Sunday, April 26, 2009
Atkinson Makes it Back to Back World Cup Victories in Japan
Aussie wins for the fourth time in five years on the 'lucky' Ishigaki course
Ishigaki, Japan (April 26th, 2009) - Courtney Atkinson of Australia stormed home for his second world cup victory of the year at the 2009 Ishigaki ITU Triathlon World Cup this Sunday. This is Atkinson's fourth win at the Ishigaki race since 2005, which he deems 'lucky' after losing his wedding ring during the swim that same year. Atkinson's winning time of 1 hour 48 minutes and 24 seconds was 37 seconds quicker than Russia 's Ivan Vasiliev. The Russians scored a second medal in Ivan's younger brother Denis, who was third another 22 seconds back.
"I was probably more nervous today racing than usual, but I've won a fair few times here and to win my fifth race here is great," commented the 30-year old Atkinson. "I'm not the best in the cold, and it was a bit chilly here today. It was a bit difficult on the run as I don't often race the European guys so I didn't know how strong they were. But once I settled into my pace I was able to conserve a little bit of energy for next week whilst pulling away."
In similar fashion to his win at the Mooloolaba world cup a month ago, Atkinson powered away early in the bike segment, taking only a handful of competitors with him. After exiting the 1,500 metre swim in just under 17 minutes, Atkinson led a group of six, including the Vasiliev brothers, Aussie James Seear and Japan 's Hirokatsu Tayama, onto the hilly course. This packed worked extremely well together and increased their lead on the chasers on every lap. The lumbering chase group of 22, which included race favourites Jarrod Shoemaker of the USA and Germany 's Michael Raelert, was not as efficient and fell back to almost four minutes by the end of the 40 kilometre bike.
Atkinson immediately took charge and set a torrid pace on his way to 31:24 run time over the hilly 10 kilometre run. The Vasiliev brothers managed to keep the fleet-footed Aussie in view for only the first few kilometres and by then it was no doubt the Australian champ would take his second world cup victory of the season and sixth of his career.
"It's very difficult to say you can go out and win as there are so many different variables, but I hope I can get up with the top guys in Tongyeong next week and put in another strong performance," added Atkinson. "It will be my first back to back weekends of racing this season so it could be a good or bad thing."
Ishigaki ITU Triathlon World Cup
1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run
Elite Men - Unofficial Results
Gold - Courtney Atkinson (AUS) 1:48:24
Silver - Ivan Vasiliev (RUS) 1:49:01 +:37
Bronze - Denis Vasiliev (RUS) 1:49:23 +:59
4th - Vladamir Turbaevskiy (RUS)1:49:41 +1:17
5th - James Seear (AUS) 1:49:46 +1:22
6th - Hirokatsu Tayama (JPN) 1:50:13 +1:49
7th - Sebastian Rank (GER) 1:51:34 +3:10
8th - Jarrod Shoemaker ( USA ) 1:51:50 +3:26
9th - Kyle Jones (CAN) 1:51:59 +3:35
10th - Yohann Vincent (FRA) 1:52:03 +3:39
Official full field results are available here
The race was standard Olympic distance: 1.5-kilometer swim, 40-kilometer bike, 10-kilometer run. Click here for more event information.
Up Next: The debut of the new Dextro Energy Triathlon - ITU World Championship Series in Tongyeong Korea - May 2/3, 2009.
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