Africa Triathlon

It was a great start to the 2010 Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series for Kiwi veteran Bevan Docherty, who was victorious in Sydney, winning with a breakaway on the final lap of the run. Docherty won with a time of 1:51:27. It’s the second year in a row that Docherty has kicked off the world championship season with a win.

“It was a real tough course today,” Docherty said. “It was much harder than I expected, but I felt good heading into the final lap and was able to make a break. Winning in front of the Sydney Opera House is amazing.”

Behind Docherty was ahead of a pair of surprise podium finishers. Russia’s Alexander Brukhankov finished six seconds back of the Kiwi, barely holding off France’s David Hauss, who finished third, one second behind the Russian.

Fifty-seven men took to the water’s of Farm Cove in beautiful Sydney Harbour to officially kick off the 2010 World Championship Season. Russia’s Alexander Brukhankov and Frenchman Frederic Belaubre immediately moved to the front, but were unable to make a break on the first 750-metre lap. The pack started to string out on the second loop, with the Russian men charging to the front. Russia’s Dmitry Polyansky led out of the swim, with a big group of almost 50 athletes exiting just behind.

Onto the first of eight laps on the bike, Aussie youngster James Seear, who finished third at the Mooloolaba World Cup two weeks ago, took over the leading role at the start of the hilly ride, with Docherty right on his wheel. Aussie Greg Bennett assumed the role of leading the chasers and kept the peloton within 10 seconds of the leaders throughout the first two laps.

At the halfway point of the ride, Belgium’s Peter Croes took charge of the race, with Russia’s Anton Chuchko and Spanish super-biker Ivan Rana on his wheel. Frenchman Laurent Vidal lead the group of big hitters, only eight seconds behind. Riding with Vidal were 2008 Olympic champion Jan Frodeno of Germany, Hunter Kemper of the United States and Docherty.

Heading into the bell lap, Kemper and Chuchko worked together to make a break on the pack and started the final climb up Macquarie Street with a 35-second advantage on the pack. After a quick transition, Kemper headed out onto the four-lap run course in the lead, with Chuchko only seven seconds behind. Next into transition were France’s Tony Moulai and American Matt Chrabot, both 20 seconds back of Kemper. The big group made their way into T2 almost a minute behind Kemper, led by Docherty and countryman Kris Gemmell.

The pair of Americans began to pull away on the second lap of the run, building a 30-second lead but they weren’t able to hold off the hard charge from Docherty, who led a group of five chasers. The Kiwi made up half of that deficit on the third lap of the run, closing to within just 15 seconds. Running alongside Docherty were Brukhankov, Polyansky, Hauss and 2000 Sydney Olympic gold medallist Simon Whitfield of Canada.

Docherty, Brukhankov and Hauss caught the pair of leaders as they headed up the final hill on the bell lap, and there was little doubt that Docherty was running the strongest of the group.

“The plan was to go easy in the first kilometre on the run and hold back,” Docherty said. “That worked to perfection. Then I started dropping the other guys one by one.”

Docherty surged to the front and stretched his lead in the final kilometre, holding off the charge from Brukhankov and Hauss behind. The Kiwi broke the tape in 1:51:27, pumping his first as he sprinted down the finishing chute. 

Brukhankov outdueled Hauss in a sprint for second, with the pair separated by only a second at the finish.

“I had to push really hard at the finish,” Hauss said. “I’m really happy with third and I hope to be competitive throughout the rest of the season.”