Gomez, Luxford win in Wanaka
Javier Gomez has emerged triumphant at Challenge Wanaka, holding off a fierce challenge from Braden Currie.
The Spaniard won the middledistance triathlon ( 1.9km swim, 90km bike, 21.1km run) in a record time of 3hr 57min 27sec, 17 seconds ahead of his nearest rival, who was crowned the New Zealand national champion.
American Jesse Thomas finished third, two minutes further back.
Gomez made the decisive move in his battle with Currie with 12km to go in the run, at the top of Gunn Road Hill, and wiped nearly 20 minutes of Currie’s six-year-old course record.
‘‘Braden put a lot of pressure on me and I had to run way faster than expected but I was very happy with how my fitness is,’’ Gomez said.
‘‘I love bike courses like this that are really up and down. We did a good job at the front but in the last 15k some of the guys caught us, which made it really tough. But luckily I managed to pace myself enough at the beginning of the run so I had some energy left for the end, which I really needed.
‘‘It was a really tough day; I had to give absolutely everything to win. I really enjoyed it, it was a great course and a great day and thanks everyone for the support out there.’’
Australian Annabel Luxford won the women’s race, by 11 seconds from Great Britain’s Laura Siddall.
Luxford had led out of the water, but Siddal caught her on the bike, only to lose the lead in the transition to the run.
The gap fluctuated between 10 and 45 seconds, but Siddall was never able to close it, so she finished second for the fourth year in a row.
New Zealand’s Amelia Watkinson was crowned national champion after finishing third. ‘‘I was lucky to have a good swim and felt great on the first half of the bike but was losing quite a bit of time to Laura,’’ Luxford said.
‘‘When she caught me I knew I had to race tactically. She’s an old hand at this course and I certainly wasn’t going to give her anything. On the run when she started closing on me at the end, I saw her full distance strength coming through but managed to hold her off.’’