Highlights from the opening leg of this year's World Triathlon Series, with double Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee and his brother Jonny both set to compete in Abu Dhabi.
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# Wait now
# Hold on | 0:00:53 | 0:00:58 | |
# Say you still believe
# We can do better | 0:00:58 | 0:01:06 | |
Mola reigns supreme here in
Australia. | 0:01:12 | 0:01:17 | |
Winning leads again, Alistair
Brownlee. The Australians are the | 0:01:24 | 0:01:30 | |
champions of the world. | 0:01:30 | 0:01:36 | |
champions of the world. Mola wins in
Edmonton. Jonathan Brownlee back to | 0:01:37 | 0:01:44 | |
his brilliant best. | 0:01:44 | 0:01:52 | |
And absolutely stupendous
performance. | 0:01:54 | 0:01:59 | |
Hello and welcome to the first of
this year's world triathlon series, | 0:01:59 | 0:02:04 | |
and if the competition is anything
like last year, we have a real treat | 0:02:04 | 0:02:08 | |
in store for you. Triathlon's elite
have descended on the normally warm | 0:02:08 | 0:02:14 | |
and dry Abu Dhabi. I am here with
Annie Emerson outside of the cold | 0:02:14 | 0:02:20 | |
and freezing temperatures. Here is
what we have for you this afternoon. | 0:02:20 | 0:02:23 | |
We bring you extended highlights of
the men's and women's race as an | 0:02:23 | 0:02:28 | |
all-star cast look to get their
season off to a flyer. Non Stanford | 0:02:28 | 0:02:33 | |
says she is looking forward to
putting the past couple of years | 0:02:33 | 0:02:36 | |
behind her. I do realise that for
the Olympics is in the end of the | 0:02:36 | 0:02:40 | |
world, and I will hopefully be able
to rectify that. Our very own Annie | 0:02:40 | 0:02:44 | |
catches up with Tom Bishop. How long
in here? Another 40 minutes on the | 0:02:44 | 0:02:51 | |
bike, then 35 and it's on the
treadmill. And the Commonwealth | 0:02:51 | 0:02:54 | |
Games will soon be upon us. We take
a look at who will rival the home | 0:02:54 | 0:02:58 | |
nations on the Gold Coast. Welcome.
We have so much to look forward to | 0:02:58 | 0:03:05 | |
this season. Lots of developments
since last season as well. Let's | 0:03:05 | 0:03:09 | |
start with those. How VA Gomez. He
is sitting out the championships | 0:03:09 | 0:03:18 | |
this year, he is focusing on
qualifying for the Ironman in Kona | 0:03:18 | 0:03:23 | |
this year. He wasn't going for the
title last year, he dipped in and | 0:03:23 | 0:03:28 | |
out, and did very well when he did,
but we were seeing in this year on | 0:03:28 | 0:03:33 | |
the triathlon circuit. And Gwen
Jorgensen, a change for her. That is | 0:03:33 | 0:03:39 | |
a change forever, I can see why she
has done it. She has been double | 0:03:39 | 0:03:42 | |
World Championship, got gold at the
Olympic Games. So she is going to | 0:03:42 | 0:03:51 | |
marathon? She is moving to marathon
running, and we know how strong she | 0:03:51 | 0:03:54 | |
is. When you train for triathlon,
the beauty of it is you have the | 0:03:54 | 0:03:57 | |
diversity of the three sports, but
with marathon it is all about | 0:03:57 | 0:04:01 | |
running and those miles. She ran
five K on the track just a few weeks | 0:04:01 | 0:04:05 | |
ago in just over 15 minutes, which I
think surpassed many people's | 0:04:05 | 0:04:08 | |
expectations of what she would be
doing only a few months after giving | 0:04:08 | 0:04:13 | |
birth, but | 0:04:13 | 0:04:18 | |
birth, but certainly at the moment
she is on track, a long way to go | 0:04:18 | 0:04:21 | |
but another great athlete we won't
see on the triathlon circuit this | 0:04:21 | 0:04:23 | |
year. And excitedly this year, we
have the Commonwealth Games, and a | 0:04:23 | 0:04:25 | |
strong home nation. Yes, the two
Brownlee brothers are there, Tom | 0:04:25 | 0:04:31 | |
Bishop, Vicky Holland is back this
year, she won a bronze medal in | 0:04:31 | 0:04:36 | |
Glasgow in the Commonwealth Games in
2014, and of course the young | 0:04:36 | 0:04:41 | |
athlete, Sophie Caldwell, so a great
team fainted. Non Stanford will be | 0:04:41 | 0:04:45 | |
racing for Wales, mark Austin for
Scotland. And we have this new | 0:04:45 | 0:04:56 | |
series, I think the athletes love
watching it, it is a great spectator | 0:04:56 | 0:05:00 | |
sport, so fast. There is a series
which starts in Nottingham, it will | 0:05:00 | 0:05:03 | |
be there on Thursday couple of days
before the athletes move across to | 0:05:03 | 0:05:07 | |
leads to race, then the World
Championships in Hamburg, and also | 0:05:07 | 0:05:09 | |
they will be racing in Edmonton as
well, so there's this little series | 0:05:09 | 0:05:14 | |
starting where the athletes will be
gaining points for Olympic one | 0:05:14 | 0:05:16 | |
vocation. Alistair Brownlee is not
lining up for Abu Dhabi. He is very | 0:05:16 | 0:05:22 | |
cautiously not racing this weekend
because he has a slight calf issue, | 0:05:22 | 0:05:25 | |
but otherwise his training has gone
phenom only well, not forgetting he | 0:05:25 | 0:05:28 | |
had a hip operation. And he had that
amazing 70.3 race in Dubai, he just | 0:05:28 | 0:05:37 | |
has to be careful with his calf at
the moment, but he smashed that one. | 0:05:37 | 0:05:40 | |
There is a lot to look forward to.
So let's concentrate on how the | 0:05:40 | 0:05:45 | |
World Series takes shape over the
course of the season. We start of | 0:05:45 | 0:05:51 | |
this weekend in the capital of the
United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi. We | 0:05:51 | 0:05:55 | |
then move on to a new, on the
series, Bermuda, home of the current | 0:05:55 | 0:05:59 | |
world champion Flora Duffy. From
there, it is on to one of the | 0:05:59 | 0:06:05 | |
regulars on the circuit, Yokohama in
May. It is then time for a | 0:06:05 | 0:06:09 | |
double-header on these shores. The
inaugural world triathlon mixed | 0:06:09 | 0:06:13 | |
relay in Nottingham. And then Leeds
a few days later. Both of these will | 0:06:13 | 0:06:18 | |
be live on the BBC. There will be
more relay and World Series fun over | 0:06:18 | 0:06:23 | |
in Hamburg, and Edmonton in July,
with the penultimate event staying | 0:06:23 | 0:06:28 | |
in Canada, with Montreal hosting at
the end of August. And we end with | 0:06:28 | 0:06:33 | |
this year's Grand Final on the Gold
Coast in Australia, the venue for | 0:06:33 | 0:06:36 | |
this year's Commonwealth Games. That
is of course we Non Stanford will be | 0:06:36 | 0:06:43 | |
trying to get amongst the medals
after being out of injury for the | 0:06:43 | 0:06:48 | |
Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in
2014. She is back and fit, and as | 0:06:48 | 0:06:52 | |
Tom Brown has been finding out, she
is trying to put the past behind | 0:06:52 | 0:06:55 | |
her. 2017 was a really tough year
for me. I was in quite a bad place | 0:06:55 | 0:07:03 | |
with everything. There were points
where I didn't have the love for it | 0:07:03 | 0:07:08 | |
any more. I felt like I was banging
my head against a brick wall and not | 0:07:08 | 0:07:15 | |
really getting anywhere. Going out
to Australia at the end of the year | 0:07:15 | 0:07:18 | |
has really let me reset and refresh
and find my love for it all again. | 0:07:18 | 0:07:23 | |
Now I'm really excited about 2018,
and in a much better place with my | 0:07:23 | 0:07:26 | |
training and with my triathlon. | 0:07:26 | 0:07:28 | |
Did it really get that bad? There
were points in the last year where | 0:07:32 | 0:07:36 | |
it was really tough. And I think
when you are more rational about it, | 0:07:36 | 0:07:41 | |
you would never really just walk
away, but my Achilles, we persevered | 0:07:41 | 0:07:44 | |
with it for a really long time, and
then in June it just gave in, and I | 0:07:44 | 0:07:49 | |
had to have injections and a lot of
rest, and I never really was able to | 0:07:49 | 0:07:53 | |
get back.
COMMENTATOR: The bronze Vicky | 0:07:53 | 0:07:56 | |
Holland of Great Britain. And Non
Stanford comes home for fourth | 0:07:56 | 0:08:02 | |
position. It is still very mixed
emotions, I had to move on, and I am | 0:08:02 | 0:08:07 | |
far more positive than I was
immediately afterwards. I felt like | 0:08:07 | 0:08:10 | |
I had let a lot of people down and I
was super disappointed with fourth. | 0:08:10 | 0:08:14 | |
I still wish that I had got a medal,
but I do realise that for that first | 0:08:14 | 0:08:19 | |
Olympics is in the end of the world,
and hopefully I will be able to | 0:08:19 | 0:08:24 | |
rectify that in a few years' time. | 0:08:24 | 0:08:33 | |
I will probably be quite
apprehensive going into Abu Dhabi, | 0:08:33 | 0:08:36 | |
but it will be exciting to be back
out there. I am going in with no | 0:08:36 | 0:08:40 | |
pressure after last year, and that
will be quite nice. It will be nice | 0:08:40 | 0:08:45 | |
to go in, flying under the radar
maybe a little bit, and hopefully | 0:08:45 | 0:08:49 | |
deliver a good performance. It is
still very early season, hopefully | 0:08:49 | 0:08:52 | |
going to go out and blow a few
cobwebs away, get used to racing | 0:08:52 | 0:08:55 | |
again. That is what I will be using
Abu Dhabi for, then I a good | 0:08:55 | 0:09:01 | |
four-week block leading into the
Commonwealth Games after that. And | 0:09:01 | 0:09:05 | |
just weeks away from the chance of a
first Commonwealth Games. I am | 0:09:05 | 0:09:09 | |
really positive and looking forward
to being part of team Wales. I | 0:09:09 | 0:09:12 | |
missed out in 2014 with injury, but
I have heard great things about it, | 0:09:12 | 0:09:19 | |
it is supposed to be the friendly
games, and the only opportunity I | 0:09:19 | 0:09:22 | |
get to travel with Wales and be part
of that team. What I targets on that | 0:09:22 | 0:09:27 | |
first morning out on the Gold Coast?
My target is to come away with a | 0:09:27 | 0:09:31 | |
medal. I would love to get Wales off
to really good start and hopefully | 0:09:31 | 0:09:34 | |
inspire the rest of the team for the
rest of the games. And go against | 0:09:34 | 0:09:39 | |
some of your biggest team-mates? It
will be really weird to be racing | 0:09:39 | 0:09:42 | |
against them rather than in the same
kit and effectively as a team. It | 0:09:42 | 0:09:48 | |
will be a bit different. But at the
same time, I think those bonds are | 0:09:48 | 0:09:53 | |
already formed, and hopefully they
are not too mean to me! Bragging | 0:09:53 | 0:09:57 | |
rights will be useful for the rest
of the season. I definitely want | 0:09:57 | 0:10:03 | |
Wales to beat England, definitely.
