Posted: August 1, 2004

Triathlon: Anja Dittmer and Shane Reed Beat the Heat in Tiszaujvaros

Tiszaujvaros, Hungary: For immediate release: Conditions for the 8th stop on the ITU World Cup Series were complicated by the recent wave of storms that have swept across eastern Europe. The Tiszau River, location of the 2 lap, 1.5km swim portion of the event was swollen with a current much faster than normal. The slick organizing committee of this World Cup managed to safely manage the situation to ensure that the swim went off without a hitch.

In the women’s event Great Britain’s Olympic hopeful, Jodie Swallow moved to the front after the starter’s signal and exited the water with a 9 second lead over Annabel Luxford of Australia. Christiane Pilz of Germany led the chase pack from the water with a 24 second deficit.

The 40km bike course consisted of a 10km stretch to the centre of Tiszaujvaros, then 6 laps with 10 technical corners each lap. Luxford and Swallow were chased down on the way to the city by British team-mates Leanda Cave and Anneliese Heard, German team-mates Christiane Pilz and Anja Dittmer, Olga Generalova of Russia, Pilar Hidalgo of Spain, and Lenka Radova of the Czech Republic. The lead group worked like a well-oiled machine and increased their lead over the chase group on each of the laps. Anastasia Yatsenko of the Ukraine and Carole Peon of France worked hard at the front of the chase group, which numbered 12 and included Olympic hopefuls Maxine Seear of Australia, Mieke Suys of Belgium, Machiko Nakanishi of Japan, Erika Molnar of Hungary, Nina Anisimova of Russia and Renata Berkova of the Czech Republic.

Jodie Swallow was not able to stay the pace at the front and by the halfway point had dropped back 56 seconds and was caught by the chase group on the 4th lap.

Anja Dittmer pulled the lead group through the 5th lap, as Erika Molnar, cheered on by the thousands of home-country spectators that lined the course, energised the chase group. They were able to make up some time on the leaders from their 1:50 deficit at the 30km mark to 1:34 at the bike to run transition.

Pilz was first off the bike with Hidalgo and Dittmer on her heels followed by Radova and Cave. Hidalgo and Dittmer stayed at the front on the first lap with Luxford and Radova dropping back 19 seconds. Pilz and Cave were not able to stay the pace and dropped further back. By the 5km mark Dittmer was in control and comfortably ahead of Hidalgo by 14 second as Luxford and Radova were engaged in a seesaw battle for the final podium step 1:14 behind the leader.

The ease with which Dittmer cruised through the final lap sent a signal through the triathlon world that her preparations for Athens are definitely on track. With air temperature soaring to over 30oC, she posted the fastest time on the Tiszaujvaros course and appeared to have lots left in the tank. Pilar Hidalgo, also impressive in the heat, was second 26 seconds back. Lenka Radova won the battle for the podium, dropping Luxford on the final lap, with Christine Pilz rounding out the top 5

Top 10 results are:

Place Name Country Finish Time
1 Anja DITTMER GER 1:52:35
2 Pilar HIDALGO ESP 1:53:01
3 Lenka RADOVA CZE 1:53:50
4 Annabel LUXFORD AUS 1:54:11
5 Christiane PILZ GER 1:54:42
6 Leanda CAVE GBR 1:55:11
7 Maxine SEEAR AUS 1:55:34
8 Marion LORBLANCHET FRA 1:55:38
9 Renata BERKOVA CZE 1:55:40
10 Mieke SUYS BEL 1:55:46

In the men’s event Russia’s Ivan Vassiliev and France’s Stephane Poulat set the pace at the front, with Marko Albert of Estonia, Volodymyr Polikarpenko (last year’s winner) of the Ukraine, Shane Reed of New Zealand, David Dellow of Australia and newcomer Lorenc Balogh of Hungary in contact with the leaders.

Vassiliev was first to exit the water, then Poulat and Albert, with Polikarpenko, Dellow, Balogh and Reed catching the train to form a tight group of 7 at the front.

The chase group of 11 was led out of the water by Anton Chuchko of Russia, followed by Daniel Sapunov of Kazakhstan, Jan Frodeno of Germany and home-town favourite Csaba Kuttor of Hungary. By the time they hit the town, they were 31 seconds behind the leaders.

The fine-tuned machine at the front worked it’s magic through the technical course, much to the delight of the thousands of triathlon-crazy spectators that lined the course. They increased their lead to 53 seconds by the 20km mark, then to 1:22 at 30km. Britain’s Olympic hopeful Andrew Johns was trapped inside the 2nd chase pack at this time, along with World Cup leader Dimitri Gaag of Kazakhstan, almost 3:00 back as they entered the final lap of the bike.

Dellow was first off the bike, and he swept through transition and posted a 1:40 lead on the chase group. Reed and Balogh emerged onto the 4 lap run course next as both the air temperature and the air of excitement heated up.

Shane Reed, know as “Snuffy” because of the cartoon character he created, overtook Dellow on the first lap and never looked back. Stephane Poulat moved up to Reed, but was never able to overtake the wily Kiwi. By the 5km mark Reed had a 17 second lead on Poulat as Polikarpenko solidified his hold on 3rd place by dropping Dellow.

Reed had a 46 second lead on Poulat as he arrived at the finish to a deafening roar from the crowd. Volodymyr Polikarpenko, the 2003 World Cup overall winner held off a surging Vassiliev for 3rd, as David Dellow moves up in World Cup series by rounding out the top 5.

The men from the Ukraine surprised everyone by placing 3 in the top 10, as Polikarpenko’s team-mates Andrey Glushchenko and relative newcomer Andrey Turbaevskiv ran from the chase pack into 6th and 7th.

In his post-race interview, Shane Reed said, “I was very disappointed not to make the New Zealand Olympic team, but I sure wish the lads the best of luck on the day. I’m very happy to win the Tiszaujvaros World Cup – it is such an unbelievable event. There is no where like this for spectators and atmosphere. I’m looking forward to the next World Cup in Hamburg, which is another great event.”

Top 10 results are:

Place Name Country Finish Time
1 Shane REED NZL 1:41:34
2 Stephane POULAT FRA 1:42:20
3 Volodymyr POLIKARPENKO UKR 1:42:46
4 Ivan VASSILIEV RUS 1:43:02
5 David DELLOW AUS 1:43:14
6 Andrey GLUSHCHENKO UKR 1:43:22
7 Andrey TURBAEVSKIY UKR 1:43:28
8 Igor SYSOEV RUS 1:43:35
9 Marko ALBERT EST 1:43:35
10 Andrew JOHNS GBR 1:43:54
 

The World Cup circuit takes a break now as everyone’s focus turns to the Athens Olympic Games Triathlon set for 25, 26 August. Action will start up again in September with the Hamburg World Cup on 4, 5 September, Madrid World Cup 19 September and Gamagori World Cup on 26 September.

Complete information from Tiszaujvaros is available on www.triathlon.org, including complete results, updated World Rankings, photos, and video. A 52 minute television show will be distributed to broadcasters around the world within the coming weeks.

For more information about ITU, ITUtv.com or the World Cup series, please visit www.triathlon.org or contact ITU Headquarters at email: ituhdq@triathlon.org.