Posted: July 26, 2004

Triathlon: Britain Tri-umphant with Gold, Silver and Bronze IN Salford…

British Triathlon scored a hat-trick today IN Salford at the Countryside Properties Salford Triathlon ITU World Cup with Michelle Dillon (Gold, women’s race), Liz Blatchford (Bronze, women’s race) and Stuart Hayes (Silver, men’s race) picking up medals in a field described as the toughest this year in the world.

Race day began at 7am, in less than ideal wet and windy conditions with hundreds of amateur athletes participating in the people’s races including terminal cancer sufferer and superhuman charity fundraisers Jane Tomlinson and her daughters in the sprint race, as well as numerous other celebrities including celebrity chef Jean Christophe Novelli and ITV1 children’s TV programme star Tony Gardner (My Parents are Aliens), however their race stories were to only play second fiddle to the men’s and women’s elite races.

Women’s Race
A dominant run from Michelle Dillon saw her take victory in 2h09m05s from Australia’s Mirinda Carfrae (2h09m19s) and fellow Brit Liz Blatchford (2h09m22s) at the end of a dramatic race.

From the start the British and Australian teams marked their domination on the event with Leanda Cave leading the women out of the water over the timing mat, followed closely by Pip Taylor (Aus), Julie Dibbens (GBR) and Liz Blatchford (GBR).

Onto the 4-lap, 40km bike the Brits continued to control the race with five athletes in the lead pack, until the third lap when Dibbens and Jodie Swallow went down in a crash. Back into transition at the head of a lead group of ten was Germany’s Joelle Franzman, with Michelle Dillon in the chasing group seconds behind.

Out of transition and onto the run Michelle Dillon quickly made up the ground on the leaders and by the second of the three lap run had took lead with Cave, Blatchford and Carfrae close behind, only to seal her victory pulling away mid-way on the final lap.

On her race Dillon commented: “It was great, I had an amazing race and felt so good on the run. The Salford race is fantastic and the crowd really pulled me along. This has shown me what form I’m in to take forward to Athens.”

The Men’s Race
The men’s race once again saw two countries dominate, however this time it was the German and British teams, with Germany’s Maik Petzgold taking victory in 1h56m27s with Stuart Hayes (GBR: 1h56m45s) and Steffan Justus (GER: 1h56:51s) just behind.

The British team’s Richard Stannard and Stuart Hayes exited the water first and lead the main pack out onto the bike, with Hayes and a handful of riders making a decisive break on the third lap.

Onto the run Hayes was joined by the two German medallist and from the second lap onwards it was a three horse race with Petzgold making a decisive break on the final lap.

Petzgold’s victory sealed another fantastic day of racing in Salford, Britain’s home of World Class Triathlon.

For more information on the Salford Triathlon ITU World Cup visit www.trisalford.info, email info@trisalford.info or call the hotline on 0161 848 8601.

Men’s Results
Pos	First Name	Surname		Swim	Bike	Run	Total
1	 Maik	PETZOLD [GER]	00:17:58.85	01:04:39.65	00:33:49.30	01:56:27.80
2	 Stuart	HAYES [GBR]	00:17:52.10	01:04:52.15	00:34:01.05	01:56:45.30
3	 Steffan	JUSTUS [GER]	00:18:02.20	01:04:40.25	00:34:08.95	01:56:51.40
4	 Nick	HORNMAN [AUS]	00:18:04.90	01:04:38.00	00:34:24.15	01:57:07.50
5	 Filip	OSPALY [CZE]	00:17:53.65	01:05:58.05	00:33:24.45	01:57:16.15
6	 Simon	THOMPSON [AUS]	00:18:06.35	01:05:40.55	00:33:30.95	01:57:17.85
7	 Tim	DON [GBR]		00:17:55.05	01:05:53.35	00:33:31.95	01:57:20.35
8	 Ivan	RANA [ESP]		00:18:20.20	01:05:28.60	00:33:32.40	01:57:21.20
9	 Javier	GOMEZ [ESP]	00:18:09.80	01:05:42.85	00:33:32.35	01:57:25.00
10	 Richie	CUNNINGHAM [AUS]	00:18:22.70	01:04:20.80	00:34:55.95	01:57:39.45
11	 Kris	GEMMEL [NZL]	00:18:00.70	01:05:43.30	00:33:58.50	01:57:42.50
12	 Sven	RIEDERER [SUI]	00:18:16.40	01:05:28.20	00:34:00.45	01:57:45.50
13	 Seth	WEALING [USA]	00:17:58.50	01:04:45.50	00:35:06.75	01:57:50.75
14	 Richard	ALLEN [GBR]	00:18:03.85	01:05:43.45	00:34:15.60	01:58:02.90
15	 Clark	ELLICE [NZL]		00:18:12.40	01:05:35.05	00:34:21.45	01:58:08.90
16	 Hendrik	De VILLIERS[RSA]	00:18:04.25	01:05:42.45	00:34:28.70	01:58:15.40
17	 Igor	SYSOEV [RUS]	00:17:54.35	01:05:56.85	00:34:31.05	01:58:22.25
18	 Cedric	FLEURETON [FRA]	00:18:16.75	01:05:34.60	00:34:41.25	01:58:32.60
19	 Brad	KAHLEFELDT [AUS]	00:17:57.25	01:05:50.55	00:34:50.05	01:58:37.85
20	 Frederick	VAN LIERDE[BEL]	00:18:08.70	01:04:38.00	00:36:12.35	01:58:59.50
21	 Christian	RUDERER [GER]	00:17:51.05	01:04:57.35	00:36:15.75	01:59:04.15
22	 Joe	UMPHENOUR [USA]	00:17:59.20	01:05:59.80	00:35:09.50	01:59:08.50
23	 David	DELLOW [AUS]	00:18:01.30	01:05:51.20	00:35:23.30	01:59:15.80
24	 Peter	ROBERTSON [AUS]	00:18:06.00	01:07:16.80	00:34:04.45	01:59:27.25
25	 Raul	CORDOBA [ESP]	00:18:02.75	01:05:50.95	00:36:08.45	02:00:02.15
26	 Martin	KRNAVEK [CSE]	00:17:58.00	01:05:51.85	00:36:46.05	02:00:35.90
27	 Richard	STANNARD [GBR]	00:17:49.05	01:06:03.70	00:37:05.80	02:00:58.55
28	 Shane	REED [NZL]		00:17:56.15	01:05:51.45	00:38:43.35	02:02:30.95
29	 Claude	EKSTEEN [RSA]	00:18:26.35	01:05:24.25	00:38:41.30	02:02:31.90
30	 Danilo	BRUSTOLON [ITA]	00:18:25.90	01:09:38.40	00:36:31.20	02:04:35.50
31	 Fabio	GUIDELLI [ITA]	00:18:36.60	01:09:30.20	00:36:28.80	02:04:35.60
32	 Chris	HILL [AUS]		00:18:07.55	01:10:00.00	00:37:51.50	02:05:59.50