And you are one of the most senior | 0:10:03 | 0:10:05 | |
and high profile members of the
team. Are you happy with that | 0:10:05 | 0:10:08 | |
status? Definitely. Although it is
my first Commonwealth Games, I'm | 0:10:08 | 0:10:12 | |
hoping Meakes periods from the
limericks will help me. -- I'm | 0:10:12 | 0:10:18 | |
hoping my experience from the
Olympics will help me. It is | 0:10:18 | 0:10:21 | |
something I am interested in doing,
working with the younger generations | 0:10:21 | 0:10:23 | |
coming through. I was so fortunate
to be helped by Dame Kelly Holmes | 0:10:23 | 0:10:29 | |
when I was a teenager, and I would
love to be able to pass similar | 0:10:29 | 0:10:32 | |
experiences onto the next
generation. What would winning a | 0:10:32 | 0:10:38 | |
medal 30 Wales mean to you? I feel
like I would have made up for the | 0:10:38 | 0:10:42 | |
disappointment of missing the
Commonwealth in 2014 and falling | 0:10:42 | 0:10:45 | |
short in the Olympics, and hopefully
just inspire the rest of the team to | 0:10:45 | 0:10:48 | |
go out there and believe that they
can also deliver those medals for | 0:10:48 | 0:10:51 | |
Wales. Annie, it is lovely to see
Non in a good place at the moment. | 0:10:51 | 0:11:00 | |
It is great. She is such a lovely
person, but she is a phenomenal | 0:11:00 | 0:11:04 | |
athlete as well, and I don't think
we have seen her at her absolute | 0:11:04 | 0:11:08 | |
best. She is great, but I think she
can be better she is going to the | 0:11:08 | 0:11:15 | |
Commonwealth Games for the first
time, she sat at Glasgow because she | 0:11:15 | 0:11:18 | |
was injured, and this is a great
opportunity for her to have an | 0:11:18 | 0:11:21 | |
amazing rate of the top
Championships. And congratulations | 0:11:21 | 0:11:25 | |
to her, because since that interview
she has been announced as team | 0:11:25 | 0:11:28 | |
captain for Wales. Yes, she is very
patriotic and what a thing to happen | 0:11:28 | 0:11:32 | |
as an athlete. Overall captain for
the Welsh team. And Vicky Holland, | 0:11:32 | 0:11:40 | |
both she and Non had a fantastic
race in Cape Town, first and second, | 0:11:40 | 0:11:44 | |
gold and silver, great for both of
them. Really good. They were both on | 0:11:44 | 0:11:51 | |
great form, Non lacking a little bit
on the run, but she swam and bikes | 0:11:51 | 0:11:54 | |
really well. Vicky has suggested
that it is a smaller race, Abu Dhabi | 0:11:54 | 0:11:57 | |
will be a lot bigger, the girls will
all be there racing, but looking at | 0:11:57 | 0:12:01 | |
her times in Cape Town, she still
ran very well. She put together a | 0:12:01 | 0:12:05 | |
great race. So it is really good to
see both of their back on form, and | 0:12:05 | 0:12:09 | |
Vicky Holland won the bronze in
Glasgow, so let's she a few can go | 0:12:09 | 0:12:12 | |
one or two better on the Gold Coast
in a couple of weeks. Looking at the | 0:12:12 | 0:12:18 | |
Gold Coast, who will be their main
rivals? You can't look beyond Duffy. | 0:12:18 | 0:12:23 | |
What an incredible athlete, she is
so strategic, very smart. She will | 0:12:23 | 0:12:28 | |
be hard to beat, I really do think.
Ashleigh Gentle has proved to be one | 0:12:28 | 0:12:33 | |
of the most outstanding runners I
have ever seen in triathlon, so it | 0:12:33 | 0:12:37 | |
will all depend on her swim as to
whether she is there at the end of | 0:12:37 | 0:12:41 | |
the bike, and if she is she will be
a problem for the girls. And also | 0:12:41 | 0:12:46 | |
Andrea Hewitt. I love her, she is so
consistent, she has been around for | 0:12:46 | 0:12:50 | |
years, she has won a lot of races,
for anomaly experienced athlete. | 0:12:50 | 0:12:56 | |
Will she be in contention? I hope
so, but I don't think she will be a | 0:12:56 | 0:13:00 | |
major contender, I don't think she
will threaten non-Duffy, Ashleigh or | 0:13:00 | 0:13:07 | |
Holland. Who do you think will be
first, second and third? Sprint | 0:13:07 | 0:13:11 | |
distance racing is tricky, it is so
fast, and one tiny mistake and it | 0:13:11 | 0:13:16 | |
could be all over. That is the
beauty of it or not. But I think it | 0:13:16 | 0:13:20 | |
is difficult to call that one
because it is a sprint distance. And | 0:13:20 | 0:13:23 | |
it is thrilling to watch. It does
make it thrilling, very exciting. | 0:13:23 | 0:13:27 | |
Before the Gold Coast in April, we
have the small matter of the world | 0:13:27 | 0:13:31 | |
triathlon series in Abu Dhabi to get
under our belts. Let's go to the | 0:13:31 | 0:13:35 | |
commentary team now. Here is the
women's race. | 0:13:35 | 0:13:39 | |
COMMENTATOR: It is the sprint
distance in Abu Dhabi, 750 metres in | 0:13:43 | 0:13:49 | |
the water before the exit and find
transition to find the bikes. They | 0:13:49 | 0:13:54 | |
will then write 20 kilometres around
the motor racing circuit, five laps | 0:13:54 | 0:14:01 | |
of four kilometres each. And then
there will be a 5000 metres run, a | 0:14:01 | 0:14:11 | |
5K run to round off today's
triathlons, that will be two lapse | 0:14:11 | 0:14:15 | |
of 2.5 K each. Concluding just near
where it began at the start of the | 0:14:15 | 0:14:22 | |
swim. | 0:14:22 | 0:14:23 | |
Kaiser we had a bit of rain falling
earlier. It is overcast now. Air | 0:14:25 | 0:14:30 | |
temperature relatively mild for this
time of year. 19 degrees, very good | 0:14:30 | 0:14:37 | |
condition for triathlon racing here
in Abu Dhabi. Here is the line-up | 0:14:37 | 0:14:41 | |
for round one of the World Triathlon
Series. World champion Flora Duffy, | 0:14:41 | 0:14:45 | |
world number one. Ashleigh Gentle
the Australian with two, the two | 0:14:45 | 0:14:53 | |
Americans, Zaferes and Kasper in
three and four. Hewitt, the leading | 0:14:53 | 0:15:00 | |
New Zealand triathlete is in number
five. The first of the British, Jess | 0:15:00 | 0:15:06 | |
Learmonth, number six, also said
they Coldwell at 24 and Non Stanford | 0:15:06 | 0:15:10 | |
and Vicky Holland returning to
racing. Non Stanford will run 26, | 0:15:10 | 0:15:18 | |
Vicky Holland number 30, so plenty
of British interest would Learmonth, | 0:15:18 | 0:15:24 | |
Coldwell, Stanford and Holland all
in action in Abu Dhabi today. The | 0:15:24 | 0:15:30 | |
first instalment of the 20 18th
World Triathlon Series is about to | 0:15:30 | 0:15:38 | |
get under way here in Abu Dhabi. The
hooter sounds, and the series begins | 0:15:38 | 0:15:46 | |
with a dive start to begin this
sprint race here in the United Arab | 0:15:46 | 0:15:51 | |
Emirates, Abu Dhabi playing host,
perfect conditions, barely a breath | 0:15:51 | 0:15:55 | |
of wind on the water, and a fast
start from some of these strongest | 0:15:55 | 0:15:59 | |
swimmers as they head out. The
channel will narrow and they will | 0:15:59 | 0:16:03 | |
come into this marine section with
spectators lining the route either | 0:16:03 | 0:16:13 | |
side providing a spectacular
backdrop to the beginning of the new | 0:16:13 | 0:16:17 | |
World Series, and we have lots of
British interest here, Jess | 0:16:17 | 0:16:23 | |
Learmonth, so they Coldwell, Non
Stanford and Vicky Holland, the | 0:16:23 | 0:16:27 | |
Olympic bronze-medallist, all in
action, some returning from injury, | 0:16:27 | 0:16:32 | |
others returning from solid winter
training, and they are under way and | 0:16:32 | 0:16:36 | |
watching over them is Annie Emerson.
What a race. We have eight of the | 0:16:36 | 0:16:42 | |
top women from 20 18th in this
field, the | 0:16:42 | 0:16:51 | |
field, the -- there are only a
couple of athletes missed missing, | 0:16:51 | 0:16:54 | |
those we will be looking out for,
Learmonth, phenomenal swimmer with a | 0:16:54 | 0:16:59 | |
fantastic breakthrough season last
year, Flora Duffy as well, | 0:16:59 | 0:17:05 | |
fantastically strong, the Spanish
athlete Carolina Routier and young | 0:17:05 | 0:17:08 | |
Brit Sophie Coldwell, I think they
will play a big part in the swim. | 0:17:08 | 0:17:13 | |
The athletes well spread out at the
moment but as they reach the first | 0:17:13 | 0:17:20 | |
buoy they will all come together.
Very tall athlete there, number six, | 0:17:20 | 0:17:25 | |
Jess Learmonth, no surprise to see
her up there, phenomenal swimmer. | 0:17:25 | 0:17:30 | |
Looking at the pictures of her
before the race she also goes into | 0:17:30 | 0:17:33 | |
the race relaxed, chatting with the
athletes, I think she's enjoying her | 0:17:33 | 0:17:37 | |
position at the moment in the sport,
ranked number six at the moment with | 0:17:37 | 0:17:42 | |
a great year last year where she
finished second in Stockholm, third | 0:17:42 | 0:17:47 | |
in Rotterdam and sixth in Leeds and
won the European Championships as | 0:17:47 | 0:17:52 | |
well stop whites there is no doubt
that Learmonth is one to watch | 0:17:52 | 0:17:57 | |
today, full of confidence. She has
all the backing of the team in | 0:17:57 | 0:18:01 | |
Leeds. Always an advantage to be
first to the turn, and that will be | 0:18:01 | 0:18:08 | |
with Jess Learmonth, she will be
first to turn because there are no | 0:18:08 | 0:18:11 | |
arms or feet to worry about, no
whitewater being pushed up by the | 0:18:11 | 0:18:16 | |
other competitors, and nice, clean,
left-handed turn therefore Jessica | 0:18:16 | 0:18:20 | |
Learmonth who was off into the clear
water, which takes them between | 0:18:20 | 0:18:24 | |
these two cylindrical buoys, and you
can see the kayakers pour used with | 0:18:24 | 0:18:31 | |
the jury members alongside, making
sure there are no rule breakers on | 0:18:31 | 0:18:39 | |
the turn. We have seen a clamp-down
of the sometimes harsh elements of | 0:18:39 | 0:18:45 | |
the swim turn in triathlon. Should
be just over nine minutes for the | 0:18:45 | 0:18:55 | |
swim. And it is Jessica Learmonth,
right on the nine minute mark, 9.01 | 0:18:55 | 0:19:02 | |
as she comes out of the water and
makes her way to transition in good | 0:19:02 | 0:19:06 | |
company with Flora Duffy in second
and Summer Cook coming out in third, | 0:19:06 | 0:19:11 | |
then Kate is a heroes, Bragmayer,
the Hungarian, Sega of Japan, Van | 0:19:11 | 0:19:19 | |
Coevorden the Australian, Routier,
Santos, Coldwell has swung well in | 0:19:19 | 0:19:22 | |
tenth position, we will keep an eye
on the names as they come through | 0:19:22 | 0:19:27 | |
with a view to spotting Non Stanford
and Vicky Holland to come out | 0:19:27 | 0:19:32 | |
together in 17th and 18th position,
around 15 seconds down, so with a | 0:19:32 | 0:19:37 | |
chance to ride with Duffy, Learmonth
and Cook, but they will need to be | 0:19:37 | 0:19:42 | |
Sharpe in and out of transition. We
know Duffy is the strongest cyclist | 0:19:42 | 0:19:47 | |
out there and may well force a
breakaway in the early stages. Now | 0:19:47 | 0:19:52 | |
she has to nail transition, it is
smooth, Duffy first in first out, | 0:19:52 | 0:19:57 | |
perfect execution there. Learmonth
hot on her heels, past the mount up | 0:19:57 | 0:20:01 | |
line and away she goes with Summer
Cook struggling slightly, she has | 0:20:01 | 0:20:06 | |
dropped three four places there,
with a mistake just coming of | 0:20:06 | 0:20:10 | |
transition. It is amazing how the
ten or 15 seconds you lose in the | 0:20:10 | 0:20:19 | |
swim can increase when the
transition gets tight. Duffy have | 0:20:19 | 0:20:23 | |
the sharpest transition and for me
it was a touch of deja vu from what | 0:20:23 | 0:20:26 | |
we have seen her do so many times
last year. Ashleigh Gentle, a long | 0:20:26 | 0:20:34 | |
way back. The front group of four or
five already deep into the first lap | 0:20:34 | 0:20:43 | |
with Flora Duffy forcing the pace
out in front, Learmonth's transition | 0:20:43 | 0:20:48 | |
was good, held it together, Cook not
quite so strong and she finds | 0:20:48 | 0:20:54 | |
herself a few paces removed from me
she would expect to be. We know the | 0:20:54 | 0:20:59 | |
track is greasy and already we have
lost one of the Japanese, Sega has | 0:20:59 | 0:21:04 | |
come off at the first hurdle, falls
at the first turn, difficult start | 0:21:04 | 0:21:09 | |
for Sega of Japan. It is not great,
dry under there, it is obviously | 0:21:09 | 0:21:16 | |
oil, lethal, when you look at the
tyres these guys are on, very small, | 0:21:16 | 0:21:21 | |
quite slippery although some would
