Whitcombe Finishes Fourth in ITU Mazatalan World Cup
Sunday, 7th May 2006
Andrea Whitcombe just missed the podium in today's ITU World Cup race held in Mazatalan, Mexico. Whitcombe was closing down on Kathy Tremblay (Canada) and Anja Dittmer (Germany) but just couldn't close the gap by the finish line. She took fourth place in the race won by Vanessa Fernandes (Portugal). Helen Tucker, finished eighth after running in fifth place for most of the run leg.
Great Britain was represented by four women, Whitcombe, Tucker, Kerry Lang, and Leanda Cave, all featuring strongly in the swim and cycle legs. Whitcombe and Tucker were able to maintain their form on the run, whilst Lang and Cave struggled to hold their positions out of transition 2 and drifted back through the field. Sandra Groff (USA) lead out of the swim with Cave and Lang and Whitcombe exiting within 11 seconds of her. Tucker too, was also not far behind, as all four British women made it into the lead bike pack of about 16 athletes.
The British women stayed towards the front of the bike race. Cave winning the second bike prime at the end of the sixth of seven laps. Dittmer and Fernandes were first out of transition with Tucker, Whitcombe, Lang and Cave not far behind.
Fernandes moved into the lead on the first lap with Kathy Tremblay (Can) and Dittmer moving into second and third spots. Tucker was in 4th place and Whitcombe in 5th place with Lang and Cave drifting back into the teens. Fernandes continued to extend her lead leaving those behind her to fight out the other podium places.
Whilst Tremblay and Dittmer battled each other for the other two spots on the podium, Whitcombe moved past Tucker to chase them down. Whitcombe made a strong effort in the final lap to pull Tremblay and Dittmer back but just ran out of ground.
Tucker was caught on the last lap by some of the strong runners from the chasing bike pack and finished in 8th place. Lang finished 17th and Cave 19th.
Source: British Triathlon
More info: http://www.triathlon.org/