Women’s Results
Rank	First Name	Surname	Swim	Bike	Run	Total
1	 Michelle	DILLON [GBR]	00:20:08.85	01:11:46.85	00:55:57.70	02:09:05.90
2	 Mirinda	CARFRAE [AUS]	00:20:56.15	01:10:40.05	00:37:43.25	02:09:19.45
3	 Liz	BLATCHFORD [GBR]	00:19:21.30	01:12:00.45	00:38:00.55	02:09:22.30
4	 Ainhoa	MURUA [ESP]	00:19:22.30	01:11:57.60	00:38:07.15	02:09:27.50
5	 Maxine	SEEAR [AUS]	00:19:23.20	01:11:56.45	00:38:13.40	02:09:33.50
6	 Joelle	FRANZMANN [GER]	00:19:21.45	01:11:53.15	00:38:30.30	02:09:44.90
7	 Leanda	CAVE [GBR]		00:19:16.70	01:12:01.30	00:38:44.95	02:10:02.95
8	 Lucie	ZELENKOVA [CSE]	00:19:21.00	01:12:00.20	00:39:52.65	02:11:13.85
9	 Jessica	HARRISON [GBR]	00:19:23.45	01:11:52.95	00:40:07.05	02:11:23.45
10	 Olga	GENERALOVA [RUS]	00:19:26.50	01:12:07.25	00:39:58.20	02:11:31.95
11	 Pip	TAYLOR [AUS]	00:19:18.10	01:12:07.65	00:40:11.25	02:11:37.00
12	 Ricarda	LISK [GER]		00:19:24.60	01:11:53.85	00:40:27.45	02:11:45.90
13	 Nicola	SPIRIG [SUI]		00:20:47.65	01:10:49.00	00:40:37.10	02:12:13.75
14	 Brigitte	McMAHON [SUI]	00:20:07.10	01:11:38.75	00:40:38.60	02:12:24.45
15	 Debbie	TANNER [NZL]	00:19:22.05	01:11:52.65	00:41:46.45	02:13:01.15
16	 Megumi	SHIGAKI [JPN]	00:21:18.10	01:14:10.30	00:39:32.50	02:15:00.90
17	 Merja	KIVIRANTA [FIN]	00:21:16.10	01:14:05.80	00:39:44.15	02:15:06.50
18	 Kate	ROBERTS [RSA]	00:19:24.40	01:16:05.90	00:39:58.95	02:15:29.25
19	 Rika	TAKANASHI [JPN]	00:20:36.65	01:14:50.25	00:42:31.05	02:17:57.95
20	 Yukako	INOUE [JPN]		00:20:58.30	01:14:24.95	00:42:45.90	02:18:09.15
	 Helen	LAWRENCE [GBR]	00:19:31.80	DNF	DNF	DNF
	Jodie	SWALLOW [GBR]	00:19:22.80	DNF	DNF	DNF
	 Julie	DIBENS [GBR]	00:19:19.00	DNF	DNF	DNF
	 Nina	ANISIMOVA [RUS]	00:19:23.70	DNF	DNF	DNF
	 Jane	KARGOTICH [AUS]	00:20:15.00	DNF	DNF	DNF
	 Natasha	FILLIOL [GBR]	00:20:41.05	DNF	DNF	DNF
	 Kathleen	SMET [BEL]		00:20:16.70	DNF	DNF	DNF
	 Carole	PEON [FRA]		00:19:24.75	DNF	DNF	DNF
	 Tracy	LOOZE [NED]	00:21:20.05	DNF	DNF	DNF