have chosen to put grip tyres on so | 0:21:21 | 0:21:26 | |
they can ride write better in these
wet conditions but there is nothing | 0:21:26 | 0:21:29 | |
you can do when you hit oil. Looks
like Learmonth has joined forces | 0:21:29 | 0:21:35 | |
with Flora Duffy. We have to look
where Stanford and Holland are, 15 | 0:21:35 | 0:21:38 | |
seconds down, positive swim for
Stanford to be with Holland. It has | 0:21:38 | 0:21:44 | |
also always slightly been her
Achilles' heel, the swim, but that | 0:21:44 | 0:21:48 | |
was a good place for Vicky Holland
to be, 15 seconds down after 750 | 0:21:48 | 0:21:53 | |
metres. There is the gap Duffy has
opened up after some purposeful | 0:21:53 | 0:22:00 | |
riding in the first lap. She was
fearless, others more cautious, wary | 0:22:00 | 0:22:06 | |
of the slippery road surface
underfoot but Duffy's lead over | 0:22:06 | 0:22:09 | |
Katie Zaferes is already significant
and growing, four seconds. I didn't | 0:22:09 | 0:22:15 | |
think we'd see Duffy riding away,
but at the moment she has put | 0:22:15 | 0:22:19 | |
herself in a great position. A big
group behind that looks like it will | 0:22:19 | 0:22:23 | |
all come together, I think we will
find Stanford and Holland in that | 0:22:23 | 0:22:27 | |
group, Summer Cook, an early leader
in the swim with Coldwell of Great | 0:22:27 | 0:22:30 | |
Britain on her wheel stop whites are
theorists of the USA, one of the | 0:22:30 | 0:22:36 | |
more experienced -- Katie Zaferes,
one of the more experienced | 0:22:36 | 0:22:43 | |
triathletes from the USA. Coldwell
in that group, number 24, making the | 0:22:43 | 0:22:48 | |
turn, but first to conclude the
opening lap is world number one | 0:22:48 | 0:22:52 | |
Duffy on her own. No company at all
for the world champion. She cruises | 0:22:52 | 0:22:58 | |
through at the end of lap number
one. The captives of heroes and | 0:22:58 | 0:23:03 | |
Learmonth is nine seconds, Coldwell
further two seconds back and we will | 0:23:03 | 0:23:06 | |
keep an eye on the progress over the
first lap of Holland and Stanford, | 0:23:06 | 0:23:12 | |
who were 17th and 18th coming out of
the water. Now 15 for Stanford and | 0:23:12 | 0:23:18 | |
18th for Holland at the end of lap
one. So they are in the second pack | 0:23:18 | 0:23:22 | |
but it is a big pack and it will be
hard to get these girls working. | 0:23:22 | 0:23:27 | |
Vicky and no need to see what they
can do to get into the front of the | 0:23:27 | 0:23:31 | |
pack -- Vicky and Non | 0:23:31 | 0:23:32 | |
can do to get into the front of the
pack -- Vicky and Non. | 0:23:32 | 0:23:36 | |
I just heard a rash of something, we
didn't see the pictures. I hope | 0:23:37 | 0:23:44 | |
Flora Duffy hasn't had an issue with
the turn. -- a rush of something. | 0:23:44 | 0:23:52 | |
Yes, she did, I heard something, and
it was Duffy going down. Duffy has | 0:23:52 | 0:23:58 | |
crashed in the tunnel. Unfortunately
we didn't get pictures but I heard | 0:23:58 | 0:24:01 | |
the sound effects and it wasn't
promising. Duffy has not got back on | 0:24:01 | 0:24:05 | |
her bike and has had to instigate a
repair in the tunnel. Yes, I'm not | 0:24:05 | 0:24:12 | |
happy with what's going on here, I
think they should have... This is a | 0:24:12 | 0:24:16 | |
Formula 1 track, there will be
Greece on it, but that patch there | 0:24:16 | 0:24:21 | |
is lethal, that the second athlete
to have gone down, we are only just | 0:24:21 | 0:24:25 | |
through the first lap. The athletes
will learn from that but it is | 0:24:25 | 0:24:28 | |
really hard in that dark tunnel to
see where the oily is on the floor. | 0:24:28 | 0:24:32 | |
Sega fell in the first lap, Duffy
has crashed in her second lap in the | 0:24:32 | 0:24:40 | |
same part of the course, in the
tunnel. We didn't see it. We heard | 0:24:40 | 0:24:49 | |
it! We heard it then saw Duffy
standing next to her bike. We will | 0:24:49 | 0:24:54 | |
hope to bring you an update as soon
as we can. That means it is all | 0:24:54 | 0:24:57 | |
change at the front of the race.
Yes, it certainly is. Here we go, | 0:24:57 | 0:25:03 | |
this was the aftermath of Duffy's
crash, and we also lost one of the | 0:25:03 | 0:25:08 | |
Americans there as well. I think the
American who felt there was number | 0:25:08 | 0:25:15 | |
28, Chelsea Burns. Well, what a
difficult start to this race. | 0:25:15 | 0:25:21 | |
Something to look at as well, the
teams will be out there, the coaches | 0:25:21 | 0:25:24 | |
will be out there and these athletes
are going to the Commonwealth Games, | 0:25:24 | 0:25:28 | |
the British team going, is this
safe, do we want Non and Vicky, | 0:25:28 | 0:25:35 | |
serious contenders for medals in the
Commonwealth Games, going down in | 0:25:35 | 0:25:37 | |
this race so early in the season? It
is important because for overall | 0:25:37 | 0:25:41 | |
series points but is it worth
jeopardising the rest of your | 0:25:41 | 0:25:45 | |
season? Duffy is out of the contest.
She is limping back towards | 0:25:45 | 0:25:54 | |
transition, pushing her bike, the
world champion has fallen in the | 0:25:54 | 0:25:58 | |
early stages of the second lap, and
will play no further part in round | 0:25:58 | 0:26:02 | |
one of the World Triathlon Series.
All change here, a dramatic second | 0:26:02 | 0:26:09 | |
lap during which we lost the world
champion, and Kirsten Kasper leads | 0:26:09 | 0:26:13 | |
them through with Joanna Brown of
Canada, Miller of Norway in third, | 0:26:13 | 0:26:19 | |
Van Coevorden, then Coldwell and
Learmonth, the best of the British | 0:26:19 | 0:26:22 | |
triathletes so far, Santos in there,
Stanford in tenth, only ten seconds | 0:26:22 | 0:26:29 | |
back, Vicky Holland a little further
down the track. So three British | 0:26:29 | 0:26:35 | |
triathletes within ten seconds of
leadership of this race in Abu | 0:26:35 | 0:26:40 | |
Dhabi. Vicky Holland seems to have
dropped off the pace. She has lost | 0:26:40 | 0:26:45 | |
ten seconds, we know she was
alongside Non Stanford but I would | 0:26:45 | 0:26:48 | |
suggest the ten second gap means she
drops back slightly into another | 0:26:48 | 0:26:53 | |
group. Maybe playing it cautiously,
thinking ahead to six weeks' time | 0:26:53 | 0:26:58 | |
and the Commonwealth Games. Through
the tunnel again, holding my breath | 0:26:58 | 0:27:02 | |
watching these terms. Thankfully
that time the first group have come | 0:27:02 | 0:27:08 | |
through unscathed. Takes a bit of
time to get your bearings on a | 0:27:08 | 0:27:12 | |
course like this and try to work out
with the slippy parts are, but it is | 0:27:12 | 0:27:16 | |
difficult because you are head down,
in race mode, you will miss it, it | 0:27:16 | 0:27:21 | |
is not easy in that dark tunnel, and
that makes it even harder. So, with | 0:27:21 | 0:27:28 | |
just over five kilometres to ride,
they are coming up to take the bell | 0:27:28 | 0:27:34 | |
for the bike leg. There will be one
lap to go. And we are down to seven, | 0:27:34 | 0:27:41 | |
we've lost two on that last lap at
the tunnel. The courses drying out | 0:27:41 | 0:27:47 | |
quickly in the afternoon warmth here
in Abu Dhabi, but there are still | 0:27:47 | 0:27:53 | |
some treacherous, slippery sections
that need be handled with great | 0:27:53 | 0:27:58 | |
care. Vicky Holland said that this
course looks a lot tougher than it | 0:27:58 | 0:28:02 | |
looks like on TV. Obviously she
didn't race here last year but she | 0:28:02 | 0:28:09 | |
has had a chance to ride around it
and says it is tougher than it | 0:28:09 | 0:28:12 | |
looks. There is no letup, really, no
chance to get down and work hard on | 0:28:12 | 0:28:16 | |
the bike because it seems like every
400 or 500 metres you go around | 0:28:16 | 0:28:20 | |
another turned. Katie Zaferes is our
current leader, the experienced | 0:28:20 | 0:28:28 | |
American wearing number three. She
and her husband Tommy Zaferes, the | 0:28:28 | 0:28:36 | |
triathletes family. Raced under her
maiden name for a while. Originally | 0:28:36 | 0:28:43 | |
from Maryland in the USA. And she
will be taking them through onto the | 0:28:43 | 0:28:50 | |
carpet. Nice and stable underfoot
now, one lap to go, Zaferes takes | 0:28:50 | 0:28:58 | |
the bell with Coldwell next in line,
Learmonth is up there, Van | 0:28:58 | 0:29:02 | |
Coevorden, Miller, Santos and claim.
Kasper that group as well -- and | 0:29:02 | 0:29:16 | |
Klamer. This is the chase group,
number 30, this is the third group I | 0:29:16 | 0:29:24 | |
think. Vicky Holland wearing number
30, just saw her come through. This | 0:29:24 | 0:29:30 | |
is the chase group now, so hopefully
Stanford and Holland are in this | 0:29:30 | 0:29:34 | |
group. We will wait and see because
lots can happen on this slippery | 0:29:34 | 0:29:38 | |
circuit. | 0:29:38 | 0:29:44 | |
Are the standard. | 0:29:50 | 0:29:56 | |
The Non Stanford. This could be what
happened to her. Is this her hitting | 0:29:59 | 0:30:07 | |
the athlete who fell? That is
worrying. Katie Zaferes, who is | 0:30:07 | 0:30:12 | |
struggling to get up off the deck.
This is absolutely insane now, the | 0:30:12 | 0:30:16 | |
amount that have fallen and
potentially damage themselves, and | 0:30:16 | 0:30:22 | |
Zaferes is screaming in pain. | 0:30:22 | 0:30:28 | |
Zaferes is screaming in pain. This
is just absolutely shocking, really, | 0:30:28 | 0:30:30 | |
I have never seen anything like it.
It seemed like Zaferes came down | 0:30:30 | 0:30:34 | |
from that font pack, then the next
group came round. Non | 0:30:34 | 0:30:44 | |
group came round. Non seemed to get
round her, she was clear of Katie | 0:30:44 | 0:30:46 | |
Zaferes coming round the bend. I
think that was Learmonth or | 0:30:46 | 0:30:53 | |
Caldwell, because there is only one
British triathlete left in this | 0:30:53 | 0:30:56 | |
front group of six. This is our
front group, I think. Jessica | 0:30:56 | 0:31:02 | |
Learmonth looks like she is still in
there. So that may well have been | 0:31:02 | 0:31:06 | |
Sophie Caldwell who piled into the
back of Katy Tur Mac one, because | 0:31:06 | 0:31:10 | |
they were in the same group. | 0:31:10 | 0:31:18 | |
they were in the same group. -- who
ploughed into the back of Katie | 0:31:18 | 0:31:24 | |
Zaferes. So that was Sophie Caldwell
who went over the handlebars, having | 0:31:24 | 0:31:31 | |
piled her front wheel into Katie
Zaferes's back. As an athlete, you | 0:31:31 | 0:31:38 | |
don't want to win races and get onto
the podium because other athletes | 0:31:38 | 0:31:41 | |
have come off the bike in the way
that they have here, no one has made | 0:31:41 | 0:31:45 | |
any mistakes, it has just been
impossible for some of these | 0:31:45 | 0:31:48 | |
athletes to stay upright. This main
group is down to six, Rachel Klamer | 0:31:48 | 0:31:53 | |
at the back, and Jessica Learmonth
still safe, touch wood. We know | 0:31:53 | 0:31:59 | |
Vicky Holland went round as well in
that penultimate lap. She was in the | 0:31:59 | 0:32:04 | |
second group.
Well, this race has been | 0:32:04 | 0:32:11 | |
characterised by a catalogue of
crashes in the dreaded greasy Tamil. | 0:32:11 | 0:32:19 | |
characterised by a catalogue of
crashes in the dreaded greasy -- | 0:32:19 | 0:32:21 | |
tunnel. | 0:32:21 | 0:32:26 | |
tunnel. Kirsten Kasper is the first
one to remove her feet from the | 0:32:26 | 0:32:29 | |
shoes and rest on top. The others
follow suit. Rachel Klamer on the | 0:32:29 | 0:32:34 | |
right of the screen, a slight
figure, the best of the Dutch. And | 0:32:34 | 0:32:39 | |
they are approaching the end of what
has been a very, very difficult ride | 0:32:39 | 0:32:45 | |
on the motor racing circuit. At the
dis- madeleine, Kasper arrives | 0:32:45 | 0:32:49 | |
first, Learmonth of Great Britain is
in excellent shape here. She has | 0:32:49 | 0:32:55 | |
watched her team-mates and her
opponents, some of them have fallen | 0:32:55 | 0:32:58 | |
during that 20K, they will be
relieved to be hanging up their | 0:32:58 | 0:33:04 | |
bikes in one piece. It is a good
transition from Kasper, a little | 0:33:04 | 0:33:08 | |
slow from Learmonth, but she is away
now and leaves transition in third | 0:33:08 | 0:33:12 | |
position, | 0:33:12 | 0:33:20 | |
position, followed by van Coevorden.
