Tony Dodds was the best of the Kiwis as the 25 year old Wanaka triathlete bravely mixed it with the best in the world before finishing 7th at the Barfoot & Thompson ITU World Triathlon in Auckland today.
The race was won impressively by Javier Gomez (Spain) as the world number 2 continued an amazing run that now has him unbeaten in four career starts in New Zealand.
 Javier Gomez wins the ITU triathlon in Auckland(Photo: Delly Carr / ITU; click to enlarge) |
The 30 year old Spaniard was fourth at the end of the cycling section and won a furious battle with compatriot Mario Mola on the 10km run. The pair, Joao Silva (Portugal) and Dodds ran shoulder to shoulder for the first two and half kilometres before Dodds was forced to serve a 15 second penalty for a rules transgression in transition one and dropped off the hot pace. Gomez then put on the burners and moved into a commanding lead that he had no trouble holding to the finish. He finished in 1h 55m 51s, 12 seconds ahead of Mola with a further 19 seconds to Silva of Portugal.
"It was great coming back here and winning again. It was a very good race and it felt very good – what else could I ask for with my team mate second a great day for Spain," said Gomez.
"He made me run fast and I felt good, but you never know, after he dropped it gave me more confidence. The win is good for motivation and the victory helps me think about the next one," he added.
"New Zealand has been good to me; I should buy a house here one day. It's just great for the big races here."
Mola said he ran as fast as he could.
"Javier is the number one and I'm really proud to be able to stay with him. I tried to stay in the second position and that was all I could do today, I'm of course really happy with that," said Mola.
Dodds lead the Kiwi's home in a creditable seventh place in 1h 57m 11s, followed by Clark Ellice 11th, Ryan Sissons 14th 1h 58m 12s and Bryce McMaster 22nd in 1h 58m 50s. Martin Van Barneveld did not finish.
Dodds said that the crowd really lifted him up after eighth on leaving the water and 11th after the bike.
"The swim was where I wanted to be, the bike I was more than happy with that and hopefully I hurt a few people on the hills then the plan was just to go out for as long as I could with Gomez and the Spanish boys and I did that for nearly 3km and then blew to pieces. Hopefully in the next race I'll last 5km and then 7km," said Dodds.
"I'm very happy to be the first Kiwi and it has set me up well for the season. I'm off to Japan in the next couple of days for the world series race there," he added.
Ellice said that it was a really hard race.
"This course is the most demanding on the circuit. I had a relatively good swim and the group I was with on the bike worked really well," said Ellice.
"The pace on the hills was demanding and I rode conservatively to have something in the bag for the run. I'm happy with the run and to have got inside that top ten would have been good," he added.
Dropping a chain early on the bike was the downfall of Sissons.
"I was happy to be out of the water at the front, that's what I've been working on. But on the second hill I dropped my chain and ended up being at the back of the pack. I rode by myself for 20km and I rode as hard as I could to try and stay in there. But I had burnt my matches and I had nothing else for the run and I was really a bit disappointed," said Sissons.
"I'm not happy with my placing I wanted a top five. I'll have to make up for it in San Diego in two weeks," he added.
McMaster recovered well from a crash on Shortland Street when he was brought down by others around him hitting the road, the crash leaving him with bruising and grazing on his legs but he was able to remount and finish.
Results: ITU World Triathlon - Auckland
Elite Men
1. Javier Gomez (ESP) 1:55:51
2. Mario Mola (ESP) 1:56:03
3. Joao Silva (POR) 1:56:22
4. Laurent Vidal (FRA) 1:56:33
5. Matthew Sharp (GBR) 1:56:51
6. Aaron Royle (AUS) 1:56:55
7. Tony Dodds (NZL) 1:57:11
8. Ryan Bailie (AUS) 1:57:13
9. Jan Frodeno (GER) 1:57:17
10. Cameron Good (AUS) 1:57:23
