It was a generally strong day for the New Zealanders at the ITU WTS Yokohama race today, the last such event in the Rio Olympic qualifying window with some strong performances from leading contenders Andrea Hewitt (4th) and Ryan Sissons (9th), with Simone Ackermann 19th, Rebecca Spence 21st and Tony Dodds 28th.
Nicky Samuels withdrew early in the run leg after impressing during the swim and bike sections of the race.
Rio-bound Hewitt and Rio-hopeful Sissons further underlined their good early season form, with Hewitt ever consistent in her showing in a race that she very much enjoys coming to and has won previously (2011), her result today pushing her to 7th on the overall world rankings – with 4 of those ahead of her having raced one more event.
“The course is definitely flat and really hard to keep the groups separated and seeing everyone up the road on the same piece of road there are not many places you can hide,” said Hewitt. “As the big group came together it was really jostling for positions that was what the bike was about, it was a running race today.”
Hewitt said it was just common sense that saw her hardly on the front of the race today, especially on the bike.
“It is never the plan, I just go with what is happening in the race and today there was no point for me to be near the front on the bike, it was about staying upright and out of trouble and getting my legs ready for the run. I came into transition well and got into the run well in third so I was happy with that. There were quite a few surges on the run and that is something I have been working on. That final surge when second and third got away was just the last break for me, I managed to stay for fourth and am pleased with the result.
“I think my form is good at the moment, I am looking to build into the European season and everything is building up for August.”
Sissons was in a similar frame of mind post-race, reflecting on a steady day.
“I guess it is good to have a consistency throughout every race so far this year, I have performed well and that is the biggest thing to turn up and race well in all my races, so I am happy with how things are going.
“I felt pretty good all day, pretty strong, I didn’t have that extra gear on the run but we have plenty of time to when I want to be running really fast so yeah, I am pretty happy.
“It was pretty brutal on the bike to be honest, everyone was trying to get off on the front and it was a real scrap in the final two laps. I managed to be towards the front of the group, I wan’t right at the front and lost maybe 10 or 15 seconds which cost me, but it is always difficult tryiing to get there and can be harder than it seems sometimes.”
Sissons was perhaps most pleased with the second lap of his swim where he made good ground.
“I think I moved from about 30th to 15th, I guess I have figured out a lot of stuff in my swimming over the past few years and I have really been focused on that and I guess making sure I do exactly what I know works for me, I have swum well in all my races and was happy with how I swam the second lap today. Just shows I have some good strength behind me.”
Chris Pilone, who coaches both Hewitt and Sissons, also reflected on the races.
“Mixed emotions really with good results for both but Andrea would have liked to be on the podium. This is a course that least suits her, generally the groups come together here and the women’s bike ended up quite an easy ride. The main thing for Ryan was a great swim, he moved up in the second lap which was impressive but he missed some time coming into T2 with being too far back. But overall the consistency is great and both will go back to work now in a good place.”
Simone Ackermann was next best of the Kiwis in 19th place, a result that comfortably sees New Zealand stay inside the top 8 nations in the sport and have three women’s spots allocated for Rio 2016. Ackermann rode at or near the front of the race, often with fellow Kiwis Rebecca Spence and Nicky Samuels for company as they tested the legs of the others early and sniffed out a break, which ultimately did not come.
“Going into the race Jon and I had a plan to race hard and be as aggressive as possible so that is what I went out to do, and I feel like it helped me earn that result today. Usually this race seems to come together on the bike but my plan was to make sure I was always near the front and stay out of trouble and some of the twitchiness that sometimes happens near the back.
“I felt strong early and the second half of the run at times was a case of hanging on for dear life, the second half of the run was definitely tough and Rebecca (Spence) pushed me the whole way.”
Dodds raced strongly in the swim and bike and was comfortably in the large lead group heading into T2 but with this being his first standard distance event in over 8 months, just didn’t have the extra gear to push on the run in what was an otherwise well executed day. Samuels withdrawal after swimming and riding strongly will however be a concern to Tri NZ Selectors with nominations for the Rio Olympics on the agenda over the next ten days.
Much of the talk pre-race had been whether there would be a breakaway of a small group on the bike, perhaps athletes that were desperately chasing a place in the Rio Olympic Games, the reality though was a large group of 42 in the women and close to 60 in the men settling in for most of the 40km distance on the bike, with the race decided very much over the 10km of running in both events.
Gwen Jorgensen simply ran away from the field to take the gold medal, becoming the first woman to do so four times at the same event and again stamp her authority on the sport after being beaten be Helen Jenkins (GBR) on the Gold Coast. Ai Ueda (JPN) delighted the home fans with a bronze medal, behind Ashleigh Gentle (AUS) who took silver and made a statement about Rio to her selectors.
In the men’s race Mario Mola (ESP) was just as impressive as Jorgensen, winning to maintain his number one world ranking. Crisanto Gajales (MEX) and Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR) both won their first ever medals at this level and announced them as genuine WTS contenders.