A little slow transition from | 0:33:20 | 0:33:28 | |
Learmonth, Kasper was quickly out,
and Palmer has just sat in behind, | 0:33:28 | 0:33:32 | |
kept herself out of trouble. She is
an athlete to look out for, she was | 0:33:32 | 0:33:39 | |
European champion in 2009, and the
girlfriend of Richard Murray so she | 0:33:39 | 0:33:41 | |
is in a great training group with
the Dutch athletes. She did race in | 0:33:41 | 0:33:46 | |
Cape Town back in February, finished
sixth. Her best finish was a podium, | 0:33:46 | 0:33:54 | |
she has been on the podium just
once. She has had some decent top | 0:33:54 | 0:34:01 | |
ten finishes, but at the moment she
is on the heels of Kirsten Kasper | 0:34:01 | 0:34:04 | |
who is leading this race, and the
British athlete not too far behind, | 0:34:04 | 0:34:09 | |
Natalie van Coevorden in third
place. So our leader is the | 0:34:09 | 0:34:17 | |
American, Kirsten Kasper, 26, ranked
fourth in the world triathlon series | 0:34:17 | 0:34:21 | |
at the end of the 2017 campaign. She
has been a triathlete only since | 0:34:21 | 0:34:27 | |
June 20 14. They are into the tunnel
now, the scene of so many trials. | 0:34:27 | 0:34:32 | |
And worryingly, I think that is the
paramedics still attending to Katie | 0:34:32 | 0:34:38 | |
Zaferes, who hasn't been able to
make her way out of the tunnel. It | 0:34:38 | 0:34:44 | |
is not nice for the athlete having
to run past. Hopefully she will be | 0:34:44 | 0:34:50 | |
OK, but it is a good angle to look
at when the athletes run through, | 0:34:50 | 0:34:53 | |
you can see how tight that bend is
and how dark it is, and with oil on | 0:34:53 | 0:34:58 | |
the floor, they didn't stand a
chance. Jessica Learmonth needs to | 0:34:58 | 0:35:02 | |
work a bit harder to get onto this
group of three. | 0:35:02 | 0:35:07 | |
Learmonth buzzing with confidence
after victory at the European | 0:35:07 | 0:35:10 | |
Championships last year. This is
only her 12th world triathlon series | 0:35:10 | 0:35:16 | |
start today, so she is relatively
inexperienced compared to the other | 0:35:16 | 0:35:20 | |
three who have plenty more than
that. But a couple of podiums, the | 0:35:20 | 0:35:25 | |
win at the Kitzbuhel ETU triathlon
Championships in 2017, second place | 0:35:25 | 0:35:32 | |
in Stockholm, sixth in her home city
of Leeds. Learmonth knows that the | 0:35:32 | 0:35:38 | |
time is potentially right for her to
assume her position as the British | 0:35:38 | 0:35:43 | |
and one, and the 29 your old is
leading them through to half | 0:35:43 | 0:35:47 | |
distance on the run. | 0:35:47 | 0:35:54 | |
distance on the run. 2.5 K down, 2.5
to go. Will this be the day for | 0:35:54 | 0:35:59 | |
Learmonth? She looks full of energy
and running. Rachel Klamer, Kasper, | 0:35:59 | 0:36:09 | |
van Coevorden, standing in her way.
I think that the last win of a | 0:36:09 | 0:36:14 | |
British athlete was back in Cape
Town, Non Stanford, 2016, if I have | 0:36:14 | 0:36:23 | |
got my facts right. So we haven't
had a British athlete on top of the | 0:36:23 | 0:36:27 | |
podium for some time now. Obviously
Holland and Stanford both at last | 0:36:27 | 0:36:32 | |
year. 2016 the British team started
really well, there was a victory for | 0:36:32 | 0:36:38 | |
Jodie Stimpson here in Abu Dhabi
over the full course, then Helen | 0:36:38 | 0:36:41 | |
Jenkins won on the Gold Coast, then
Non Stanford won the sprint event in | 0:36:41 | 0:36:45 | |
Cape Town, so we had three straight
British wins. Learmonth and Klamer | 0:36:45 | 0:36:55 | |
are winning this contest. Into the
final 1500 metres now. They are | 0:36:55 | 0:36:59 | |
shoulder to shoulder as they battle
for supremacy in the concluding | 0:36:59 | 0:37:04 | |
stages of around one of the world
triathlon series, and there is an | 0:37:04 | 0:37:08 | |
injection of pace from Rachel
Klamer. It looks as if Kasper is | 0:37:08 | 0:37:12 | |
unable to stay with them. Van
Coevorden has been pushed back to | 0:37:12 | 0:37:16 | |
fourth position as Jess Learmonth
grits her teeth and looks behind her | 0:37:16 | 0:37:20 | |
to see what has happened to the
other two. Don't look behind. Look | 0:37:20 | 0:37:24 | |
forward, stay with Klamer. They have
a few minutes of running to go, too | 0:37:24 | 0:37:30 | |
early to make a break. Learmonth,
head slightly back, she is hurting, | 0:37:30 | 0:37:35 | |
that's for sure. Klamer looks
relaxed, they have these positions | 0:37:35 | 0:37:42 | |
now because it looks like Natalie
van Coevorden has dropped off, and | 0:37:42 | 0:37:46 | |
our podium finishes are going to
come from Kirsten Kasper, Jessica | 0:37:46 | 0:37:51 | |
Learmonth and Rachel Klamer. Van
Coevorden losing touch with the | 0:37:51 | 0:37:55 | |
leaders now. They have taken the
final right hand, the big | 0:37:55 | 0:38:00 | |
right-handed turn, and are pointing
in the direction of the finishing | 0:38:00 | 0:38:03 | |
straight. One kilometre to go.
Klamer has tried to break Jess | 0:38:03 | 0:38:08 | |
Learmonth unsuccessfully so far.
Another burst of pace from the Dutch | 0:38:08 | 0:38:13 | |
triathlete, but Learmonth so far is
able to respond to everything that | 0:38:13 | 0:38:18 | |
Rachel Klamer has thrown at her.
Klamer takes the next turn, and this | 0:38:18 | 0:38:24 | |
time puts a bit of daylight between
her and Jess Learmonth. Will that be | 0:38:24 | 0:38:28 | |
decisive? It's not over yet, but you
don't want this to happen at this | 0:38:28 | 0:38:33 | |
stage of the race. You have got
absolutely stay there. Has Klamer | 0:38:33 | 0:38:37 | |
gone a little too early? Has Jessica
gone anything left in the tank? | 0:38:37 | 0:38:41 | |
Remember the famous finish last year
with Hewitt Tim Stimpson when we | 0:38:41 | 0:38:44 | |
thought Stimpson had it and Hewitt
came back. Could that happen here | 0:38:44 | 0:38:48 | |
again? 800 metres to go, just under
three minutes of running left. | 0:38:48 | 0:38:55 | |
Rachel Klamer from the Netherlands,
the girlfriend of Richard Murray, | 0:38:55 | 0:38:58 | |
who we know is a fantastic runner.
They have been training together for | 0:38:58 | 0:39:02 | |
the last two or three years, and
Klamer is running in the triathlon, | 0:39:02 | 0:39:08 | |
she has improved dramatically, and
she has opened up a gap of a couple | 0:39:08 | 0:39:12 | |
of seconds over Jess Learmonth. She
is looking good now. She is really | 0:39:12 | 0:39:17 | |
looking good for this win. She is
still looking very comfortable, and | 0:39:17 | 0:39:21 | |
if you look at Jess, the head has
gone back, the speed is still there | 0:39:21 | 0:39:24 | |
but she is looking like she is
suffering quite a bit more than | 0:39:24 | 0:39:27 | |
Klamer. But she is still there with
600 metres to go. Rachel Klamer has | 0:39:27 | 0:39:32 | |
recently returned from a three-month
training stint in South Africa with | 0:39:32 | 0:39:35 | |
Richard Murray in and around Cape
Town, and here she is potentially | 0:39:35 | 0:39:41 | |
pushing for her first ever world
triathlon series win. Could Jess | 0:39:41 | 0:39:46 | |
Learmonth kicking one more time and
close the gap? We had a sprint | 0:39:46 | 0:39:50 | |
finish 12 months ago when Andrea
Hewitt defeated Jodie Stimpson over | 0:39:50 | 0:39:55 | |
the final 50 metres of the race.
Klamer is holding an four the moment | 0:39:55 | 0:40:00 | |
out in front. This is Klamer's for
the taking now. Jess Learmonth has | 0:40:00 | 0:40:06 | |
worked hard, she just has to hold of
Kirsten Kasper who is coming back at | 0:40:06 | 0:40:10 | |
her slightly now. The podium
positions are safe for these three | 0:40:10 | 0:40:15 | |
athletes, the Australian athlete who
worked so hard has dropped off. | 0:40:15 | 0:40:18 | |
Sprint distance racing is tough, it
is so short, these athletes will be | 0:40:18 | 0:40:25 | |
tired now. Learmonth has an
advantage of a couple of seconds | 0:40:25 | 0:40:29 | |
over Kirsten Kasper. That is the gap
between second and third. But it is | 0:40:29 | 0:40:33 | |
number eight who leads them through.
Last 250 metres as Rachel Klamer | 0:40:33 | 0:40:39 | |
bids to win her first world
triathlon series event. And also | 0:40:39 | 0:40:42 | |
hopes to become the first ever Dutch
winger of a world triathlon series | 0:40:42 | 0:40:47 | |
competition. An amazing day for the
Dutch athlete. She has certainly | 0:40:47 | 0:40:53 | |
been racing hard and consistently
for a long, long time now. 14 | 0:40:53 | 0:40:59 | |
seconds to go. Learmonth looks
absolutely spent now, with her head | 0:40:59 | 0:41:03 | |
moving backwards, and she is
starting to rock and roll from side | 0:41:03 | 0:41:07 | |
to side. I do hope that she can hold
on over the last 100 metres or so. | 0:41:07 | 0:41:12 | |
And hold on for second position. I
think Jess has got to, we are | 0:41:12 | 0:41:19 | |
worried when the head goes back in
the eyes roll, because we think of | 0:41:19 | 0:41:23 | |
Jonny Brownlee, but she has done
some good work with the training, | 0:41:23 | 0:41:27 | |
but she is suffering here. 100
metres to go, I think she will get | 0:41:27 | 0:41:31 | |
caught by Kirsten Kasper, but I
think she will hold off the | 0:41:31 | 0:41:33 | |
Australian athlete. Learmonth will
be looking at another second | 0:41:33 | 0:41:37 | |
position. She has become a regular
podium placed athlete. Surely her | 0:41:37 | 0:41:44 | |
first world triathlon series win
can't be too far away. Into the | 0:41:44 | 0:41:47 | |
final stretch comes Rachel Klamer of
the Netherlands. The 27-year-old | 0:41:47 | 0:41:54 | |
makes the final turn, comes onto the
comfort of the blue carpet, and | 0:41:54 | 0:41:59 | |
there are lots of friends and
supporters there to welcome her. A | 0:41:59 | 0:42:03 | |
little stumble, but she won't mind.
