McIlroy holds on for top ten on a 'flat day' in Yokohama

Kate McIlroy made the most of a bad day at the office when finishing 9th at the latest round of the ITU World Triathlon Series in Yokohama today, a result that leaves the Wellington athlete 7th in the overall series standings after three races.

If San Diego hinted at it though, Yokohama has well and truly confirmed Gwen Jorgensen (USA) as the new leading lady in the sport of triathlon as the American again destroyed the field in winning back to back titles on the ITU World Triathlon Series and took the overall Series lead with 5 races to go this season.

Conditions played a huge part with constant rain and cooler temperatures making for a treacherous race at times, with numerous crashes on the bike. But it was Jorgensen who reigned supreme, running down Emma Moffatt (AUS) and Jodie Stimpson and then simply running off into the distance.

McIlroy was prominent throughout the race, in particular on the bike, but simply had nothing in the tank once out on to the run.

“Obviously the run was not great, I just felt pretty flat today. It is not what I went into the race planning to do but to still finishing the top ten is pretty respectable and considering how I felt, I felt like I was running on the spot, so it is not a bad end result.”

Mariko Adachi (JPN) led out the swim, taking Moffatt with her as they established a lead of 10 seconds out of the water. Moffatt immediately pushed the pace on the bike, dropping Adachi as Stimpson closed quickly, aware of the danger Moffatt would pose should she break away solo.

That urgency soon dissipated however as the chase group caught and formed one group of 13 athletes, with all the favourites in attendance including Jorgensen, McIlroy and former Junior World Champion Kirsten Sweetland (CAN).

The race took a new complexion when the rain started to fall, leaving the roads treacherous and the athletes tentative. Ai Ueda and Natalie Van Coevorden crashed in the chase group but the biggest impact proved to be on the leaders as they slowed considerably, allowing the chasers to close to 32 seconds with two laps to ride on the 40km bike leg and then just 17 seconds with one lap to go as Maaike Caelers (NED) drove the chase group on.

Halfway through the run and it was looking like a repeat from San Diego with Moffatt and Stimpson driving the pace but lurking ever close was the long striding figure of Jorgensen, the American closing the deficit to 6 seconds with 5km to run and within another 400m she joined the leaders as they strode away from the field to win by ?? seconds.

McIlroy had earlier given the race a shake up on the bike, but it was to prove fruitless.

“It was half way through the bike when the rain got heavy and the bike pace slowed down, everyone was cautious about the white lines on the road getting really slippery and it was a chance for the chase group to bridge the gap and we became one big pack. I talked to Emma Moffatt and she was keen to try and ride hard with me, obviously it didn’t happen but we gave it a bit of a crack and managed to up the pace for a few laps but then the rain came down and it got shut down.

“It was just one of the days when nothing quite gels and you don’t feel great but you just have to get it done basically.”

The men’s race is currently underway and is covered live on SKY Sport 3 in New Zealand

For complete results from Yokohama, click here

For the latest ITU World Triathlon Series rankings, click here