Adam and Elvery the best Kiwis in Hungary

Young Auckland triathlete Teresa Adam enjoyed her best finish on the ITU World Cup circuit with an impressive 15th place at Tiszaujvaros in Hungary overnight while 19 year old Rebecca Kingsford (Tirau) finished in 32nd as both continued their preparation for the U23 World Championships in Budapest next month.

The race was won by Yulia Sapunova (UKR) from Jodie Swallow (GBR) and Carla Moreno (BRA) with the Ukraine triathlete winning her first World Cup title in a sprint finish. Victory was a while in coming for the experienced Sapunova with over 50 ITU World Cup races under her belt before Tiszaujvaros.

Adam finished less than two minutes behind Sapunova in a race where results mattered less than vital experience ahead of the big event this year for both Adam and Kingsford, the elite U23 World Championships in Budapest next month.

In the men’s race leading New Zealanders James Elvery and Tony Dodds were in touch out of the water but found themselves in the main field watching a breakaway group of five riders put over a minute on the pack during the 40km bike ride. In a reminder of last year’s Russian podium clean sweep, the lead group included three Russians, Malyshev, Vasiliev and Turbaevskiy along with Australian Josh Amberger and Spaniard Godoy.

While the leaders were moving away, Elvery and Dodds were joined by teenager Tom Davison, Dylan McNeice and Ben Pattle in the main chase group that by now numbered 60, with Callum Millward a further minute behind and struggling after a poor swim.

Surprisingly though the lead group was run down on the 10km run home, albeit only in the final two kilometres with Reinaldo Colucci (BRA) flying home to claim victory from Crisanto Grajales (MEX) and Martin Krnavek (CZE), shutting the flying Russians off the podium they owned in 2009.

Elvery was the best of the Kiwis in 19th place with Ben Pattle in 32nd also holding his form reasonably well on the run, albeit never making an impression on the leaders. Tony Dodds will be disappointed with his 46th placing while teenager Tom Davison will have picked up invaluable experience in coming home 51st as both prepare for the U23 World Championships. Millward was next in 55th with McNeice fading on the run to come home 57th.

James Elvery writes from Tiszaujvaros:
“I had a solid race but nothing special coming in 19th on a rare mild day of around 25 degrees here in Tiszaujvaros. The swim went really well I was out 10secs off first out, but somehow the Russian train just slipped away from Dylan McNeice and myself as I looked down to get my shoe on. I tried like hell to get there; pushing 450-550 Watts for the first 3mins and I was holding them at 50m, but just couldn’t get on by myself. I couldn’t believe how hard they were going. Doddsy made it but got spat after about 8k and came back to us in the main pack. All the kiwis; Tony Dodds, Tom Davison, Ben Pattle and Dylan McNeice were there in the main group of about 55 following the lead group of 5, bar Callum Millward who struggled in the swim. I used my experience, knowing it would be a pack run and saved as much energy as possible through the demanding street circuit. I got off and was in touch with the lead runners for most of the run eventually running 31:38 which was a good 30 seconds faster than I ran here last year. I'm a little disappointed with my result, but know I am close to something good and feel like I know what I have to do to step up a level. I now need to race again next week in Geneva to get enough points to start in the Grand Final in Budapest which is my last major target for the year.”

Tony Dodds looks back on a race with a few ‘issues’:
I had an awesome swim felt pretty good got out about 5th and then good transition and we broke away from there...but I was on the back of a breakaway with 5 other guys and 3 of them were Russians then an Aussie and a Spanish guy. It was all on from the start and the "Russian pain train" put the foot flat, as I averaged over 400 watts for the first 5minutes I was in the hurt box! We had a good breakaway but after the first lap it was too much for my skinny running figure to handle and decided to pull back to the chase pack. All in all think it was a good decision as they put maybe 1minute on us. But from there I was still pretty hurt. Got off the bike and really didn't feel that great so basically knew from the start of the run it wasn't my day.

“Then after the first lap I saw my number on the penalty box, and for the 2nd time this year I got a penalty for getting on my bike too early but I clearly made sure that when I got on my bike that I was well over the mark and I was! So I am debating it. Plus they called out 18 and I was 19 but still they thought it was me so I had to stop for 15 seconds on the run. And that really made me frustrated so it topped the day off as I tried sprinting to catch everybody again, I blew up again s not the best!
“But good and bad things to take from the race. I know I have the running from there so just need to put it together at world champs. But after the penalty I just wanted to make the finish as I was debating whether to pull out, but kept chugging on and crossed the line with good mate and next door rival form Aussie Josh Amburger.”


Teresa Adam thoughts on Sunday’s race:
“I went into the race today with no expectations, ranked 35th and was stoked to end up in 15th in a race that came down to a pack run. I just wanted to push myself as hard as I could all day, and do the best I could. I saved a bit of energy for the run as improving my run is the main focus for me this year. I was really happy with my run time on a slightly long course; 36:01, which is a lot faster than I was doing at the start of the year, and faster than my 37:40 in Hamburg. Everything is tracking well for U23 Worlds in 5 weeks in Budapest and I've been loving training and travelling with the NZ squad to Boulder and now Germany. My next hit out is the Lausanne Sprint World Champs in 2 weeks. I now head back to Germany to keep things ticking over!”

ITU World Cup Triathlon
Tiszaujvaros, Hungary
Elite Women
1 Y Sapunaova (UKR) 2:01:01
2 J Swallow (GBR) 2:01:03
3 C Moreno (BRA) 2:01:12
4 A Jerzyk (POL) 2:01:20
5 E Jackson (AUS) 2:01:30
Plus NZers
15 T Adam (NZL) 2:02:44
32 R Kingsford (NZL) 2:04:32

Elite Men
1 R Colucci (BRA) 1:49:07
2 C Grajales (MEX) 1:49:10
3 M Krnavek (CZE) 1:49:13
4 Y Malyshev (RUS) 1:49:22
5 R Wild (SUI) 1:49:27
Plus NZers
19 James Elvery (NZL) 1:50:24
32 Ben Pattle (NZL) 1:51:01
46 Tony Dodds (NZL) 1:52:11
51 Tom Davison (NZL) 1:52:26
55 Callum Millward (NZL) 1:52:53
57 Dylan McNeice (NZL) 1:52:59