Sissons 11th in Korea

Kiwi triathlete Ryan Sissons finished just outside the top ten at the final ITU World Cup triathlon of the season in Tongyeong, Korea this weekend, coming home in 11th place just 63 seconds behind race winner Dan Wilson (AUS) in a fiercely competitive race.

Sissons was always chasing the lead pack after a tough swim saw him emerge 30 seconds behind a strong lead pack.

“The swim today didn’t go to plan, I was feeling reasonably good leading into it, but fighting my way around the first buoy with 70 other athletes all climbing over me meant I lost time on the front pack. It was a very aggressive swim and coming out the water with a 30sec deficit meant there was some work to do on the bike to get to the front.

“However it’s not always that simple... you need help when trying to chase down a front pack of 18, and today not everyone wanted to work, so we lost time, coming off the bike at around 50sec back... this now meant a tough run ahead. I wanted a top 10 though so I ran as hard as possible and slowly began catching the front group of runners.

“Dan Wilson, also from my pack was running like he had just stolen something and I tried to hang on to him but he was moving fast. So a settled into my own rhythm and slowly ticked away at each of the four laps. On the final lap I was in 14th, I surged and managed to drop the others I was with, and caught some more in front to eventually just miss that goal and come home in 11th place.

“It was a good hard race and I was happy to put good back to back performances together and earn some much needed points. Unfortunately for me if only I had a good swim, it may have been another podium, running in a top 5 run split all within a few seconds of 2nd to 5th place. Still, I’m pleased with the result and looking forward to a much needed break before kicking back into it for 2011.”

Fellow Kiwi James Elvery had a day to forget but not one totally unexpected given he has not been able to train much in the lead up through illness.

“I ended up 34th after basically zero training for the past 2 weeks with an end of season flu virus. I had all the guys in the bunch laughing at me coughing and spluttering my way around the course. I was in the second pack with Ryan and took a couple of turns, but was suffering all day.

“My run was plain ugly; 34mins or so. It was just one of those days you are happy to make it to the finish. I think I coughed up part of a lung in the recovery area. I have one last race next weekend in Hong Kong before I can finally head home after being away since May and put an end to a long year.”

ITU World Cup
TongYeong, Korea
Elite Men
1 Dan Wilson AUS 1:49:36
2 Aurelien Raphael FRA 1:49:52
3 Vincent Luis FRA 1:49:57
4 Jan Celustka CZE 1:49:59
5 Premvsl Svarc CZE 1:49:59
Plus Kiwis
11 Ryan Sissons NZL 1:50:39
34 James Elvery NZL 1:52:58