As Rachel Klamer wins in Abu Dhabi, | 0:42:03 | 0:42:09 | |
it her first ever world triathlon
series win, the first world | 0:42:09 | 0:42:14 | |
triathlon series victory for a Dutch
triathlete. Good finish from Natalie | 0:42:14 | 0:42:19 | |
van Coevorden as Jess Learmonth
comes home to take second. A good | 0:42:19 | 0:42:26 | |
sprint finish between van Coevorden
and Kasper, that is a photo, it will | 0:42:26 | 0:42:32 | |
go to the judge between those two
for that final place on the podium | 0:42:32 | 0:42:37 | |
here is Abu Dhabi. Santos has held
an for a personal best fifth | 0:42:37 | 0:42:41 | |
position. The Portuguese triathlete
full of smiles as she comes home for | 0:42:41 | 0:42:46 | |
fifth. We wait for the decision on
third between van Coevorden and | 0:42:46 | 0:42:51 | |
Kirsten Kasper, but it is Rachel
Klamer who wins for the first time | 0:42:51 | 0:42:55 | |
in Abu Dhabi in a dramatic incident
packed race. | 0:42:55 | 0:43:04 | |
I am so happy. There was no way I
expected this. I was scared on the | 0:43:04 | 0:43:08 | |
bike. I have been training on
straight roads, I didn't do any | 0:43:08 | 0:43:11 | |
corners. I missed one girl crashing,
and the next, and the next, and I | 0:43:11 | 0:43:18 | |
just decided to take it easy, ride
hard but go slowly through the | 0:43:18 | 0:43:22 | |
corners, and I ended up sitting
behind a couple of crashes, which | 0:43:22 | 0:43:26 | |
wasn't smart, so I had to chase one
whole lap to get back to the front | 0:43:26 | 0:43:30 | |
pack, but I am happy I stayed on my
bike, and when we started running, I | 0:43:30 | 0:43:34 | |
tried to focus on my breathing
because normally at the start of the | 0:43:34 | 0:43:37 | |
season I get side stitches, so I
trained on my breathing, trying to | 0:43:37 | 0:43:41 | |
breathe in and out slowly. I stayed
at the back of the pack to make sure | 0:43:41 | 0:43:46 | |
I didn't make the same mistake as
last year, and in the last lap, I | 0:43:46 | 0:43:50 | |
decided to give it a try. Oh, my
lord, it was a nightmare. We were | 0:43:50 | 0:43:56 | |
wondering if it would be dry or not,
and it wasn't, obviously. It was | 0:43:56 | 0:44:00 | |
just survival of the fittest, it was
nerve-racking. I hope everyone is | 0:44:00 | 0:44:04 | |
all right to crashed, but it was
carnage. To be in a running race in | 0:44:04 | 0:44:09 | |
a group of four, it was surreal,
because normally I see people go | 0:44:09 | 0:44:14 | |
straight pass me or I am hanging on,
so it was good. And a great start to | 0:44:14 | 0:44:17 | |
the season for you in terms of
points, and the Commonwealth Games I | 0:44:17 | 0:44:21 | |
just six weeks or way. I thought, if
I have a bad race, it is to have a | 0:44:21 | 0:44:29 | |
month to try and recover, and
likewise, I have done it here but we | 0:44:29 | 0:44:32 | |
still have a month to go with a lot
of training and the prep for it, but | 0:44:32 | 0:44:37 | |
it gives me a bit of confidence, and
we will see what it brings. The | 0:44:37 | 0:44:40 | |
final results: | 0:44:40 | 0:44:47 | |
lots can happen on this slippery
circuit. | 0:44:59 | 0:45:01 | |
Thankfully Sophie Coldwell has
picked herself up after her incident | 0:45:01 | 0:45:05 | |
with Katie 's theories and
courageously finished the race. | 0:45:05 | 0:45:08 | |
STUDIO: Just some clarification on
what we believe happened to Kirsten | 0:45:08 | 0:45:14 | |
Kasper on the last lap. She was
given a penalty for littering and | 0:45:14 | 0:45:19 | |
while she was serving the time
penalty Natalie Van Coevorden | 0:45:19 | 0:45:22 | |
overtook her just before the final
straight and the Australian held on | 0:45:22 | 0:45:26 | |
for the bronze medal in a sprint
finish. Annie, looking at that race, | 0:45:26 | 0:45:32 | |
the conditions were terrible. How
would you describe the? Treacherous, | 0:45:32 | 0:45:37 | |
awful. Don't think I've ever seen
anything like it. I don't know what | 0:45:37 | 0:45:40 | |
they could have done to prevent it
but it was not really acceptable, so | 0:45:40 | 0:45:44 | |
many good good, experienced athletes
going down, like Flora who has great | 0:45:44 | 0:45:52 | |
bike handling skills, it could
couldn't have been avoided -- it | 0:45:52 | 0:45:57 | |
couldn't have been avoided. It needs
to be better than that. | 0:45:57 | 0:46:00 | |
couldn't have been avoided. It needs
to be better than that. We are also | 0:46:00 | 0:46:01 | |
accustomed in Abu | 0:46:01 | 0:46:02 | |
to be better than that. We are also
accustomed in Abu Dhabi to it being | 0:46:02 | 0:46:03 | |
warm and dry | 0:46:03 | 0:46:04 | |
accustomed in Abu Dhabi to it being
warm and dry so a different feel to | 0:46:04 | 0:46:05 | |
the race. There was, normally very
hot, Sun blazing, every year, the | 0:46:05 | 0:46:10 | |
fourth time they have held the race
there, so the rain probably wasn't | 0:46:10 | 0:46:15 | |
expected or predicted which makes it
difficult. Sometimes that misty rain | 0:46:15 | 0:46:19 | |
that was falling as more dangerous
than full on rain, where everybody | 0:46:19 | 0:46:23 | |
knows they have to be cautious. We
know it is a motor racing circuit so | 0:46:23 | 0:46:28 | |
is that the problem, or while on the
circuit? Exactly, or we'll all | 0:46:28 | 0:46:32 | |
Greece, because the way they came
down. They were coming down in spots | 0:46:32 | 0:46:37 | |
as well, that is not a tight bend. | 0:46:37 | 0:46:39 | |
down. They were coming down in spots
as well, that is not a tight bend. | 0:46:39 | 0:46:40 | |
Really disappointing. Tough race.
First win for Rachel Klamer, great | 0:46:40 | 0:46:48 | |
run for her. She swims well and
bikes well but I don't think she has | 0:46:48 | 0:46:54 | |
produced the run. Difficult to say
because we lost the Faroes and Duffy | 0:46:54 | 0:46:57 | |
but you can't take it away from
Klamer, she had a great race. And | 0:46:57 | 0:47:02 | |
congratulations to just Learmonth,
good season last year and a great | 0:47:02 | 0:47:05 | |
way to start. When an athlete has a
great season you wonder if they can | 0:47:05 | 0:47:08 | |
back it up and she did, kept out of
trouble, probably had luck on the | 0:47:08 | 0:47:13 | |
bike but kept out of trouble, great
swim as we would expect and her | 0:47:13 | 0:47:17 | |
running, every race it seems to
improve, and that's what you want to | 0:47:17 | 0:47:21 | |
see. And a huge boost for her
confidence which is important going | 0:47:21 | 0:47:25 | |
forward. Definitely, Commonwealth
Games! What about Vicky and Non | 0:47:25 | 0:47:32 | |
They have problems with the bikes.
Do | 0:47:32 | 0:47:35 | |
They have problems with the bikes.
Do they have to worry about that? | 0:47:35 | 0:47:37 | |
Absolutely not, other than the fact
that it was unpredictable. I imagine | 0:47:37 | 0:47:43 | |
they were being cautious because at
this stage, six weeks from a major | 0:47:43 | 0:47:47 | |
championship, you don't want to come
down and break something, so we know | 0:47:47 | 0:47:51 | |
Non got into a crash, | 0:47:51 | 0:47:52 | |
down and break something, so we know
Non got into a crash, Vicky had to | 0:47:52 | 0:47:53 | |
avoid something, so I think today
they probably measured it up halfway | 0:47:53 | 0:47:58 | |
thought, let's get round and have a
good training session. We know off | 0:47:58 | 0:48:02 | |
the back of Cape Town they are both
in good form with great winters | 0:48:02 | 0:48:05 | |
behind them. I expect a different
race, the Commonwealth Games. Time | 0:48:05 | 0:48:13 | |
to turn our attention to the men's
race. This time last year Tom Bishop | 0:48:13 | 0:48:16 | |
was waiting for a breakthrough, and
he got it in Abu Dhabi. Remember | 0:48:16 | 0:48:18 | |
was waiting for a breakthrough, and
he got it in Abu Dhabi. Remember | 0:48:18 | 0:48:19 | |
this? COMMENTATOR: Remarkable
running so far from Tom Bishop. Tom | 0:48:19 | 0:48:24 | |
Bishop, what a race he is having.
Bishop home to take the Silva in Abu | 0:48:24 | 0:48:29 | |
Dhabi. For you it must be a moment
in your career you waited for for a | 0:48:29 | 0:48:34 | |
long time, only one top ten in World
Triathlon Series then neck and neck | 0:48:34 | 0:48:40 | |
with Gomez. I got off the bike
knowing this was possible, had a bad | 0:48:40 | 0:48:46 | |
second transition and fortunately
Gomez did as well | 0:48:46 | 0:48:47 | |
second transition and fortunately
Gomez did as well so I latched onto | 0:48:47 | 0:48:49 | |
him and found myself running through
the group, catching back-up to Gomez | 0:48:49 | 0:48:52 | |
and thinking, this is amazing, and I
couldn't believe it when I finished | 0:48:52 | 0:48:58 | |
the race that I had come second. It
took a couple of months to really... | 0:48:58 | 0:49:03 | |
I kept having to remind myself I did
that. I am trying to put myself in | 0:49:03 | 0:49:08 | |
that situation a bit more. I am
still trying to learn, it is new | 0:49:08 | 0:49:12 | |
experience running at the front of a
race or for a medal so it is | 0:49:12 | 0:49:15 | |
learning how to finish it off, which
is... It's still something am trying | 0:49:15 | 0:49:19 | |
to work on. | 0:49:19 | 0:49:23 | |
Well, Tom is already in the heat
chamber and training alongside | 0:49:27 | 0:49:31 | |
Jessica Learmonth, the European
champion. Four degrees outside, 35 | 0:49:31 | 0:49:35 | |
degrees in there, and I am not sure
if I'm looking forward to it but I'm | 0:49:35 | 0:49:39 | |
going to find out what it's all
about. You've been here half an | 0:49:39 | 0:49:43 | |
hour. Yes. How much longer in here?
Another 40 minutes on the bike and | 0:49:43 | 0:49:50 | |
then 35 minutes on the treadmill
afterwards. How do you think the | 0:49:50 | 0:49:57 | |
Brownlee brothers have impacted the
other athletes, yourself, and all | 0:49:57 | 0:50:01 | |
the other guys that train because
they are, or have appeared to be, in | 0:50:01 | 0:50:05 | |
a class of their own at times. And
they still are, we saw Rio, Alistair | 0:50:05 | 0:50:11 | |
was a bit more hit and miss with his
races or not doing as many, but when | 0:50:11 | 0:50:16 | |
he took the chances he would win the
race. He obviously helps Johnny out | 0:50:16 | 0:50:24 | |
as well, and it would be same in the
Commonwealth Games. What I have | 0:50:24 | 0:50:27 | |
learned from them is they know what
they need to do to win, and you can | 0:50:27 | 0:50:32 | |
pretty much guarantee when it
matters they are in the shape to do | 0:50:32 | 0:50:35 | |
it. They are inspirational in the
fact that they trained so hard and | 0:50:35 | 0:50:40 | |
nothing gets in their way. I have
tried to take that attitude on and | 0:50:40 | 0:50:44 | |
do it for my own training as well,
and it seems to be working. It's an | 0:50:44 | 0:50:50 | |
important lesson for people who want
to really make it happen. You seem | 0:50:50 | 0:50:54 | |
quite calm and relaxed like you have
the confidence you haven't had | 0:50:54 | 0:50:59 | |
before. I think I have done the
right thing. I know what work for me | 0:50:59 | 0:51:02 | |
last year and I have done the same.
I have looked at my training and I | 0:51:02 | 0:51:07 | |
only in better shape than I was this
time last year. I have to keep it | 0:51:07 | 0:51:10 | |
going now. There is no pressure, I
am not chasing fitness, just keeping | 0:51:10 | 0:51:15 | |
up the sessions, and it seems to be
all going well. The guys, the team | 0:51:15 | 0:51:20 | |
around they are quite confident in
my ability, and when you are in a | 0:51:20 | 0:51:26 | |
good spot you don't need to change
anything. That's one of the mistakes | 0:51:26 | 0:51:29 | |
I used to make was to always chase
and push and five the extra little | 0:51:29 | 0:51:33 | |
bit. I don't think I need to now, I
think I'm there, it's just get there | 0:51:33 | 0:51:38 | |
in one shape and not too tired and I
think I'll be ready. Really | 0:51:38 | 0:51:44 | |
interesting to see Tom there with
this really positive mental | 0:51:44 | 0:51:48 | |
attitude. It's great. He's a really
smart guy and I think is learned a | 0:51:48 | 0:51:52 | |
lot over the last few years about as
an athlete and what he needs to do | 0:51:52 | 0:51:59 | |
to be successful. -- about himself.
He tried hard to make the Rio team | 0:51:59 | 0:52:03 | |
to support the Brownlee brothers but
didn't make it, Gordon Benson went | 0:52:03 | 0:52:07 | |
instead. After that second place in
Abu Dhabi he has become an athlete | 0:52:07 | 0:52:10 | |
very much in his own right, out | 0:52:10 | 0:52:18 | |
there racing for himself, and I am
excited to see him race in 2018. I | 0:52:28 | 0:52:31 | |
love that insight into their
training, heat chamber. Is that | 0:52:31 | 0:52:33 | |
important to the? It is really
important, it helps them stay home | 0:52:33 | 0:52:35 | |
and train when they are comfortable
but also adapt to racing in the | 0:52:35 | 0:52:38 | |
heat. I know Jonathan Brownlee turns
up his conservatory heating to do | 0:52:38 | 0:52:40 | |
the same. Let's look at his season.
