Sam ward posted a promising 13th place finish in his first race of the season at the ITU World Cup in Chengdu, China today, overcoming oppressive heat in the process as the young Aucklander mixed it at the front of the field for much of the race.
While it was a good day for Ward, it certainly was not for top seed Ryan Sissons. After a swim that had Sissons on the tail of the lead bunch, he had the misfortune to puncture 200 metres after the wheel stop on the first lap and could do nothing as the entire field rode past him, leaving him no choice to withdraw from the event.
In temperatures going beyond 30 degrees and in water that was 24 degrees, 20-year old Ward swam brilliantly to exit the water with the leaders and then rode sensibly with a large lead pack, staying out of trouble as he negotiated the 40km on the roads of the purpose built triathlon course.
"I wanted to hang with the leaders as long as I could to give myself the best chance, I go into every race wanting to win it and today was no different but I just couldn't stay with the front boys at the end of the run today.
"I had a great swim, out of the water 5th or 6th, didn't get caught up in any of the buoys at all but I completely screwed up T1, had a brain explosion but after that settled in with the front pack and looked to conserve for the run and then tried to go with the leaders but couldn't hang on.
"This is my first major race of the season, I can't complain about the result, I know I was pretty fit but there is a difference between training fit and race fit and I found that out a little today but I am happy with the result."
21 year old Cooper Rand is even less experienced, the Aucklander was in his very first ITU World Cup event and put a tough day down to experience as he came home in 60th place.
"This was my first World Cup and everything I have heard about the swim came true, it is pretty rough and I got knocked around a fair bit, came out in the chase group and we were about 45 seconds down but we bridged up and on the run the legs didn't seem to want to go anywhere which is frustrating as the training is going well. But it was a good experience for my first World Cup and I am looking forward to the chance at another one."
The men's race was won by Ryan Fisher (Australia) from Rostyslav Pevtsov (Azerbaijan) and Kevin Mcdowell (USA).
Womens Race
Sophie Corbidge posted a very similar race to that of Ward, with a 19th place finish that could have been better but for a poor transition coming off the bike, when she sighted her shoes and racked her bike, only to realise with horror an athlete next door in transition had exactly the same shoes lying in wait.
"I am really stoked with the race, this is my first one back since some issues with my back and time off running, it was kind of an introduction back into the circuit. I have been working really hard on my swimming to translate speed into distance and I came out of the water in about tenth place which is about my best ever in a quality field.
"We had a small breakaway group on the bike and I was doing a lot of work, I was trying to get the group of 18 motivated to work and stay away but there weren't enough working and in the end we had a few lazy ones with us which cost us."
And what of the mistake in T2 that cost vital seconds?
"It was manic in amongst 70 girls going into T2, I couldn't see the name plates and I saw 'my' shoes and started to put them on, when another girl said they were hers! I went back to mine but by that time I was way back coming out of transition and had to make my way back through the field. I worked hard on the run and picked off as many as possible and earned a top twenty finish which is better than my ranking coming in, so I can't complain too much."
The women's race was won by American Renee Tomlin from Arina Shulgina (Russia) and Lisa Perterer (Austria).
