Monday, June 22, 2009
ITU RELEASE: Brownlee wins back to back Dextro Energy Triathlon - ITU World Championship Series races with victory in Washington, DC
Washington DC, USA (June 21, 2009) - Great Britain's, Alistair Brownlee, capitalised on excellent race tactics to win his second Dextro Energy Triathlon - ITU World Championship Series with a time of 1:48:58 against the iconic backdrop of the White House in Washington, DC, USA.
Brownlee's victory also took the Brit to the top of the Dextro Energy Triathlon - ITU World Championship Rankings after the first three of the eight races. He displaces Russia 's Dmitry Polyansky who won yesterday's European Under 23 Championships in Italy . Australia 's Brad Kahlefeldt holds onto second ahead of compatriot Courtney Atkinson in third.
Brownlee was within the thick of the action from the very start as he helped to form a strong swim pack with 2008 World Champion Javier Gomez from Spain , Germany 's Maik Petzold and the strong USA duo of Andy Potts and Hunter Kemper. They managed to instigate a break away which carried onto the cycle, as Germany 's Olympic champion, Jan Frodeno, was frustratingly left just out of the action.
The lead pack of five were pegged at 40 seconds for much of the 40km cycle, however in the final couple of laps around the capital the chasers slackened the pace and allowed the leaders to pull out an unassailable two minute advantage by second transition.
Brownlee tried to utilise the same tactics that took him to victory in Madrid as he surged hard to open up an early lead on the run, however both Gomez and Petzold dug deep to reign him back in as the Americans were dropped. The three Europeans proceeded to tussle with each other until the final 2.5km lap when Brownlee made his move, pulling away from Gomez late on to
Further back Frodeno headed the chasers in sixth, but was unable to catch either Potts who took fourth or Kemper in fifth. Laurent Vidal from France finished seventh, just ahead of Jarrod Shoemaker who made it three USA athletes in the top ten for the host nation.
"It was great to have another good result at a world championship race. The venue here in Washington DC is fantastic; it's rare to get the chance to race in a setting like this, it was pretty amazing! It was a hard race, a windy bike and I really had to push on the run to get rid of the other guys. I kept looking behind me on the run and they were still there, and finally on the last lap they weren't," said Brownlee.
2009 Dextro Energy Triathlon - ITU World Championship Rankings
After Race Three of Eight
1. Alistair Brownlee (GBR) 1600pts
2. Brad Kahlefeldt (AUS) 1536pts
3. Courtney Atkinson (AUS) 1437pts
4. Javier Gomez (ESP) 1425pts
5. Jarrod Shoemaker ( USA ) 1372pts
2009 Washington DC Dextro Energy Triathlon - ITU World Championship
1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run
Elite Men - Unofficial Results
Gold - Alistair Brownlee (GBR) 1:48:58
Silver - Javier Gomez (ESP) 1:49:11 +0:13
Bronze - Maik Petzold (GER) 1:49:24 +0:26
4th - Andy Potts ( USA ) 1:49:51 +0:53
5th - Hunter Kemper ( USA ) 1:50:24 +1:26
6th - Jan Frodeno (GER) 1:50:32 +1:34
7th - Laurent Vidal (FRA) 1:50:36 +1:38
8th - Jarrod Shoemaker ( USA ) 1:50:41 +1:43
9th - Steffen Justus (GER) 1:50:52 +1:54
10th - Will Clarke (GBR) 1:50:59 +2:01
For more information on the Dextro Energy Triathlon - ITU World Championship Series, please visit www.triathlon.org
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The Dextro Energy Triathlon - ITU World Championship Series is a new global triathlon series at the highest level of the sport. It represents an innovative change by creating seven first-class World Championship events and a Grand Final rather than a one-day world championship event. The world's best triathletes will compete head-to-head, featuring live international television for the first time from every event. A record of over USD 3 million (total prize money available for world championship and world cup series) will be at stake in the battle to become triathlon's 2009 world champion.
For more information, please contact:
Stephen Bourdeau, ITU Media Manager
Tel: +1 780-702-2001 Email: stephen.bourdeau@triathlon.org