It was a trickier for him, what you | 0:52:40 | 0:52:43 | |
make of it going forward? He still
won in Stockholm which is one of the | 0:52:43 | 0:52:47 | |
hardest races on that target, a
tough climb it in both the run and | 0:52:47 | 0:52:50 | |
the bike, second in Leeds, and
amazing race from the Brownlee | 0:52:50 | 0:52:55 | |
brothers, a showpiece, then a couple
of top fives. By his standards that | 0:52:55 | 0:52:59 | |
is not what he wants to achieve, he
wants to win, so it was a tough | 0:52:59 | 0:53:04 | |
year, not his best, but he has a
good winter's training, the run not | 0:53:04 | 0:53:08 | |
brilliant but he has a whole lot of
room still to improve before the | 0:53:08 | 0:53:11 | |
Comoros games. Let's talk about the
Commonwealth Games, who from the | 0:53:11 | 0:53:15 | |
other nations will be main rivals?
You cannot overlook Jacob | 0:53:15 | 0:53:21 | |
Birtwistle, slightly inexperienced
but races well in sprint distance, | 0:53:21 | 0:53:26 | |
former world under 23 champion, look
at Schoeman as well and Richard | 0:53:26 | 0:53:30 | |
Murray, they will be tough. Richard
doesn't quite have the swim but is | 0:53:30 | 0:53:34 | |
only a sprint difference, Schoeman
we have to look out for. We have | 0:53:34 | 0:53:37 | |
seen the highlights of the women's
race. Earlier in the day the men had | 0:53:37 | 0:53:41 | |
to face the same tricky conditions,
so let's see how they fared. We can | 0:53:41 | 0:53:46 | |
hand you back to our commentators. | 0:53:46 | 0:53:50 | |
COMMENTATOR: Here's the start list
for the first race of the new | 0:53:53 | 0:53:56 | |
season. | 0:53:56 | 0:54:06 | |
Tom Bristow had a brilliant race
here in a year ago finishing second | 0:54:14 | 0:54:18 | |
behind Gomez. | 0:54:18 | 0:54:25 | |
Luis and Le Corre the two leading
French athletes. | 0:54:25 | 0:54:31 | |
There is the world champion, Mario
Mola. Two years in a row he has | 0:54:31 | 0:54:37 | |
become the world champion. 2016
after the drama, he got the title. | 0:54:37 | 0:54:45 | |
Last year he took it having finished
in third position at the grand final | 0:54:45 | 0:54:50 | |
in Rotterdam. Winner of this race in
Abu Dhabi in 2015 and again in 2016. | 0:54:50 | 0:54:57 | |
They were both full distance races.
Today is slightly different, because | 0:54:57 | 0:55:02 | |
they have cut it and half, it is a
sprint. There is Vincent Lewies, | 0:55:02 | 0:55:09 | |
winner of the final race of 2017 in
Rotterdam at the grand final, beat | 0:55:09 | 0:55:17 | |
two tarmacking to second, Mola into
third. He won | 0:55:17 | 0:55:27 | |
third. He won his first-ever World
Championship and that win in | 0:55:27 | 0:55:30 | |
Rotterdam was his first-ever full
distance. He is incredibly strong | 0:55:30 | 0:55:34 | |
and an athlete the others will keep
an eye on today's. The 2018 World | 0:55:34 | 0:55:41 | |
Triathlon Series is about to get
going. Here in Abu Dhabi. The | 0:55:41 | 0:55:47 | |
athletes are lining up in the water
ready for stage one. It is a sprint | 0:55:47 | 0:55:57 | |
distance competition today, a single
lap swim in the calm waters of the | 0:55:57 | 0:56:05 | |
Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi. I always
get twitchy when I watched the start | 0:56:05 | 0:56:09 | |
and you saw the athlete shaking
their arms and exhaling, very | 0:56:09 | 0:56:12 | |
nervous. The sprint distance racing
does that to be athletes, there is | 0:56:12 | 0:56:16 | |
no room for error, you have to be
there at the end of the swim | 0:56:16 | 0:56:20 | |
otherwise it is game over and being
750, it will be fast and athletes | 0:56:20 | 0:56:24 | |
will want to attempt to break away
and as we can see, number 16, | 0:56:24 | 0:56:29 | |
Wagner, we know he has trained in
Leeds previously with the Brownlee | 0:56:29 | 0:56:33 | |
brothers, he was in the training
camp in Tenerife. Johnny Brownlee on | 0:56:33 | 0:56:39 | |
the left-hand side will want to
stick with Varga, a few niggles this | 0:56:39 | 0:56:43 | |
winter period meaning he hasn't been
able to run as much as he would | 0:56:43 | 0:56:49 | |
like, therefore they have to try
something on the swim, try to break | 0:56:49 | 0:56:52 | |
away. Very difficult over such a
short distance. No surprise to see | 0:56:52 | 0:56:58 | |
Richard Varga moving out in front
and Henry Schoeman on the far side | 0:56:58 | 0:57:02 | |
of this channel just about matching
him, the South African, one of the | 0:57:02 | 0:57:08 | |
top swimmers, and won't be far off
the pace of Varga on the near side | 0:57:08 | 0:57:11 | |
with Johnny Brownlee. Varga leading
that arrowhead on the right with | 0:57:11 | 0:57:17 | |
Johnny Brownlee on his heels and
Blummenfelt wasn't far away, but | 0:57:17 | 0:57:21 | |
they have split into two different
lines. A bit of a scrum. One or two | 0:57:21 | 0:57:30 | |
knocked out of the way. Number 14,
Royle of Estrella in that bunch, | 0:57:30 | 0:57:39 | |
second or third, always an athlete
you, not so much great, great swim- | 0:57:39 | 0:57:50 | |
by competition. He spent some time
in Leeds, he is the partner of Non | 0:57:50 | 0:57:54 | |
Stanford so knows Johnny well and
Johnny will be pleased to have them | 0:57:54 | 0:57:58 | |
there as company. We can see, as it
always happens, they looked to | 0:57:58 | 0:58:02 | |
spread out early in the swim but are
now coming together just as they | 0:58:02 | 0:58:07 | |
have to time going round the buoy
and that's where it gets scrappy and | 0:58:07 | 0:58:12 | |
messy, 55 athletes all approaching
this 180 degrees turn together. Did | 0:58:12 | 0:58:17 | |
Schoeman beat Varga to return, I
think he might have done? Schoeman | 0:58:17 | 0:58:22 | |
is a great, smart swimmer, and it is
Schoeman, you called it well. He has | 0:58:22 | 0:58:28 | |
had a difficult time of late,
Schoeman, you can find out about it | 0:58:28 | 0:58:34 | |
if you want to know. A troublesome
period with all sorts of media | 0:58:34 | 0:58:39 | |
speculation for Schoeman, he has
done well to come through unscathed. | 0:58:39 | 0:58:45 | |
The ITU have cleared him of any
wrongdoing and I think his statement | 0:58:45 | 0:58:49 | |
was there had never been a positive
test or adverse analytical finding, | 0:58:49 | 0:58:54 | |
or a necessity for a therapeutic use
exemption form, he said he never | 0:58:54 | 0:58:59 | |
failed a drug test in his sporting
career nor has he ever had to apply | 0:58:59 | 0:59:04 | |
for an exemption. Most importantly
the ITU have completely cleared him | 0:59:04 | 0:59:08 | |
of wrongdoing, and I think we have
to move on from that. That came up | 0:59:08 | 0:59:13 | |
in Rio when he won the bronze medal,
but I would like to reiterate that | 0:59:13 | 0:59:17 | |
he has been totally cleared. He has
back racing, raised in Cape Town a | 0:59:17 | 0:59:22 | |
couple of weeks ago, came second to
Richard Murray in a World Cup sprint | 0:59:22 | 0:59:26 | |
event, so good for him, he's had a
chance to hit out already this | 0:59:26 | 0:59:30 | |
season which many other athletes
haven't, as has Richard Murray. | 0:59:30 | 0:59:37 | |
The British athletes to look out
for, Jonny Brownlee, Tom Bishop, | 0:59:38 | 0:59:42 | |
Marcos did, Gordon Benson. As Henri
Schoeman leads them in towards the | 0:59:42 | 0:59:50 | |
end of this single lap of swimming.
750 metres almost done, fast time. | 0:59:50 | 0:59:57 | |
Schoeman will be out in under nine
minutes. And he is first to reach | 0:59:57 | 1:00:02 | |
the ramp that takes him out of the
water, and Schoeman is on his way. | 1:00:02 | 1:00:10 | |
That was Ben Canute in second place.
Just three seconds behind. We saw | 1:00:10 | 1:00:15 | |
Jonny Brownlee near the front, Varga
is out. | 1:00:15 | 1:00:25 | |
is out. Tom Bishop is just ten
seconds off the pace, right up | 1:00:25 | 1:00:28 | |
there, should be with the leading
group as they pick up their bikes. | 1:00:28 | 1:00:32 | |
Schoeman makes the left turn, Gordon
Benson is through and he is with | 1:00:32 | 1:00:36 | |
that front group as well. Joanna | 1:00:36 | 1:00:46 | |
Mak Marc Austin is out. They are
into transition. They have reversed | 1:00:46 | 1:01:01 | |
this time and time again. Jonny
Brownlee is synchronised with | 1:01:01 | 1:01:05 | |
Vincent Luis as they set off on the
first of their five laps, a 20K ride | 1:01:05 | 1:01:13 | |
around the streets of the motor
circuit of the marina. A little | 1:01:13 | 1:01:16 | |
light rate falling. Henri Schoeman
is on the way, Vincent Luis | 1:01:16 | 1:01:26 | |
following. And we have a man down
already. What a dreadful start. Was | 1:01:26 | 1:01:37 | |
that Connix? One of the French
athletes. He is back-up on his bike. | 1:01:37 | 1:01:42 | |
Dreadful start from one of the
French athletes. Looking back down | 1:01:42 | 1:01:45 | |
the field, Jacob Birtwhistle is one
to look out for, he was well down, | 1:01:45 | 1:01:52 | |
about 25 seconds down. Mola was the
last of the top guys out, 30 seconds | 1:01:52 | 1:01:59 | |
down. There is a gap to Richard
Varga who is desperately trying to | 1:01:59 | 1:02:04 | |
get to the front. He wasn't the
first out of the water. Schoeman who | 1:02:04 | 1:02:09 | |
led the swim. Then a group of six or
seven who are strung out along the | 1:02:09 | 1:02:15 | |
back straight of the motor circuit.
It is a truncated lap within the | 1:02:15 | 1:02:22 | |
confines of the Formula 1 track
here. And the front four has just | 1:02:22 | 1:02:30 | |
become five. As we can see, the
roads are pretty treacherous, it is | 1:02:30 | 1:02:34 | |
very damp and that is when it
becomes dangerous and slippery. | 1:02:34 | 1:02:39 | |
Jonny Brownlee is pushing the pace
along. He wants somebody to join | 1:02:39 | 1:02:43 | |
him, he wants to keep clear of the
rest of the field. We all know how | 1:02:43 | 1:02:47 | |
successful the Brownlee brothers can
be when they dominate the bike | 1:02:47 | 1:02:50 | |
section of these triathlons, and
obviously Jonny Brownlee has that in | 1:02:50 | 1:02:54 | |
mind today. He wants to get the race
wrapped up by the time he hangs up | 1:02:54 | 1:02:59 | |
his bike. And he has gone down!
Jonny Brownlee pushing too hard, and | 1:02:59 | 1:03:05 | |
he has caused a traffic jam behind
him. Goodness me. Yes, that wasn't | 1:03:05 | 1:03:09 | |
going to be the first accident we
saw. There is not a lot you can do | 1:03:09 | 1:03:14 | |
about it. The only thing you can try
and do is stay off the white paint, | 1:03:14 | 1:03:18 | |
that gets really greasy, but I think
he just came down on a spot that was | 1:03:18 | 1:03:23 | |
pretty unavoidable. The guys have
great skills, but when you're riding | 1:03:23 | 1:03:26 | |
on this, it is like being on an ice
rink in parts. I don't think Jonny | 1:03:26 | 1:03:30 | |
did anything wrong. So, the first
race of the season, the officials | 1:03:30 | 1:03:38 | |
will have their heads in hands
watching Jonny Brownlee hit the deck | 1:03:38 | 1:03:41 | |
before completes his first lap for
2018. You can see his yellow bike | 1:03:41 | 1:03:47 | |
helmet at the top of that group,
bobbing up and down as he | 1:03:47 | 1:03:50 | |
desperately tries to get back on
terms with the lead group. Let's see | 1:03:50 | 1:03:55 | |
this again. He was taking the
right-hander, his wheels went from | 1:03:55 | 1:03:58 | |
under him, and then the others had
to take evasive action. But he only | 1:03:58 | 1:04:03 | |
spent a few seconds on the deck
before he was back and riding again. | 1:04:03 | 1:04:07 | |
Thankfully no one else made contact.
The only worry is that is your | 1:04:07 | 1:04:11 | |
confidence is dented and you become
very cautious, but Jonny Brownlee | 1:04:11 | 1:04:15 | |
has great skills and great
experience, so hopefully that'll | 1:04:15 | 1:04:17 | |
crash hasn't affected him too much.
So, one of the Italians now leading, | 1:04:17 | 1:04:30 | |
Alessandro Fabian. Then Kanute of
the USA, Bergere France, Luis, | 1:04:30 | 1:04:36 | |
Nieschlag, Schoeman. Jonny Brownlee
has only lost nine seconds after his | 1:04:36 | 1:04:42 | |
off. That is the first group of 11.
Jonny Brownlee is not out of this | 1:04:42 | 1:04:51 | |
competition. He could still bounce
back and win this race. Another one | 1:04:51 | 1:04:57 | |
down, it is Fabian. We keep losing
the leaders. Brownlee was leading, | 1:04:57 | 1:05:02 | |
then we lost Fabian who was leading.
It is greasy underfoot, caution is | 1:05:02 | 1:05:05 | |
required. | 1:05:05 | 1:05:12 | |
required. Pierre le Corre now takes
it up for France. Tom I don't think | 1:05:12 | 1:05:18 | |
is that happy, I know last year in
Yokohama he didn't enjoy the wet | 1:05:18 | 1:05:21 | |
conditions, and he had a bit of a
crash and had to work hard to get | 1:05:21 | 1:05:25 | |
back on. When I was having a chat
with him, he said he lost his nerve | 1:05:25 | 1:05:30 | |
in the wet, as you do, and these
athletes have come down thick and | 1:05:30 | 1:05:32 | |
fast now. | 1:05:32 | 1:05:38 | |
fast now. Jonathan Brownlee with the
yellow helmet coming here he comes | 1:05:38 | 1:05:41 | |
now, his bike seems to be undamaged
and he is fighting for his place, | 1:05:41 | 1:05:46 | |
making his way back up through the
field, hoping to join in with the | 1:05:46 | 1:05:49 | |
leaders at the front of this
competition here in Abu Dhabi. The | 1:05:49 | 1:05:54 | |
first stage of the 2018 World Cup
series has got off to dramatic | 1:05:54 | 1:05:57 | |
start. We can see now that Schoeman
is to siding he is going to have a | 1:05:57 | 1:06:04 | |
bit of a go and write off the front.
This is the only hill on the | 1:06:04 | 1:06:08 | |
circuit, I'm surprised they have let
him go. I think he is looking around | 1:06:08 | 1:06:11 | |
and thinking, there is a big group
behind with some good runners, I | 1:06:11 | 1:06:15 | |
have a chance to be on the podium.
He didn't have the best of years | 1:06:15 | 1:06:19 | |
last year following his phenomenal
bronze medal in Rio, and he won in | 1:06:19 | 1:06:29 | |
Cozumel, and we remember that for
one special reason, Alistair | 1:06:29 | 1:06:33 | |
carrying Jonny across the line, but
the rest of the results were nothing | 1:06:33 | 1:06:37 | |
to write home about. I think that
Schoeman is going to be looking to | 1:06:37 | 1:06:41 | |
make up for a very difficult 2017.
You mentioned Cozumel and the famous | 1:06:41 | 1:06:47 | |
brothers in arms, that wouldn't be
allowed now, the rules have changed. | 1:06:47 | 1:06:52 | |
Alistair would no longer be allowed
to pick up his brother and throw him | 1:06:52 | 1:06:55 | |
across the finish line like you did
in Cozumel. They have updated the | 1:06:55 | 1:06:59 | |
rules because of that, I think, but
what a great story it was for | 1:06:59 | 1:07:03 | |
triathlon.
So we are into the second half of | 1:07:03 | 1:07:09 | |
this 20K bike, and Henri Schoeman is
out on his own. It has been the | 1:07:09 | 1:07:15 | |
perfect tactical race so far for the
South African. Let's get a check on | 1:07:15 | 1:07:19 | |
the time difference here. Last time
was eight seconds, but now we have | 1:07:19 | 1:07:23 | |
somebody who made an effort to try
and bridge the gap from the chasers | 1:07:23 | 1:07:29 | |
to the leader. Schoeman looks to be
happy out on his own. No one has | 1:07:29 | 1:07:34 | |
gone with him, no one has troubled
him for a while, and his lead is | 1:07:34 | 1:07:39 | |
extended to around 11 seconds.
Vincent Luis is trying to stem the | 1:07:39 | 1:07:45 | |
tide of Schoeman's efforts on the
bike, and he is now joined by Aaron | 1:07:45 | 1:07:53 | |
Royle of Australia who wants to go
with Vincent Luis. Jonny Brownlee is | 1:07:53 | 1:07:58 | |
next and then Fabian. And marry a
Mola is up in that chase group as | 1:07:58 | 1:08:02 | |
well. So Mola remember was 30
seconds down coming out of the | 1:08:02 | 1:08:09 | |
water, and he is back in contention
now. Schoeman's lead has extended to | 1:08:09 | 1:08:14 | |
an impressive 14 seconds, but Mola
is right back in this race. I think | 1:08:14 | 1:08:19 | |
Schoeman has just got to keep his
head down now. I don't think it is | 1:08:19 | 1:08:23 | |
the fact that he is working, putting
in a massive effort. Think he just | 1:08:23 | 1:08:28 | |
wrote the corner is a little bit
more bravely than some of the | 1:08:28 | 1:08:31 | |
athletes. And there are so many
corners, the race keeps slowing down | 1:08:31 | 1:08:37 | |
and then opening up. It would be
much harder on long stretches of | 1:08:37 | 1:08:40 | |
road is to stay away like this, but
at the moment I think he is having a | 1:08:40 | 1:08:45 | |
very intelligent, strong race. Even
if he only gets a gap of around 20 | 1:08:45 | 1:08:50 | |
seconds, he stays out of trouble
that you might see some times when | 1:08:50 | 1:08:53 | |
the athletes are riding in a big
pack of these tight, wet bends. | 1:08:53 | 1:09:01 | |
pack of these tight, wet bends. This
is the only dry part of the truck as | 1:09:02 | 1:09:03 | |
they go through the tunnel and out
onto the main body. And another | 1:09:03 | 1:09:09 | |
major collision! Goodness me, who is
it this time? It is Russell White of | 1:09:09 | 1:09:13 | |
Ireland who is down, and that is the
dry part of the track. I can only | 1:09:13 | 1:09:18 | |
really think that there is a lot of
grease on this road, because coming | 1:09:18 | 1:09:22 | |
down where he has just come down, it
wasn't even a tight bend, and it | 1:09:22 | 1:09:26 | |
isn't even wet under there. It is a
motor racing circuit, there will be | 1:09:26 | 1:09:30 | |
oil, grease, bits of rubber around.
It is not going to be the Gropius | 1:09:30 | 1:09:37 | |
circuit, but take nothing away from
Henri Schoeman, the South African | 1:09:37 | 1:09:41 | |
has nailed this race so far. What a
start for the 26-year-old from | 1:09:41 | 1:09:47 | |
Durban, started competing in 2011 in
the elite field, came in with his | 1:09:47 | 1:09:52 | |
strength, his background in
swimming, and use that to good | 1:09:52 | 1:10:00 | |
effect to be the third man home in
the Rio Olympic Games to earn his | 1:10:00 | 1:10:03 | |
bronze medal. Schoeman well-balanced
through the tightest part of the | 1:10:03 | 1:10:11 | |
circuit. You can see how narrow and
tight it is there, and you can see | 1:10:11 | 1:10:15 | |
how it will really favour a lone
rider, because when you come to | 1:10:15 | 1:10:18 | |
those corners in a big group, it
gets a lot of to move around | 1:10:18 | 1:10:24 | |
quickly. So far, tactically, very
sensible, sensible riding from Henri | 1:10:24 | 1:10:30 | |
Schoeman, and there is marry | 1:10:30 | 1:10:36 | |
Mario Miola, winner last season on
the Gold Coast and Yokohama, he won | 1:10:42 | 1:10:46 | |
again in Hamburg and again in
Edmonton. He was third at the grand | 1:10:46 | 1:10:52 | |
final in Rotterdam in September.
That is how he wrapped up his second | 1:10:52 | 1:11:00 | |
successive world title. Henri
Schoeman leading, and further down | 1:11:00 | 1:11:05 | |
the road, his main rivals are
beginning to | 1:11:05 | 1:11:12 | |
beginning to gather Mario Miola is
taking on plenty of liquid, keeping | 1:11:12 | 1:11:15 | |
himself hydrated. Jonny Brownlee is
keeping himself out of trouble as | 1:11:15 | 1:11:24 | |
well, maybe there is some damage to
the right knee, that would be my | 1:11:24 | 1:11:28 | |
assessment looking at the scarring
and potential bleeding. That might | 1:11:28 | 1:11:33 | |
be the only damage done to Jonathan
Brownlee after that crashed earlier. | 1:11:33 | 1:11:42 | |
It is Adrien Briffod at the top of
this group. Henri Schoeman took the | 1:11:42 | 1:11:51 | |
bell some 20 seconds ago.
Birtwhistle is in contention, so is | 1:11:51 | 1:11:59 | |
Silva. | 1:11:59 | 1:12:02 | |
Nieschlag is the leading German.
Approaching transition for the last | 1:12:09 | 1:12:11 | |
time on the bike circuit, and
Schoeman starts to prepare. He will | 1:12:11 | 1:12:18 | |
rest his feet on top of his bike
shoes, which will remain attached to | 1:12:18 | 1:12:21 | |
the pedals as he hangs up the bike.
And Burford just glancing behind. | 1:12:21 | 1:12:33 | |
The gap was up to at its best for
Henri Schoeman around 18 seconds, so | 1:12:33 | 1:12:37 | |
we will see what it is the
conclusion of the bike leg. Jonny | 1:12:37 | 1:12:41 | |
Brownlee just keeping himself
removed from that group. Schoeman is | 1:12:41 | 1:12:46 | |
into transition, he wants this to be
clean and fast. So far, so good. Has | 1:12:46 | 1:12:51 | |
a little glance to see what his
rivals are doing, he has picked up | 1:12:51 | 1:12:54 | |
his glasses and he is away. Brifford
burst out of transition behind him. | 1:12:54 | 1:13:01 | |
Mario Mola behind him, coming up to
his position in transition. World | 1:13:01 | 1:13:09 | |
number one, and he is 22 seconds off
the pace of Henri Schoeman. Remember | 1:13:09 | 1:13:14 | |
he has closed down gaps of around 30
seconds in the past. The familiar | 1:13:14 | 1:13:19 | |
white visor for Mario Miola. Henri
Schoeman, Olympic gold medallist, | 1:13:19 | 1:13:26 | |
leads them, bursting out of
transition and he is on his first | 1:13:26 | 1:13:29 | |
lap. Brifford of Switzerland, the
Canadian in second, and then the | 1:13:29 | 1:13:35 | |
battle begins. Further down the
road, Mola straight into his stride, | 1:13:35 | 1:13:41 | |
with Luis for company, and Bergere.
