"Austrian Pro Eva Dollinger led the women out of the water with Merje Kiviranta and Heike Funk not far behind. Most of the contenders were hovering around 2.5 - 3 minutes behind after the swim, but Swiss cycling phenom Karin Thürig had lost more than 7 minutes to Dollinger and more than 4.5 minutes to Van Vlerken and Csomor.
Quite a bit changed during the bike, and Van Vlerken pushed hard for the lead. Thürig though came flying through from behind and her 2:18:34 bike split was almost 9 minutes faster than the times ridden by Van Vlerken and Csomor. Defending champion Sandra Wallenhorst overcame a slower swim and managed to put herself into 4th position by the time she reached the second transition.
Thürig started the run with a 2 minute lead over Van Vlerken and Csomor, but the 2 pursuers were clearly running faster. Csomor and Van Vlerken cut the lead into half by the 6k mark and a few miles later pushed past the tall Swiss pro. Van Vlerken got away from Csomor late in the run but Csomor clawed her way back to the front and in the end the 2 women were forced to sprint for the title. Van Vlerken edged out Csomor by 0.2 seconds to take the title in course record time. Thürig held on for the final podium spot."
Congrats Yvonne....what a great way to start the season!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment