“It was an amazing race for me. It’s just great to have a win again and it’s fantastic. Today I felt good and I really thought no problems at all,” said Spirig at the finish line. “I had a good feeling from the swim and on the bike. I had a bit of cold legs at the beginning of the run but after the first lap I felt really good.”
The shape of the race changed early as world number one Felicity Abram pulled out after the first lap of the swim. The Aussie was attempting to compete in three world cups in as many weeks and just didn’t have the energy to complete today’s race. Swiss Magali Di marco led the women out of the water, followed closely by American Sarah Groff and German Olympic team member Christiane Pilz.
On the technical 40-kilometer bike course, two packs came together early to form a 19-woman lead group. After a surprisingly strong swim, Swiss cycling powerhouse Nicola Spirig attempted to breakaway from the group at the start of the third of eight laps. But it wouldn’t amount to a race breaker as Spirig rejoined the leader by the end of the lap. The lead pack of 19 women built a sizeable 2:30 lead through most of the bike portion. Notables in the chase group included Erin Densham of Australia and Ai Ueda of Japan. Austrian Tania Haiboeck, a known strong cyclist was doing a lot of the work in the chase group trying to eat into the lead.
As the women headed out on the 10-kilometer run course, Luxembourg’s Elizabeth May and Spirig immediately surged to the front and opened up a slight gap on the rest of the field. But Carole Peon and Sam Warriner bridged up to the leading pair by the end of the first lap. Of the four women, Spirig and Peon took command. As they took the bell lap, they owned a 20-second lead and battled each other for the win. As they reached the final 200 meters, Spirig surged ahead of Peon and sprinted away for her second world cup title. Peon happily took silver, equalling her best ever world cup performance from last year in Cancun. Sam Warriner held on for the bronze, the 12th world cup medal of her career.
KitzbĂĽhel BG Triathlon World Cup
1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run
Elite Women - Official Results
Gold – Nicola Spirig (SUI) 1:57:28
Silver – Carole Peon (FRA) 1:57:35
Bronze – Samantha Warriner (NZL) 1:58:04
4th – Andrea Hewitt (NZL) 1:58:12
5th – Elizabeth May (LUX) 1:58:12
6th – Christiane Pilz (GER) 1:58:31
7th – Magali Di marco (SUI) 1:58 37
8th – Ainhoa Murua (ESP) 1:58:54
9th – Andrea Whitcombe (GBR) 1:58:57
10th – Debbie Tanner (NZL) 1:59:01 Click here for official full field results
Rankings Moves
With her first world cup podium of 2008, Spirig jumps to number 15 in the world, up from 31. Carole Peon also cracks the top-20 after pick up substantial points for her silver medal performance while Warriner moves up to number three with the bronze medal. Click here for updated world cup rankings
En la Ăşltima copa del mundo antes de los Juegos OlĂmpicos de Beijing, la suiza Nicola Spirig hizo una verdadera declaraciĂłn de intenciones, ganando la Copa del Mundo de TriatlĂłn BG de KitzbĂĽhel. La francesa Carole Peon sorprendentemente se hizo sorprendentemente con la medalla de plata, mientras que Sam warriner se llevĂł el bronce. Pulse aquĂ para ver los momentos destacados de la carrera
“Ha sido una carrera asombrosa para mi. Es tan grande conseguir otra vez una victoria, es fantástico. Hoy me he sentido realmente bien y no he sentido ningĂşn problema,” dijo Spirig en la zona de meta. “Tuve buenas sensaciones en la nataciĂłn y en la bicicleta. Tuve un poco frĂas las piernas en el comienzo de la carrera a pie, pero tras la primera vuelta me sentĂ realmente bien.”
Cuando las mujeres encabezaron los 10 kilĂłmetros del circuito de carrera, la luxemburguesa Elizabeth May y Spirig inmediatamente se situaron en cabeza y consiguieron una pequeña distancia sobre el resto de triatletas. Pero Carole Peon y Sam Warriner acortaron la ventaja de la pareja al final de la primera vuelta. De las cuatro mujeres, Spirig y Peon tomaron el mando. Cuando ellas llegaron a la Ăşltima vuelta, habĂan conseguido una ventaja de 20 segundos y lucharon codo con codo por la victoria. Cuado alcanzaron los Ăşltimos 200 metros, Spirig se situĂł por delante de Peon y esprintĂł consiguiendo su segundo tĂtulo de la copa del mundo. Peon felizmente consiguiĂł la plata, igualando su mejor resultado en la copa del mundo que consiguiĂł el año pasado en CancĂşn. Sam Warriner se llevĂł el bronce, la 12Âş medalla de su carrera en la copa del mundo.
Copa del Mundo de TriatlĂłn BG KitzbĂĽhel 2008
1.5km nataciĂłn, 40km bicicleta, 10km carrera a pie
Elite Femenina – Resultados Oficiales
Oro – Nicola Spirig (SUI) 1:57:28
Plata – Carole Peon (FRA) 1:57:35
Bronce – Samantha Warriner (NZL) 1:58:04
4th – Andrea Hewitt (NZL) 1:58:12
5th – Elizabeth May (LUX) 1:58:12
6th – Christiane Pilz (GER) 1:58:31
7th – Magali Di marco (SUI) 1:58 37
8th – Ainhoa Murua (ESP) 1:58:54
9th – Andrea Whitcombe (GBR) 1:58:57
10th – Debbie Tanner (NZL) 1:59:01 Pulse aquĂ para ver los resultados oficiales de la categorĂa
