Posted: May 6, 2007

Triathlon: Fernandes and Gomez Grab gold at Inaugural Lisbon World Cup

LISBON - Vanessa Fernandes of Portugal and Javier Gomez of Spain won the inaugural Lisbon BG Triathlon World Cup in the Portuguese capital today. With a 1,500 metre wetsuit swim and a flat and technical 40 kilometre bike, both athletes would run to victory on the final stage of the course to earn valuable Olympic qualifying points on their quests to represent their countries at the 2008 Olympic Games. In total, 153 of the world’s top triathletes would traverse the unique course, which runs through a stadium on each lap, eventually finishing to the cheers of 16,000 filled seats. After exiting the water an unusual 36 seconds back from the leaders, the 2006 world cup series champion Fernandes, with determination on her face, was able to pull herself up to the lead group and run to gold in front of an estimated 40,000 elated Portuguese fans and the entire country watching on live television, in a time of 2:04:45. Veteran triathletes Michelle Dillon of Great Britain and Christiane Pilz of Germany were unable to catch the 21-year old sensation, finishing second and third, respectively. With the 15th world cup victory of her short career, Fernandes moves to the front of the 2007 BG Triathlon World Cup rankings. “To win in your country,” said Fernandes. “Where people can see how you compete and how you race… I am so happy today.” Seventy-two women dived into the Atlantic Ocean to start the 2007 Lisbon BG Triathlon World Cup under clear skies. From the starting horn it was Jill Savege of Canada, Sarah Haskins of the United States, Julie Swallow of Great Britain, Annabel Luxford of Australia, who would later have to withdraw due to mechanical problems on the bike, and Pilz who jumped to an early lead with Fernandes, Dillon and a number of other top contenders over 30 seconds down. “I had to push hard today for the first pack,” added the European champion. “Sometimes you are in the front and sometimes you are not. Sometimes you have to put your head down and work hard.” Out onto the 8-lap, 40 kilometre cycle through the Oriente district of Lisbon, Fernandes would not risk the possibility of losing the front group and was able to bridge the half a minute gap over the first five kilometres by herself. After building a small lead on the chase pack over the first few laps, the lead group would eventually be caught, bringing an enormous peloton of 49 riders together for the second half of the cycle leg. In the closing stages of the bike a crash unfortunately would end any chance for a podium on the day for a number top athletes, including top-ranked Joelle Franzmann of Germany. Onto the 4-lap, 10 kilometre run course, Fernandes immediately pulled away and never looked back with the fastest run split of the day, 34:21, to claim her 15th world cup title. To the cheers of thousands of spectators in the enclosed stadium finish, Fernandes was embraced by her father, who has only ever seen his daughter race once before, as she crossed the line. Dillon, who managed to come back from an 84 second deficit after the swim, was able to run herself into 2nd place with Pilz coming through in 3rd. “My father knows so much about me. He knows how I race and what I expect from myself,” commented Fernandes as the full stadium chanted her name. “He was so happy that my grandmother was able to see me race. It is very important to me.” “This is fantastic,” replied Pilz, on the chanting crowd. “It feels as though you are pushed. Like running on a cloud. The crowds cheered for everyone out there. Not just the Portuguese.” In the men’s event, the 23-year old Spaniard Gomez would also wait until the run to make his decisive move to breakaway from multiple world cup winner Filip Ospaly of Czech Republic and Commonwealth Games gold medalist Brad Kahlefeldt of Australia. Ospaly and Kahlefeldt would finish second and third, respectively. Gomez, who was out-sprinted a month ago by Kahlefeldt at the season opener in Australia, was hungry to get back to his winning ways after claiming the overall world cup series title last year. With his win, Gomez also moves to the lead of the 2007 world cup rankings and took home the lion’s share of the $US100,000 prize purse up for grabs. “It was a really hard race, commented Gomez, crossing the line in 1:52:41. “I have been training hard the last month and I knew I was in shape and running fast. In Mooloolaba, I had 2 months of training and for me it was a very good race to finish second with little training. Today I knew I was in better shape.” A 17 degree Celsius water temperature would mean a wetsuit swim for the athletes today and this made the difference as no one was able to break away during the swim and would lead to a large group of 43 athletes on the cycle course. On the technical, criterium-styled course there were a number of breakaway attempts over the 40 kilometres with only a final attempt by Brent McMahon of Canada and Stuart Hayes and Oliver Freeman of Great Britain successful, opening a 20-second gap. This would quickly be erased on the flat, 10 kilometre run course as many top runners including Gomez, Ospaly, Kahlefeldt, Jan Frodeno of Germany, Simon Whitfield of Canada and Rasmus Henning of Denmark would catch this small group after the first of four laps. From there it was Gomez who would pull away with his trademark acceleration at the 5 kilometre mark, dropping the other contenders. The 23-year old, engineering student continued to increase his lead to cruise home with a 30:54 run, the fastest on the day. “I wanted to be first out of transition with a really technical run it is not ideal to be in a pack,” commented current Oceania champion, Kahlefeldt. “I really pushed hard at the start. When Javier put the hammer down, I couldn’t really respond.” Henning would claim the fourth position with his first race back from a year off due to injury. Young Freeman would round out the top five for his best-ever world cup finish. The next round of the 2007 BG Triathlon World Cup series heads to Richards Bay, South Africa in one weeks time. 2007 Lisbon BG Triathlon World Cup – Elite Women results 1. FERNANDES, Vanessa (POR) 2:04:45 2. DILLON, Michelle (GBR) 2:06:06 3. PILZ, Christiane (GER) 2:06:30 4. HASKINS, Sarah (USA) 2:06:45 5. DUFFY, Flora (BER) 2:06:47 6. DI MARCO MESSMER, Magali (SUI) 2:06:53 7. SWEETLAND, Kirsten (CAN) 2:06:54 8. SPIRIG, Nicola (SUI) 2:06:56 9. DITTMER, Anja (GER) 2:07:03 10. FRINTOVA, Vendula (CZE) 2:07:04 2007 Lisbon BG Triathlon World Cup – Elite Men results 1. GOMEZ, Javier (ESP) 1:52:41 2. OSPALY, Filip (CZE) 1:52:53 3. KAHLEFELDT, Brad (AUS) 1:52:58 4. HENNING, Rasmus (DEN) 1:53:09 5. FREEMAN, Oliver (GBR) 1:53:20 6. FRODENO, Jan (GER) 1:53:40 7. MARCEAU, Olivier (SUI) 1:53:50 8. VIDAL, Laurent (FRA) 1:53:52 9. DEHMER, Sebastian (GER) 1:54:03 10. WHITFIELD, Simon (CAN) 1:54:12 Official full results with lap splits are available at: Results.Ultmate.dk. Visit the TU Online Media Centre for full results, updated rankings, athlete quotes. Photo Credit: Frank Wechsel/Triathlon.org