Vidal, Moffatt win Geelong Sprint
Australians took three of four wins at the elite sprint and long course events at Geelong, Australia Sunday.
Laurent Vidal of France and two-time ITU World Champion Emma Moffatt of Australia took the men’s and women’ titles Sunday afternoon at the Geelong ITU Sprint Triathlon Premium Oceania Cup held at Corio Bay.
Australians Clayton Fettell and Belinda Granger won the men’s and women’s elite crowns at the Urban Hotels 2.80.20 long course triathlon held Sunday morning as part of the USM Geelong Triathlon Festival.
Geelong ITU Sprint Triathlon
The elite women started first in the ITU Sprint race and Moffatt led the women out of the 750-meter swim, with Teresa Adam of New Zealand and Sarrisa de Vries of the Netherlands in hot pursuit. On the bike, de Vries soon dropped back, but Adam and Moffatt surged and quickly opened a 50-seconds gap which grew to 1:25 by the time they hit T2.
As they hit the 5k run, Moffatt showed her World Championship pedigree and quickly dropped Adam and held on for her third Geelong sprint win in 1:01:35. German Anne Haug ran down Adam and took second, 1:08 behind Moffatt. Liz Blatchford of Great Britain also took down Adam and held off Australian Erin Densham for the final spot on the podium, 15 seconds back of Haug.
In the men’s race, Australian James Seear emerged from the 750-meter swim with a slim lead over 55 other men. Soon, two-time Ironman World Champion and 1997 ITU Champion Chris McCormack took the point of a pack of 20. Top Australian Olympic contender Brendan Sexton dropped out on the bike when his seat post broke, and McCormack and Courtney Atkinson were assessed 15-second penalties for infractions which dropped them out of contention for the win.
On the 5k run, Frenchman Laurent Vidal and Great Britain’s William Clarke broke away in the late stages. Vidal had the better sprint and took the win in 55:19 with a 2-second margin of victory over Clarke. New Zealander Tony Dodds took the final spot on the podium, 19 seconds back of Clarke and half a second in front of Australian Drew Box, who took 4th.
Urban Hotels 2.80.20 Long Course Triathlon
Another top field clashed in the elite race at the Urban Hotels 2.80.20 race held early in the morning.
Australian Clayton Fettell used a race-best swim and bike to finish in 3:35:58 and hold off the swifter run of countryman Leon Griffin by a margin of 2:51. Tim Berkel took the final spot on the podium, another 1:10 back of Griffin.
“I knew Griff was chasing hard, but I felt fantastic from the moment I got off the bike and I knew I just had to focus on making sure I put together a solid run,” said Fettell. “But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried! I’m really stoked with the win today –it’s put me in a great head space to take on Abu Dhabi.”
From the gun, Fettell and Ironman World Championship runner-up Pete Jacobs broke away from the pack. Fettell went off course rounding one buoy, but managed to gather himself and led Jacobs out of the swim by 3 seconds in 24:58. Leon Griffin (26:50), Tim Berkel (26:58) and Matty White (26:59) trailed the two leaders by nearly two minutes.
Fettell then took the race by the throat with a race-best 1:55:15 bike that 1:58 faster than Griffin’s split, 1:59 faster than Berkel and 2 minutes faster than White.
Griffin hammered the run with a 2nd-best 1:11:20 split, but Fettell’s 1:12:51 split was enough to hit the tape in 3:35:58 with a winning margin of 2:51 over Griffin and 4:01 over third place Berkel. Matty White took 4th in 3:43:11, 30-34 amateur Ross Young used a race-best 1:10:04 run to take 5th in 3:44:14 and Jacobs fell off the pace with a 1:59:51 bike and 1:17:36 run to take sixth in 3:45:31.
Multiple Ironman-distance champion Belinda Granger use a third-best 29:46 swim, second-best 2:12:44 bike and third-best 1:25:16 run to break the tape in 4:11:39 with a 3:48 winning margin over runner-up Suzanne Blackborrow in the Urban Hotels 2.80.20.
Rebecca Hoschke took third, another 2:39 back of Blackborrow.
2012 Geelong ITU Sprint Triathlon Premium Oceania Cup
Geelong, Australia
12 February 2012
S 750m/ b 20km/ R 5km
Results
Men
1. Lauren Vidal (FRA) 55:19
2. Will Clarke (GBR) 55:21
3. Tony Dodds (NZL) 55:40
4. Drew Box (AUS) 55:41
Women
1. Emma Moffatt (AUS) 1:01:35
2. Anne Haug (GER) 1:02:43
3. Liz Blatchford (GBR) 1:02:58
4. Erin Densham (AUS) 1:03:04
5. Teresa Adam (NZL)
Urban Hotels 2.80.20 Long Course Triathlon
Geelong, Australia
12 February 2012
S 2k / B 80k / R 20 k
Results
Men
1. Clayton Fettell (AUS) 3:35:58
2. Leon Griffin (AUS) 3:38:49
3. Tim Berkel (AUS) 3:39:59
4. Matty White (AUS) 3:43:11
5. Ross Young (AUS) 3:44:14 * M30-34
6. Pete Jacobs (AUS) 3:45:31
Women
1. Belinda Granger (AUS) 4:11:39
2. Suzanne Blackborrow (AUS) 4:15:27
3. Rebecca Hoschke (AUS) 4:18:06
4. Kristy Hallett (AUS) 4:18:50
5. Renee Lane (AUS) 4:19:33
