 Clark Ellice(Photo: Delly Carr / ITU) |
New Zealand Olympic reserve Clark Ellice has produced a big win this morning (NZ time) at the Liverpool 5150 Triathlon.
Racing in cold, wet and windy conditions, Ellice raced superbly backing up from a 15th place finish at last weekend's ITU World Triathlon Series race in Kitzbühel. The win has secured a spot for Ellice on the start line at the exclusive Hy-Vee 5150 Championship in Des Moines, Iowa on September 2nd.
In the pro women's race, fellow Kiwi Olympic reserve Debbie Tanner finished in 6th place.
Taranaki's Ellice was off to a strong start in Liverpool and exited the water along with the leading bunch of swimmers. On the bike there were a few early problems, with his chain jumping out of place just 3km into the 40km ride. He was able to fix the issue and was quickly back on the saddle and riding strongly against the wind.
"I clicked into gear maybe a tad too aggressively and this left me unable to pedal. I had to jump off, get passed by five of the front guys out of the water, rearrange my rear gearing and get back on the horse," Ellice said.
"Thankfully it wasn't a major and only fired me up that a minor mechanical cost me the front. I rode back up to the front by end of lap one on pure adrenaline, pretty pissed off and adamant on hitting the front."
He came off the bike in second place behind Jimmy Seear with a chase pack just over a minute behind him.
Ellice felt good early into the run and was able to catch Seear after 2.5km and surge past into the lead. Despite a strong run from Ruedi Wild, Ellice was able to hold on for his first ever 5150 series win.
"I'm stoked and happy to get the win today. A huge thanks to Michelle Dillon for taking the time to drive up from Loughborough and support me... just so stoked to see all the hard work I have invested into Michelle's programme is really starting to pay off.
"Onward to Des Moines, but first still a French GP race next weekend in Paris for the Mulhouse Olympique Triathlon team, as well as Hamburg WTS to aim for a top 15 there and secure a starting slot at the infamous and super hilly Auckland World Triathlon Series Grand Final in October."
For more information and full results from the Liverpool 5150 Triathlon, visit www.liverpooltriathlon.co.uk.
Results: Liverpool 5150 Triathlon
Pro Men
1. Clark Ellice 1:45:18
2. James Seear 1:45:55
3. Ruedi Wild 1:46:13
4. Chris Foster 1:47:08
5. Chris McCormack 1:49:16
