Rouault, Corbridge win Geelong Sprint
Parisian Gregory Roualt made it two in a row for France after Laurent Vidal’s win at this race last year, and Sophie Corbridge of New Zealand took charge of the women’s race on the run to win the elite titles at the Urban Hotels Geelong Sprint Triathlon in Australia Sunday.
Men
Rouault, a recent addition to the Darren Smith-coached squad that includes Olympic silver medalist Lisa Norden, played a waiting game as he combined a tied for 11th-fastest 9:36 swim and 15th-fastest 30:32 bike split before unleashing a race-best 14:47 run to finish in 55:33 with a 13 seconds margin of victory over runner-up Tony Dodds of New Zealand and 21 seconds over 3rd-place finisher Peter Kerr of Australia.
Marcel Walkington tried to steal the race with a tied-for-race-fastest 9:25 swim and 2nd-fastest 30:09 bike split before fading to 7th overall with a 14th-best 15:53 run.
Walkington and fellow Aussies Troy Main and Ben Anderson came together at the end of the bike. But the race was decided on the 5k run.
“I just sat there on the bike and waited for the run and controlled a bit of the run and picked it up,” Rouault told race media reps. “I knew Tony (Dodds) would be part of the chase group so I pulled back a bit before I made my move. Peter (Kerr) was behind too so I had to watch out but I am happy with today’s result.”
“I knew I had to watch out for Gregory (Rouault) – he was the one to beat,” Dodds told Geelong media representatives. “I felt really good in the swim and on the bike and I knew what this course was like and you don’t want to be on the back going down those hills and around the corners. I just had to go out hard and stick with them and when you have got Peter Kerr behind you and you have people yelling out his name you have to push yourself hard and out of the comfort zone.”
Kerr, who had a breakthrough win in Noosa last November, told Geelong media reps that his result was “testament to the hard work put in. There has been a real turnaround for me since late last year so it’s something I am aiming at. I would have liked to have won the race overall but the two guys ahead of me are absolute talents so I am rapt to have come third.”
Women
Corbridge combined a tied-for-7th-best 10:17 swim, tied-for-3rd best 33:45 bike split and race-best 17:06 run to finish in 1:01:52 with an 11 seconds margin of victory over runner-up Grace Musgrove of Australia and 24 seconds over 3rd-place finisher Yuko Takahashi of Japan.
Corbidge, who has recently been named in the New Zealand Development squad for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, made her move on run after Australia’s Gillian Backhouse led the field off the bike and into the run.
Corbridge started the run comfortably in an eight-woman chase pack with fellow Kiwi Maddie Dillon and Rebecca Clarke, Japan’s Yuko Takahashi and Australians Grace Musgrove, Jaz Hedgeland, Olympian Emma Jackson, swim leader Madison Allen and Sarah Deuble.
Corbridge then charged away with the fastest run of the day (17:06) to hold off Musgrove, who finished with the silver with Takahashi third.
Corbidge told Geelong media representatives she enjoyed the Geelong course and was thrilled to take the win: “The course) was a bit of a mix of everything and quite technical. We got into a good rhythm and worked well together around the corners and the run was awesome.”
In her second year in triathlon and in her first elite open race, Musgrove, a former 5k and 10k open water swimming champion and Under 20 Australian Cross Country champion, was discovered by well-known Australian coach Jamie Turner at the 2010 Australian Day Aquathon. Musgrove turned down Turner’s initial recruitment but finally joined his squad after finishing high school.
“People kept telling me I could do it but I am still shocked that I am standing here in my first elite triathlon having won the Australian championship,” Musgrove told Geelong media representatives.
“After winning those swimming events I turned my attention to running and I always wanted to be as runner and not a triathlete.”
Madison Allen of Australia, who finished 10th overall, posted a race-fastest 10:09 swim. Gillian Backhouse of Australia, who finished 4th overall, set the race-fastest 33:25 bike split.
Geelong Olympic distance
Scott McPherson of Australia won the Geelong Olympic distance men’s elite title in a time of 1:59:03, followed 31 seconds later by runner-up Grant Melzer of Australia, and 19 seconds further back by 3rd-place finisher Levi Maxwell.
In an all-Australia podium, Laura Siddal won the women’s elite title in 2:06:12, followed by runner-up Sarah Lester in 2:11:39 and 3rd-place finisher Kate Grattan in 2:12:11.
Urban Hotels Geelong Sprint Triathlon ITU Oceania Cup
Geelong, Australia
February 10, 2013
S 750m / B 20k / R 5k
Results
Men
1. Gregory Rouault (FRA) 55:33
2. Tony Dodds (NZL) 55:46
3. Peter Kerr (AUS) 55:54
4. Cameron Good (AUS) 55:55
5. Jacob Birtwhistle (AUS) 55:55
6. Martin Van Barneveld (NZL) 56:04
7. Marcel Walkington (AUS) 56:06
8. Bryan Keane (IRL) 56:19
9. Mitchell Kealey (AUS) 56:24
10. Luke Willian (AUS) 56:28
Women
1. Sophie Corbridge (NZL) 1:01:52
2. Grace Musgrove (AUS) 1:02:03
3. Yuko Takahashi (JPN) 1:02:16
4. Gillian Backhouse (AUS) 1:02:19
5. Jaz Hedgeland (AUS) 1:02:25
6. Emma Jackson (AUS) 1:02:31
7. Maddie Dillon (NZL) 1:02:34
8. Sarah Deuble (AUS) 1:03:32
9. Rebecca Kingsford (NZL) 1:03:50
10. Maddison Allen (AUS) 1:04:02
Subaru Geelong Olympic Distance Triathlon
Geelong, Australia
February 10, 2013
S 1.5k / B 40k / R 10k
Results
Men
1. Scott McPherson (AUS) 1:59:03
2. Grant Melzer (AUS) 1:59:34
3. Levi Maxwell (AUS) 1:59:53
Women
1. Laura Siddal (AUS) 2:06:12
2. Sarah Lester (AUS) 2:11:39
3. Kate Grattan (AUS) 2:12:11
