Posted: June 3, 2007

Triathlon: Michelle Dillon third at Madrid BG Triathlon World Cup

Michelle Dillon took her second BG Triathlon World Cup podium of 2007 with third place in Madrid, Spain. Dillon, who finished runner up to race winner, Vanessa Fernandes, in both the World Duathlon Championships and the Lisbon World Cup event, had to settle for third behind the Portuguese athlete and New Zealander, Andrea Hewitt. Having come out of the swim nearly two minutes down on the leaders, Dillon worked hard on the 40km bike to move through to the lead pack with debutant, Rosie Clarke. Although she could not match the pace of Fernandes, she ran the entire 10km with New Zealand's Andrea Hewitt, before just being out sprinted in the final 100m. Clarke, sister of World Under 23 Champion, Will, had a superb World Cup debut, coming through the field to finish an impressive 15th place against top senior international opposition. Britain's other competitor, Vanessa Raw, pulled out on the run after the first lap when in sixth position. 1. Vanessa Fernandes, Portugal 2. Andrea Hewitt, New Zealand 3. Michelle Dillon, Great Britain 4. Annabel Luxford, Australia 5. Elizabeth May, Luxembourg - 15. Rosie Clarke, Great Britain Britain's Stuart Hayes lead for most of the men's race having broken off the front of the bike with Axel Zeebroek of Belgium and Didier Brocard of Switzerland, forging a 85 second lead onto the run. Although he stayed ahead for 7km of the 10km run, he was eventually caught by Filip Ospaly of the Czech Republic and Javier Gomez of Spain. The Czech and Spaniard fought it out for the remainder of the race before Ospaly sprinted away in the home straight to disappoint the local crowds. British World Triathlon Champion, Tim Don, had a solid return to World Cup racing following a number of winter training injuries. Don stuck in the main pack on the bike before he ran his way up to sixth, whilst Hayes dropped back down the field to tenth. World Under 23 Champion, Will Clarke, crashed out on the bike whilst leading at the front of the main pack. He went down heavily having clipped wheels with another rider, but fortunately got up and walked away. Richard Stannard was 24th. The British elite competitors will now return to home soil to race at next weekend's second round of the Corus Elite Series in Bryn Bach Park, Wales, which doubles up as the British Triathlon Championships. 1. Filip Ospaly, Czech Republic 2. Javier Gomez, Spain 3. Ivan Rana, Spain 4. Daniel Unger, Germany 5. Maik Petzold, Germany - 6. Tim Don, Great Britain 10. Stuart Hayes, Great Britain 24. Richard Stannard, Great Britain