Posted: April 18, 2006

Triathlon: Groves Fifth in World Cup Race in Japan

The start of the 2006 race season has been nothing short of sensational for Vancouver native Lauren Groves.

Yesterday Groves finished in fifth place at the World Cup race in Ishigaki, Japan, her best ever World Cup performance, out-lasting 2-time World Cup winner, Andrea Whitcombe, who was sixth, 36 seconds behind Groves. Two weeks ago in Honduras, Groves won the ITU Roatan Bay Islands Pan American Cup beating 2004 Olympic silver medallist Susan Williams.

Groves is not only outracing some notable names, she’s also moving up the rankings. Lauren's fifth place in Japan earned her 31 World Cup Ranking points which puts Groves in a tie for 18th in the most recent World Cup rankings. Groves is now the highest ranked Canadian.

Pre race favourite, Annabel Luxford from Australia, pulled out early in the race due to a foot injury. This left the race wide open for New Zealander Debbie Tanner to claim the first victory of her career in a sprint finish with veteran Michelle Dillon (GBR). Last year’s winner Samantha Warriner, also from New Zealand, finished third only seconds behind. Lauren's time of 1:59:09 was just 35 seconds behind Tanner.

Groves had a blistering run time of 35 minutes flat, the fourth best run in the Women’s division. According to Barrie Shepley, a coach for some of Canada’s elite athletes, who was at the event broadcasting the race for the ITU, “Lauren looked great during the run and her confidence is at an all-time high right now.”

This was Lauren's first World Cup of the season and with plenty more on the schedule it looks to be a promising year for the 24-year-old. Lauren's other event this year, was an 8th place finish at the ITU Hobart Oceania Cup in Australia – Groves has finished in the top-8 in every race so far this season. Lauren’s next competition will be the World Cup race in Mazatlan on May 7.

Triathlon Canada is the National Federation for the Sport of Triathlon and Duathlon in Canada.

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