slowtwitch. "I have changed a couple things with the training in the off season and it was just a chance to get a feel how the form is before Sydney. It was nice to win for the 3rd time in Mooloolaba and defend my Australian title. I am looking forward to Sydney but I know there will be many more guys looking to get a good result as well. And hope I am towards the front in the fight."
Mooloolaba ITU Triathlon World Cup
Mooloolaba, Queensland, Australia / March 26
1.5k swim / 40k bike / 10k run
Top 10 men
1. Brad Kahlefeldt (AUS) 1:51:53
2. Brendan Sexton (AUS) 1:51:55
3. David Hauss (FRA) 1:51:55
4. Ruedi Wild (SUI) 1:52:07
5. Javier Gomez (ESP) 1:52:16
6. Courtney Atkinson (AUS) 1:52:26
7. Sven Riederer (SUI) 1:52:32
8. Stuart Hayes (GBR) 1:52:38
9. Crisanto Grajales (MEX) 1:52:41
10. Attila Fecskovics (HUN) 1:52:48
