Richard Stannard and Sam Herridge Take Crowns

Sunday, 17th June 2007

Sunday June 17th, 2007 was a triumphant day for 2500 triathletes as they competed in the 17th annual Nokia Windsor Triathlon. The day saw victory, fall to Britain's elite  triathletes Sam Herridge and Richard Stannard for the first time.  

Racing started for the thousands of competitors in near perfect conditions at 6:00am with the age-group sprint (750m swim/29k bike/ 5k run) and Olympic distance (1500m swim/40k bike/10K run) races before the Women's elite wave started at 9:00am.

In the elite women's race it was Sam Herridge who dominated from start to finish exiting the Thames swim in 21m22s with a lead of over one minute. A chasing pack of four athletes including Yvette Gryce, Eloise Crowley, Jodie Stimpson and race favourite Karen Sindall, who all worked hard together on the bike to break down the lead.

However Sam managed to maintain momentum and hold on alone, heading on to the run with an impressive three minute lead, which proved too large a margin for the chasing pack to close down, crossing the line in 2:11:55, nearly two minutes ahead of silver placed Yvette who over took Jodie on the 3rd lap of the run, finishing in 2:13:44 and 2:14:22 respectively.

Sam comments: "I went off hard on the swim and was stunned to have made such a lead. I managed to keep the momentum going and hold off the others on the bike, then just dug in hard on the run to take my first win at Windsor. It was a fantastic event and Im absolutely thrilled to have been crowned Champion."

World Aquathlon Champion, Richard Stannard was victorious in the men's elite race, his first podium win in its 17 year history, in a battle that was hard fought. Renowned for his strong swim, he exited together with Harry Wiltshire followed immediately by a chasing pack of 15 20 competitors with a 25 second lead over their pursuers. The pack, headed up by James Cotton, included juniors Dom Brook, Steve Worthington, Ritchie Nicholls and 1993 winner, Colin Dixon, the only returning champion to the event this year.

Richard and Harry worked hard on the bike together and built up their lead to 1min 07 sec as they went out head to head into the run. However Harry was unable to maintain the pace and was soon chased down by Ritchie Nicolls and Steve Worthington. Ritchie continued in hot pursuit of the title, putting Stannard under pressure all the way to the finish line, who held on to take victory in 1:54:43. Ritchie's stunning run was the fastest run of the day and saw him finish only seconds behind in 2nd place - proving that he is a force to be reckoned with for the forthcoming 2012 Olympics. 

Richard commented "I'm absolutely thrilled to finally have taken first place at Windsor and to add my name to the list of World Leaders. It's a real confidence boost for the season ahead and the looming 2008 Beijing Olympics. Whilst my race strategy went to plan I couldn't have succeeded without Harry or the crowds of support who provided an amazing atmosphere. This is a fantastic race and I look forward to defending my title again next year.

John Lunt of Human Race commented, "It was great to see so many competitors providing some very exciting racing amongst our elite and age group athletes. The event saw some of the best conditions we've had in it's 17 year history and the towns of Windsor and Eton provide a perfect venue for this race and it was fantastic to see so many spectators supporting our sell out event."

For full race results and information on the Nokia Windsor Triathlon visit www.humanrace.co.uk. The event will be broadcast on Eurosport (provisionally scheduled on 2 July) and Channel 5 (date and time to be confirmed).

Source:  Press Release

Full results and event information available at www.humanrace.co.uk