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1/2 Ironman Astana Brad Kahlefeldt craig alexander Cycling davide rebellin emma snowsill International Road Ironman ITU Javier Gomez Levi Leipheimer Marathon new york city marathon Olympic Olympics Paris Nice Running Slipstream Chipotle Swimming Tour de France Training triathlon Uncategorized vanessa fernandes
May 19, 2008
Battle over swimsuits moves to the courtroom
from the AP….
By PAUL NEWBERRY, AP Sports
With the Beijing Olympics less than three months away, the battle over swimsuits has turned into a lawsuit.
In a case sure to rock the swimming world, California-based TYR Sport went to federal court this week alleging that rival Speedo, manufacturer of the record-breaking “LZR Racer,” has conspired with USA Swimming to stifle competition and lure top U.S. athletes away from other companies.
The main issue: Speedo’s financial relationship with the sport’s American governing body and the head coach of the U.S. team, Mark Schubert.
May 12, 2008
Race Results: Men’s 2008 Lisbon European Champs
Frederic Belaubre, the champion from 2006 and 2005, led a French gold-silver sweep at today’s Lisbon ETU Triathlon European Championships. Tony Moulai took the silver while Swiss Olivier Marceau grabbed the bronze in an exciting photo finish. Surprisingly, defending champion Javier Gomez finished in seventh place, more than a minute and a half behind the champion Belaubre. Today’s race marked the first since the world championships in 2006 that Gomez failed to make the podium, an impressive streak that stretched 16 races.
Brit Richard Stannard was first out of the water with Belaubre and Stephane Poulat on his heels. Not far back was Gomez who was 14 seconds behind Stannard.
Out onto the flat 40-kilometer bike course, 47 men made up the lead group until Marceau broke off the front and held a 5-second lead after the first lap. After being joined by Slovak Pavel Simko, another five men broke away to join them by the end of lap three, which proved to be the turning point in the race. That group included a strong cycling trio from France with Belaubre, Moulai and Poulat. The lead pack of seven powered away from the field and created much needed separation from a host of great runners including Gomez, Czech Filip Ospaly, Brit Will Clarke and Ivan Rana of Spain.
May 12, 2008
Race Results: Women’s 2008 Lisbon European Champs
Portugal’s prodigious Vanessa Fernandes won a record-breaking fifth consecutive European Championship today, taking gold with a time of 2 hours, 5 minutes and 46 seconds. Italian veteran Nadia Cortassa took the silver, her fourth career medal at European championships. Swede Lisa Norden continued her breakthrough season, out-sprinting last year’s bronze medalist Nicola Spirig of Switzerland down the stretch for the bronze.
“It was a dream today. There were lots of people giving me strength,” said Fernandes at the finish line. “It is very important for me to show these people in Portugal what triathlon is. I can show Portugal what Portuguese athletes can do.”
Joelle Franzmann of Germany led the women out of the water with the day’s fastest swim. She left T1 with a 20-second lead over her chasers which included Magali Di marco of Switzerland and Eva Dollinger of Austria. Fernandes was a further two seconds back. But Franzmann’s solo ride on the flat 40-kilometer bike course did not last long as the chase pack quickly caught, forming a 13-woman lead group. Not far behind was cycling powerhouse Spirig who brought herself and four others up with the leaders.
May 9, 2008
US Cyclists can punch tickets to Beijing in Giro d’Italia
from USAtoday…
The Giro d’Italia begins on Sunday in Palermo, but for American riders, the real impact of the world’s second-biggest stage race will be felt in Beijing.
That’s because the Giro — the Tour of Italy — is a qualifying event for the U.S. Olympic Road Cycling Team. A win in any of the race’s three individual time-trial stages or a top five overall finish is an automatic ticket to China.
Astana’s Levi Leipheimer already qualified through his third-place finish in the 2007 Tour de France when he was with the now-defunct Discovery Channel team. Leipheimer will be in the Giro, but is riding in support of Spaniard Alberto Contador, winner of the 2007 Tour de France and another former Discovery rider now riding for Johan Bruyneel’s new team.
Other former Discovery/U.S. Postal riders are in contention. David Zabriskie, formerly of Discovery and Team CSC, is now with Slipsteam-Chipotle, as is former Postie Christian Vande Velde.
May 8, 2008
Race Preview: 2008 Lisbon European Champs
from Triathlon.org…
For the first time since 1999, the 24th edition of the ETU Triathlon European Championships head to Portugal to welcome Europe’s finest triathletes. With world class calibre fields comparable to most world cups, this Saturday’s event is one of the most coveted titles of the year. It will be the final ITU Continental Championship of 2008 and the men’s and women’s winner will earn their countries automatic spots at the Beijing Olympic Games. With such high stakes on the line, the best will be at the top of their games.
The home crowds will no doubt be vocal in its support of world champion Vanessa Fernandes, one of Portugal’s biggest sports stars who’s quickly becoming one of the greatest triathletes of all time. No woman has tasted European glory for the past four years as Fernandes won every year since 2004. In fact, every year she has taken the start line at an elite European championships, she has won gold. In 2003 Fernandes won the junior women’s title. This weekend she races for a record-breaking fifth consecutive European crown. Only the Netherlands’ Rob Barel has won four straight European titles from 1985 to 1988.
May 4, 2008
Race Results: 2008 Women’s Richards Bay BG Triathlon World Cup
from Triathlon.org…
Her previous world cup best was an eighth place finish in 2005 but none of that mattered as the elite women took to the start line in South Africa today. Carolyn Murray of Canada pulled off quite an upset, winning today’s Richards Bay BG Triathlon World Cup, the first world cup title of her career. Aussie Felicity Abram took the silver while last year’s silver medalist Magali Di Marco of Switzerland made the podium for the second straight year, holding on for bronze.
American Olympic hopeful Sarah Groff emerged from the water first and was up 22 seconds over the rest of the field. Riding alone on the 40-kilometer bike course, Groff had to work hard to build a 35-second lead. A large chase pack was in hot pursuit and cut the lead to just 13 seconds by the midway point of the bike segment. In the fourth lap, Groff was swallowed up by the chase group that included all the major pre-race favorites including German Ricarda Lisk, South African Mari Rabie, Nicky Samuels of New Zealand, Abram and Di Marco, the 2000 Olympic bronze medalist.
May 4, 2008
Race Results: 2008 Men’s Richards Bay BG Triathlon World Cup
from Triathlon.org…
It’s not often an athlete wins a world championship before a world cup but that’s exactly what German Daniel Unger has done. After a stunning performance in Hamburg last year to be crowned world champion, Unger won his first world cup today in another thrilling finish in Richards Bay. He becomes just the third German man to win a world cup and the first since Maik Petzold won in Salford in 2004, out-sprinting American Matt Reed and South African Hendrik DeVilliers down the final stretch.
Powerful swimmer Marko Albert of Estonia led the men out of the water and into T1. Just behind him were Swiss Sebastien Gacond and Volodymyr Polikarpenko of the Ukraine, last year’s silver medalist. Other notables were Matt Reed of the U.S. who was 12 seconds back of Albert and defending champion Hendrik DeVilliers of South Africa who was a further four seconds behind Reed.
April 30, 2008
Race Preview: Richards Bay - BG Triathlon World Cup race #5
from Triathlon.org…
After back-to-back world cups in Asia, the series shifts to Richards Bay, South Africa this weekend for the third consecutive year. The Richards Bay BG Triathlon World Cup on May 4 marks the 199th world cup event in ITU’s history.
Last year a historic milestone took place as Hendrik DeVilliers became the first African triathlete to ever win a world cup and he did it in his home country, thrilling the locals. He’s back this year to defend his title while teammate Erhard Wolfaardt, the runner-up to DeVilliers at this year’s African Championships looks for his best world cup performance on home soil. Fellow South Africans Kate Roberts and Mari Rabie, this year’s African champion, look for similar success in the women’s field.
April 28, 2008
Race Results: 2008 St. Anthony’s Triathlon
from InsideTriathlon…
American stars Matt Reed and Sarah Haskins defeated top international fields to take home $10,000 apiece today at the 25th anniversary St. Anthony’s Triathlon in St. Petersburg.
The men
Emphasizing that his upset win in the Olympic Trials last week at Tuscaloosa was no fluke, Reed outdueled top U.S. rival Andy Potts on the run for third St. Anthony’s victory Sunday in St. Petersburg.
“I’m on a roll,” said Reed, the 33-year-old, 6-foot 5-inch New Zealand native who celebrated his recent American citizenship with a chance to represent the red white and blue in the Olympics. “I’m really happy with how I’m going, but it’s even better that I still see room to improve.”
Reed and Potts, who finished second to Reed at Tuscaloosa, broke out to a minute lead out of the water, added another 50 seconds on chief rival Greg Bennett on the bike.
“I tried hard to drop Andy at the start of the bike,” said Reed. “But all credit to him, he stuck with me and made a great race of it.”
April 28, 2008
Race Results: 2008 Women’s Tongyeong BG Triathlon World Cup
from Triathlon.org…
New Zealand’s Beijing-bound Samantha Warriner claimed her sixth world cup title today in the 2008 Tongyeong BG Triathlon World Cup, the 198th world cup ever staged in ITU’s history. A strong swim put the top Kiwi at the front of the group and enabled her to utilize her running speed to cruise to gold medal in a time of 1 hour 49 minutes and 49 seconds. In second place was young Hollie Avil of Great Britain, 9 seconds back. This is the second podium in as many races for the 2007 Junior champion Avil. In third, following a strong finish to 2007, was Vendula Frintova of the Czech Republic, a further 22 seconds down.
“I’m pretty stoked,” said the 36-year old Warriner. “I was feeling good. In New Plymouth I made lots of mistakes. I made sure not to make the same mistakes here and it worked.”
“It’s just great to run with other athletes – like Sam [Warriner],” said the 18-year old Avil, with Tongyeong being only her second Olympic distance race ever. “I’ve never got to run with her before…it was a quick run today, it was ever more experience, more learning in the bag and I’m just loving it out there.”
