Posted: June 12, 2006

Triathlon: Snowsill and Kahlefeldt win in South Africa

SOUTH AFRICA, Richards Bay – A picture-perfect day in Richards Bay, South Africa welcomed the ITU athletes to the seventh stop of the 2006 BG Triathlon World Cup series.

Australia's Emma Snowsill - Photo: ITU/Spomedis

In the women’s race, Emma Snowsill from Australia led from the starting horn to the finish line, winning in a time of 2:03:11. The next closest competitor was Anja Dittmer from Germany who finished three minutes and thirty seconds behind with a time of 2:06:41. Vendula Frintova from the Czech Republic had here first world cup podium, finishing in third with a time of 2:06:58.

“I felt really strong out there,” said Snowsill. “I was really just testing myself. I haven’t raced since the Commonwealth Games and I wanted to see where I was at today.”

After a two and a half month break from winning the Commonwealth Games, Snowsill was back in full force, blowing the competition away. Snowsill exited the water with a sixteen second lead over the next group that contained Dittmer, Frintova, Samantha Warriner (NZL), Nicola Spirig (SUI) and local favourite Mari Rabie (RSA).

From there Snowsill decided not to wait for anyone else, breaking away on the bike, riding solo for the entire 40 km. A large chase group formed behind Snowsill but continued to lose time over each lap, eventually coming into the second transition 3:51 down.

“I couldn’t tell how far ahead I was on the bike so I put my head down and went for it,” stated Snowsill.

The chasers seemed uninterested in trying to catch Snowsill but instead were content to wait until the run to battle for the remaining two spots on the podium.

“Emma is so strong,” stated Dittmer. “On the bike we all decided to wait until the run and race for second place.”

Once the women hit the run course it was a race for second place. Dittmer went out like a shot and never look back finishing strong with the fastest run of the day. Frintova was able to hold onto her small lead over Canadian Lauren Groves to claim the last podium spot.

“It was a really good day for me,” explained Frintova. “It is really special to be on the podium in the first world cup in Africa.”

Groves had an impressive run to finish in fourth place and Lenka Radova from the Czech Republic rounded out the top five in fifth.

Live video, photos and full results are available at www.triathlon.org.

Australia's Brad Kahlefeldt - Photo: ITU/Spomedis

As the tide rolled in for the start of the men’s race, a full field of seventy-five men ran into the Indian Ocean for the start of the 2006 Richards Bay BG Triathlon World Cup. This was the inaugural BG Triathlon World Cup to be held in South Africa and as such was an historical event for the African nation and the triathlon community.

Commonwealth Games gold-medallist, Brad Kahlefeldt from Australia was the victor of the first ever African world cup triathlon today in a time of 1:52:59. He was followed closely by Reto Hug (SUI) and Jan Frodeno (GER), who used to live and train in South Africa. The two athletes finished second and third in times of 1:53:08 and 1:53:15 respectively.

“I’m surprised,” commented Kahlefeldt. “I haven’t been training since the Australian Championships and I didn’t sign up until Tuesday.”

The day began as expected with Australian powerhouse Craig Walton quickly moving to the front of the swim, creating a gap of twenty seconds heading onto the bike. From there, the Aussie rode on his own for the entire forty kilometres, mimicking his partner Emma Snowsill, who had dominated the women’s race earlier in the day.

Eventual winner Kahlefeldt was over one minute back from Walton and thirty seconds behind the first chase pack after a disastrous swim.

“That was the worst swim I’ve ever had,” stated Kahlefeldt. “At the start of the bike I was really hurting and I thought it just wasn’t my day.”

He and number one ranked, Mark Fretta (USA) worked hard to bridge the thirty second gap to eventually bring both groups together. Fretta was badly hurt, however, in a crash on the last lap of the course. He bravely road back to transition and was immediately taken to hospital with what seems like a broken collarbone.

“It was a big group that came together on the bike and that made it a runner’s race.”

Walton was able to increase his lead to over one minute twenty by the end of the bike and headed out on the run knowing some of triathlon’s top runners were close on his heels. It didn’t take long for the sports fleet-footed to catch Walton and quickly it was down to a lead pack of three as Kahlefeldt, Hug and Frodeno ran away from the rest of the field.

It was not until the last hill that Kahlefeldt made his move, dropping Hug and Frodeno, and running to his second world cup victory of 2006. Hug pulled away from Frodeno over the last few hundred metres to take the silver medal.

“We were lucky Walton didn’t get more then a minute ahead,” said Hug. “I was happy to stay with Brad and Jan and in the end, Brad was just too strong.”

Local hero Hendrik DeVilliers (RSA) had the race of his life finishing fifth in a three way sprint with Dmitriy Gaag (KAZ) and Daniil Sapunov (KAZ). The thousands of local spectators were ecstatic.

The quality of the field was exceptional with the top fourteen athletes finishing within one minute of the winner and fifteen athletes running under thirty-two minutes.

Craig Walton finished 35th.

2006 Richards Bay BG Triathlon World Cup results – Elite Women

1. SNOWSILL, Emma (AUS): 2:03:11
2. DITTMER, Anja (GER): 2:06:41
3. FRINTOVA, Vendula (CZE): 2:06:58
4. GROVES, Lauren (CAN): 2:07:05
5. RADOVA, Lenka (CZE): 2:07:38
6. HAIBOECK, Tania (AUT): 2:07:53
7. DOLLINGER, Eva (AUT): 2:08:07
8. SPIRIG, Nicola (SUI): 2:08:13
9. DAMLAIMCOURT, Marina (ESP): 2:08:51
10. UEDA, Ai (JPN): 2:09:07

2006 Richards Bay BG Triathlon World Cup – Elite Men

1. KAHLEFELDT, Brad (AUS): 1:52:58
2. HUG, Reto (SUI): 1:53:07
3. FRODENO, Jan (GER): 1:53:14
4. GAAG, Dmitriy (KAZ): 1:53:19
5. DE VILLIERS, Hendrik (RSA): 1:53:20
6. SAPUNOV, Daniil (KAZ):1:53:20
7. WEIMER, Christian (GER): 1:53:29
8. FONTANA, Daniel (ITA): 1:53:58
9. SMUROV, Dmitriy (KAZ): 1:53:43
10.FRIMAN, Doug (USA): 1:53:45

Comment on this story.

Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest