Emma Moffatt upstaged her more celebrated training partner, Olympic champion Emma Snowsill, as the Australian pair blitzed the field in the Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship race in Washington DC.
Moffatt executed a near-perfect race, emerging from the water in second place after the 1500-metre swim, settling well in the lead pack during the 40km ride and striding to the lead early in the 10km to assert her authority. Two US athletes, Sarah Haskins and Mary Beth Ellis, had ridden aggressively at the end of the bike leg to open up a 25-second lead, but Moffatt reeled them in over the first few kilometers of the run and powered on to win convincingly.
“It’s a nice little change,” Moffat said of reversing the tables on Snowsill to claim her third major ITU race victory. “It’s nice to come away with a win because it’s a bit of a surprise. The conditions were good – not too hot, a little windy, but it was a good day for racing.”
“I felt comfortable on the bike and I had a smooth transition from the bike to the run. I like to go out reasonably hard at the start of the run and fortunately that paid off today.”
It was a different story for Snowsill, who was battered in the swim and emerged in no man’s land in ninth place out of the water. She was initially forced to ride by herself before linking with a chase pack that included some quality riders. Together they worked well to haul in the seven pacesetters, which included Moffatt. It took Snowsill some time to find her rhythm on the run but the classy Queenslander steadily worked her way through the field to take silver, comfortably ahead of Daniella Ryf of Switzerland.
“My first couple of hundred metres were okay in the swim, but I got pretty beaten up after that and copped a couple of kicks, so I didn’t feel great out of the water,” Snowsill said.
“Riding alone for a while didn’t help because I burnt some energy, but I managed to get in a group and we worked together to make up some time. When I’m coming off a big block of training it takes me a while to work into the run and that was certainly the case today. Moffy flew out of the blocks and was gone that quickly no-one was going to catch her.
“It was a tough day, but that’s racing. You learn to deal with whatever’s thrown at you and you do your best to come back from it. ”
Annabel Luxford’s day was marred by misfortune, suffering a puncture when she was firmly entrenched in the lead bike pack over the closing stages. Erin Densham withdrew on the eve of the race due to sickness.
RESULTS: DEXTRO ENERGY TRIATHLON – ITU WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Race 3 in Washington, DC, USA
1 . Emma Moffatt , Australia
2. Emma Snowsill , Australia
3. Daniella Ryf , Switzerland
4. Sarah Haskins, USA
5. Helen Jenkins, GBR
6. Andrea Hewitt , NZ
BLK1 Article: TRIATHLON AUSTRALIA Photographer: DELLY CARR
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