In a superb day for the Kiwis, Andrea Hewitt moved to second place on the overall World Triathlon Series rankings with a silver medal winning performance at the latest round in Stockholm overnight, with fellow Kiwi and Rio bound athlete Nicky Samuels also posting the best performance of her season in finishing 8th.
The race was won by Bermuda’s Flora Duffy, after again breaking away in a now familiar sight on the bike and holding on over the run, while Hewitt outsprinted Helen Jenkins (GBR) for the silver medal.
 Helen Jenkins and Andrea Hewitt(Photo: Janos Schmidt / ITU; click to enlarge) |
“The course is really tough, there are a lot of turns. That first lap on the bike was a bit sketchy just getting around some of the corners and the run with the cobbles, it was a difficult day,” said Hewitt. “It was crazy, Duffy had over a minute at one stage, and on the run I don’t think we put much time on her so she was the strongest today.”
The other Kiwi in the race, Simone Ackermann, finished in 27th place on the tough Stockholm course.
The men’s race saw the Brownlee brothers (GBR) fire another warning shot ahead of the Rio Olympics, with Alistair winning from brother Jonathan, both in the process showing that with six weeks until Rio they are approaching their best form and will again be medal contenders.
Holten Premium European Cup
Meanwhile Sam Ward posted a top ten finish at the Holten Premium European Cup race in the Netherlands, showing that he is returning to his best form ahead of the World U23 Championships in Cozumel in September this year.
21 year old Ward was impressive throughout in a fiercely contested sprint race, with 11 seconds covering the top ten athletes, with Ward just unable to find the sprint to a medal, finishing six seconds behind winner Raphael Montoya from France, the young Kiwi in the process posting the fourth fastest run time in the field of 16:07 for the 5km.
Tayler Reid (Gisborne) finished 25th after the young New Zealander led the race out of the water, while Cooper Rand (Auckland) was 29th.
In the women’s race in Holten, Kiri Atkin was 19th, Deb Lynch 21st, while Maddie Dillon did not register a finish.
