Flora Duffy takes third straight WTS win
Just off the 750m swim pace, which saw Brazil’s Vittoria Lopes exit in a blistering 9:15mins, Duffy used her world-beating pedal power to bring herself and a group of almost 25 athletes up to the front.
By the end of the first lap, Duffy, USA’s Kirstin Kasper and GB’s Jess Learmonth had made their intentions known, working as a formidable threesome to put some serious space between them and the chasers.
Halfway through the six-lap 20km bike course, and the gap had grown to 25 seconds.
With just over 6km to ride, Duffy decided she needed some alone time, shooting off the front with the remaining duo unable to respond. By T2, Duffy had built herself a cushion of 41 seconds for the start of the 5km run.
With Duffy’s lead never in doubt, the race was on for the remaining podium places. Having beasted the last few laps of the bike leg as a pair, Kasper and Learmonth were soon swallowed up by the fresher-legged chase-pack athletes. The first to make the move to the front was Australia’s Ashleigh Gentle, who raced into second for her third silver-medal finish of the season.
The next was New Zealand’s Andrea Hewitt (and winner of the Gold Coast and Abu Dhabi race), who was kept honest by Germany’s Laura Lindemann, Jolanda Annen (SUI) and the USA’s Katie Zaferes. But the local crowd helped decide the outcome, cheering Lindemann to a bronze medal in a sprint finish over Zaferes.
