Fernandes and Gemmell Take Gold at Last Corner Brook World Cup

Sunday, 23rd July 2006

A gray, misty day welcomed the world's top triathletes to the final edition of the Corner Brook BG Triathlon World Cup.  The elated crowds watched young phenomenon and world ranked number one Vanessa Fernandes from Portugal win her tenth straight and Kris Gemmell from New Zealand win only his second world cup on the gruelling but scenic course. 

"It was a tough day for me but I am happy," stated Fernandes.  "This was a key race for me as it is the first peak of my season and now I will take a small break to prepare for the world championships in Switzerland."

Fernandes was trailed closely by seven-time world cup winner Anja Dittmer from Germany and Italian Nadia Cortassa, who finished second and third respectively.

"This is the fourth time I have finished second this year," said Dittmer.  Speaking about her second place finishes at the Mazatlan and Richards Bay world cups and European Championships.  "I always seem to lose to Vanessa and Emma [Snowsill] who are the two top girls in the sport.  So that puts me right up there."

Early in the swim, world ranked open-water swimmer, Sarah McLarty from the USA and team mate Sarah Haskins built a lead of almost a minute on a large group containing Fernandes, Dittmer, Cortassa, Lauren Groves (CAN), Emma Moffatt (AUS), Julie Swail (USA) and Becky Lavelle (USA). On the bike course the two Americans would keep their lead on the seventeen member chase group for the entire six-laps, coming into second transition over one minute ahead.

Once on the gruelling run course, it was Fernandes who quickly pulled away from the rest of the chase group and catching Haskins and McLarty by the three kilometre mark.  After this it was a race for second place.  Dittmer and Moffatt ran together for most of the run but as the course went on, it was Moffatt who faded over the last two kilometres and fell to a fast approaching Cortassa. 

It was Samantha McGlone from Canada though who ran her way from the second chase group up to fourth place with the fastest run of the day. Moffatt rounded out the top five with another good performance following her second place finish at the Edmonton world cup only two weeks ago.

As the fifty eight men took their positions on the start pontoon the rain continued to fall in the Corner Brook valley.  It was New Zealander Gemmell who, with a finish time of 1:54:55, stole the win with a well-planned move late in the bike.  Canadian favourite Simon Whitfield rallied the spectators with the fastest run of the day to come within eleven seconds of the win.  The 23-year-old sensation Javier Gomez from Spain captured the bronze medal a further five seconds back bringing him into second place overall in the BG Triathlon World Cup series rankings.

This win was a great thing for me, said Gemmell.  This is probably the hardest course on the circuit.  It is a shame this is the last one.

Gomez, Andy Potts (USA) and Courtney Atkinson (AUS) gained a small advantage on the swim leading a large group out of the water and up the steep incline to transition one.  They were quickly caught on the bike however and became a group of twenty-seven.  This group continued to cruise along together making it seem as though it would become a runner's race.  It was on the fourth of the six lap course that the two Belgium athletes broke away and the dynamics of the race changed dramatically.

The turning point of the race was when Gemmell jumped on the Belgium riders' wheel.  The second pack decided not to give chase but instead let the Gemmell, Peter Croes (BEL) and Axel Zeebbroek (BEL) pull away.   These three worked extremely well together over the last two laps, stretching their lead to over two minutes by second transition.

"I wanted to break away on the bike so I hopped on with the Belgium boys when they went," commented Gemmell. "We worked really hard together. I pushed on the hills and they, being bigger then me, pushed on the flats."

Once on the run it was a cat and mouse game as Gemmell went into cruise mode hoping not to blow up over the hilly and challenging run course knowing that some of the strongest runners in the sport were behind him.  Chasing were Whitfield, Gomez, Potts, Atkinson, Ivan Raña (ESP), Hunter Kemper (USA), and Reto Hug (SUI).  Whitfield, Gomez and Potts pulled away from the rest of the group within the first 2 kilometres and soon it was only Whitfield and Gomez in the chase.

As Gemmell ran to victory it was Whitfield that managed to dig deep and pull away from the strong Spaniard to take second place. 

"As you get a little older, you start to wonder whether you can still do it," commented Whitfield.  "I had a battle with my head today about whether I could beat Gomez and I did, so I am very happy.  Gomez is considered one of the bet runners on the circuit and it felt very good to beat him."

"It was a great day for me," responded Gomez.  "I remember watching Simon win at the 2000 Olympics and wishing I could be him.  Today I was running right with him."

Potts continues to impress with a strong run to finish in fourth place.  Raña rounded out the top five. Full results, photos and audio are available on triathlon.org.

Source:  ITU

More info: www.triathlon.org