Jonny Brownlee with a damaged right | 1:13:41 | 1:13:46 | |
knee, we think, looks for the
running. Royle coming through, | 1:13:46 | 1:13:51 | |
Kanute, and Fabian who was also a
fuller on the bike leg, the last of | 1:13:51 | 1:13:56 | |
that group to leave transition. Only
once in world triathlon series | 1:13:56 | 1:14:01 | |
history has an athlete led out of
the water and off the bike and gone | 1:14:01 | 1:14:04 | |
on to win the race. And that was
Alistair Brownlee in Kitzbuhel in | 1:14:04 | 1:14:10 | |
2011. If Henri Schoeman does it
today, because he was first out of | 1:14:10 | 1:14:14 | |
the water, he was leading after the
bike, if he holds on to win this | 1:14:14 | 1:14:18 | |
race, he will become only the second
triathlete to achieve that. | 1:14:18 | 1:14:20 | |
Schoeman looks like he is full of
running at the moment, very relaxed, | 1:14:25 | 1:14:30 | |
legs turning over nice and had
files. Johnny Brownlee is in 11th | 1:14:30 | 1:14:38 | |
position. Holding his own on the
shoulder of Jacob Birtwhistle, good | 1:14:38 | 1:14:42 | |
place to go. He made no bones of the
fact that he wasn't going in with | 1:14:42 | 1:14:47 | |
massive confidence particularly on
the run, not the swim and the bike, | 1:14:47 | 1:14:51 | |
he is fit there, but it will be a
good hit out for Brownlee and a good | 1:14:51 | 1:14:55 | |
step towards building on where he
needs to be fuller Commonwealth | 1:14:55 | 1:14:58 | |
Games in six weeks, where his
brother will be, and that always | 1:14:58 | 1:15:02 | |
adds a bit more to the race, when
Alistair is there with Johnny. Take | 1:15:02 | 1:15:10 | |
out the Spaniard Mola and the two
French boys and Schoeman is one of | 1:15:10 | 1:15:13 | |
the favourites heading into the
Commonwealth Games because Mola and | 1:15:13 | 1:15:16 | |
Badger and Luis will not be
involved, but Schoeman will, -- Mola | 1:15:16 | 1:15:21 | |
and Bergere. A sprint distance on
the Gold Coast for the Commonwealth | 1:15:21 | 1:15:25 | |
Games triathlon and Schoeman could
go here. Mola clear of Luis and | 1:15:25 | 1:15:30 | |
Bergere and Mola has staked a claim
for outright second. He certainly | 1:15:30 | 1:15:34 | |
has, stamping down his authority on
the Frenchman. They have gone out | 1:15:34 | 1:15:39 | |
fast, Luis races well over five five
kilometres but has raced well | 1:15:39 | 1:15:46 | |
already. Schoeman is definitely a
favourite for a Commonwealth medal | 1:15:46 | 1:15:50 | |
as they come over the. They have
rung the bell to say they are on the | 1:15:50 | 1:15:55 | |
final lap. Schoeman leads the way
with two and a half kilometres to | 1:15:55 | 1:16:01 | |
run, danger lurking, though, because
Mario Mola is now 11 seconds off the | 1:16:01 | 1:16:05 | |
pace, and has moved to adapt another
gear, four seconds further back | 1:16:05 | 1:16:09 | |
Vincent Luis and Leo Bergere who
look like they may be fighting for | 1:16:09 | 1:16:13 | |
third here with the last lap to
come. The two Frenchman shoulder to | 1:16:13 | 1:16:18 | |
shoulder then Adrian brief vogue,
but he won't be featuring in the top | 1:16:18 | 1:16:23 | |
ten I don't think by the end of
today -- Briffod. Silva and Iden, | 1:16:23 | 1:16:31 | |
the Norwegian, Mishra Pflucke --
Mislawchuk in tenth. Mola sets his | 1:16:31 | 1:16:42 | |
sights on the green ahead of him,
the Green worn by the South African | 1:16:42 | 1:16:47 | |
Schoeman. He is in focus now for
Mario Mola. 49 seconds down there, | 1:16:47 | 1:16:57 | |
the team partner of Schoeman, we
would have expected him to feature | 1:16:57 | 1:17:00 | |
more off the back of the victory in
Cape Town a few weeks ago, but | 1:17:00 | 1:17:04 | |
hasn't made it on the swim. Mola a
bit behind. This is a part of the | 1:17:04 | 1:17:10 | |
course to relax a little, let the
legs turnover fast, you want to | 1:17:10 | 1:17:12 | |
relax when you go downhill but you
have to give up the pace especially | 1:17:12 | 1:17:16 | |
when you have world number one Mario
Mola chasing you down. A little | 1:17:16 | 1:17:20 | |
mention of the French athlete
alongside Luis, Leo Bergere, one of | 1:17:20 | 1:17:28 | |
the youngest, 21. The French team
looking strong now, he won a bronze | 1:17:28 | 1:17:34 | |
never at the Junior World
Championships in 2015 but hasn't | 1:17:34 | 1:17:39 | |
featured Matt on the World Triathlon
Series, ape in Hamburg last year -- | 1:17:39 | 1:17:43 | |
hasn't featured much. Schoeman
leading the way up the hill land | 1:17:43 | 1:17:46 | |
onto the motor circuit for the final
time, Mario Mola starting to breathe | 1:17:46 | 1:17:51 | |
down the South African's next, he is
closing the gap, but is there enough | 1:17:51 | 1:17:57 | |
tarmac for Mola to get the job done?
Luis of France, Bergere also of | 1:17:57 | 1:18:04 | |
France running in close proximity in
third and fourth. They could be in a | 1:18:04 | 1:18:12 | |
head-to-head battle to claim the
last place on the podium. And a bit | 1:18:12 | 1:18:15 | |
further behind we have the
Australian Jacob Birtwhistle and | 1:18:15 | 1:18:19 | |
Jonathan Brownlee of Great Britain,
and others, looking for top ten | 1:18:19 | 1:18:23 | |
finishes in the first race of the
season. Schoeman versus Mola for the | 1:18:23 | 1:18:30 | |
win here in Abu Dhabi in the first
race of the 2018 World Triathlon | 1:18:30 | 1:18:36 | |
Series. It will be a close contest,
it really will be, with a mile to go | 1:18:36 | 1:18:42 | |
on this course, we would expect the
athletes to run around five minutes | 1:18:42 | 1:18:46 | |
for the last mile. Mola on his own
now which makes it hard work because | 1:18:46 | 1:18:49 | |
when you are running in a group you
can work of the other athletes. But | 1:18:49 | 1:18:54 | |
we can see Mola, not having it easy,
putting in a big effort | 1:18:54 | 1:19:01 | |
putting in a big effort here but has
he got enough road left to catch | 1:19:04 | 1:19:06 | |
Schoeman? Twice the world champion,
the last two years, the man from | 1:19:06 | 1:19:09 | |
Majorca, but Schoeman of Durm and
insert -- Durban in South Africa has | 1:19:09 | 1:19:13 | |
put in an excellent pace in the
first lap and a half of this five K | 1:19:13 | 1:19:16 | |
run and at the moment Schoeman looks
relatively secure in first but you | 1:19:16 | 1:19:22 | |
can never know what Mola is capable
of. We have to do a bit accounting | 1:19:22 | 1:19:27 | |
here, the time is ticking away, I
don't think Mola will get him now, | 1:19:27 | 1:19:31 | |
he almost looks slightly slower and
instrument can smell the finish | 1:19:31 | 1:19:35 | |
line, it is a decent gap now. Nine
seconds, possibly ten, counting with | 1:19:35 | 1:19:40 | |
the naked eye and by fingers, and
Schoeman is within 1200 metres of | 1:19:40 | 1:19:47 | |
what would be his second World
Triathlon Series win, his first at | 1:19:47 | 1:19:52 | |
the grand final on September 2016.
Today could be his second. Ten | 1:19:52 | 1:20:00 | |
seconds the official gap between
Schoeman and Mola, and I don't think | 1:20:00 | 1:20:06 | |
it's going to happen for Mario Mola
here. Schoeman is in great shape and | 1:20:06 | 1:20:13 | |
will become only the second man to
lead out of the water, off the bike, | 1:20:13 | 1:20:19 | |
and go on to win a top level race.
The first to do it was Alistair | 1:20:19 | 1:20:26 | |
Brownlee in Kitzbuhel 2011, Schoeman
can follow in his footsteps here. He | 1:20:26 | 1:20:31 | |
is inside the kilometre with the
lead of ten seconds over Mario Mola. | 1:20:31 | 1:20:35 | |
Mola looks like he has picked up the
pace slightly. Difficult to tell | 1:20:35 | 1:20:40 | |
from so high up, these are the
helicopter views, but I think | 1:20:40 | 1:20:44 | |
Schoeman now was almost smelling
victory, he will glance over his | 1:20:44 | 1:20:48 | |
shoulder, 800 metres of running,
Luis now pulled away from the young | 1:20:48 | 1:20:51 | |
French man. These will be our podium
place finishes it is just who will | 1:20:51 | 1:20:57 | |
be there first, Schoeman Mola, what
does he have left in the tank? Luis | 1:20:57 | 1:21:00 | |
the winner of the last race of 2017,
may finish on the podium in the | 1:21:00 | 1:21:08 | |
first of 2018. Bush has glanced
around, I think he has resigned | 1:21:08 | 1:21:12 | |
himself to force the -- Bergere has
glanced around, I think he has | 1:21:12 | 1:21:15 | |
resigned himself to fourth position.
He senses the threat from Mola, | 1:21:15 | 1:21:22 | |
Schoeman, but with the last few
metres to run Schoeman will not give | 1:21:22 | 1:21:25 | |
up on this victory in Abu Dhabi.
Well, camera angle deceptive, | 1:21:25 | 1:21:30 | |
difficult to tell I think that that
gap probably still stands around | 1:21:30 | 1:21:36 | |
8-10 seconds. Mola still pumping
those arms. Gritting his teeth, | 1:21:36 | 1:21:41 | |
rocking and rolling, it's an effort
now, Schoeman glances back, down to | 1:21:41 | 1:21:46 | |
eight seconds from ten down to eight
with the last 450 metres to run. | 1:21:46 | 1:21:52 | |
Mario Mola putting heart and soul
into this final 500 metres. I | 1:21:52 | 1:21:57 | |
mentioned there I think that is
Johnny Brownlee in the back | 1:21:57 | 1:22:00 | |
alongside Silva of Portugal but it
looks like Brownlee has pulled away | 1:22:00 | 1:22:05 | |
slightly, seven seconds now, 350
metres to run, Mola gritting his | 1:22:05 | 1:22:09 | |
teeth, he hasn't given up yet. Into
the last 300 metres, and Schoeman | 1:22:09 | 1:22:17 | |
has got another gear to go to. He
has raised the pace of this | 1:22:17 | 1:22:24 | |
competition, another glance,
worryingly, over his shoulder, | 1:22:24 | 1:22:26 | |
because Mola has put in a sterling
effort to close the gap, but I don't | 1:22:26 | 1:22:31 | |
think it will happen now. Last 200
metres. The distance is significant | 1:22:31 | 1:22:38 | |
enough for Schoeman surely to go on
and win the first race of the 2018 | 1:22:38 | 1:22:44 | |
World Triathlon Series. It's gone
down from ten down to nine down to | 1:22:44 | 1:22:48 | |
eight and down to six seconds now as
Schoeman makes return, still | 1:22:48 | 1:22:53 | |
glancing over his shoulder but
starting to celebrate as he pumped | 1:22:53 | 1:22:57 | |
his right fist. It's been a
difficult few weeks and months for | 1:22:57 | 1:23:01 | |
Schoeman but he has returned to
top-level racing with a win in Abu | 1:23:01 | 1:23:05 | |
Dhabi. What a start to the season.
He will head into the Commonwealth | 1:23:05 | 1:23:09 | |
Games of the favourite for gold on
the Gold Coast but it is gold here | 1:23:09 | 1:23:14 | |
in Abu Dhabi for the South African
Schoeman. He wins round one of the | 1:23:14 | 1:23:19 | |
World Triathlon Series, Mario Mola
comes home for second and Vincent | 1:23:19 | 1:23:25 | |
Luis kept clear of his compatriots
Leo Bergere to be sure of taking | 1:23:25 | 1:23:32 | |
third position and the bronze medal
here, Vincent Luis jogs home, good | 1:23:32 | 1:23:37 | |
effort from him, 18 seconds off the
pace of Henry Schoeman, and Bergere, | 1:23:37 | 1:23:45 | |
who had a personal best at the world
tour final in Rotterdam, has another | 1:23:45 | 1:23:50 | |
one, another personal best, with
Jacob Birtwhistle, the first | 1:23:50 | 1:23:54 | |
Australian to make it home in fifth
position ahead of Silva of Portugal | 1:23:54 | 1:23:59 | |
in sixth, and we think it might be
Jonathan Brownlee who is in seventh | 1:23:59 | 1:24:05 | |
position. Yes, Brownlee holds on for
seventh, coming home with a top ten | 1:24:05 | 1:24:10 | |
position ahead of Adrian Briffod,
Gustave Iden and Richard Murray, and | 1:24:10 | 1:24:16 | |
that is the top ten in Abu Dhabi. | 1:24:16 | 1:24:26 | |
Tom Bishop in 14 with Mark Austin
27th. Why to felt from his bike | 1:24:26 | 1:24:32 | |
ended up 43rd with Gordon Benson and
45th position. | 1:24:32 | 1:24:38 | |
I am just so happy, there is no
words to explain, I had a tough time | 1:24:38 | 1:24:43 | |
after the Olympics and it is good to
come back. I think they were being | 1:24:43 | 1:24:47 | |
really careful around the corners
and I felt I had gripped with my | 1:24:47 | 1:24:50 | |
tyres so I was flowing through the
corners easily. I found I kept | 1:24:50 | 1:24:55 | |
getting them after technical corner
so I thought I would go for it. | 1:24:55 | 1:25:00 | |
That's a good race, I spent a lot of
energy on the bike because so many | 1:25:00 | 1:25:03 | |
people crashed just in front of me.
You see Johnny Brownlee crashing, | 1:25:03 | 1:25:09 | |
that's nonsense to see him crashing!
I had a good run, not as good as I | 1:25:09 | 1:25:14 | |
expect but that's the first race, a
sprint race, and two days ago we | 1:25:14 | 1:25:19 | |
were only in February so we have
plenty of time until the end of the | 1:25:19 | 1:25:23 | |
season. I prefer to be third two --
today than crashing. I am happy with | 1:25:23 | 1:25:29 | |
how the race went although it was
slippery. To be able to make it in | 1:25:29 | 1:25:34 | |
transition two without a crash or
skin going, I think it was a big | 1:25:34 | 1:25:39 | |
accomplishment. Mario is a fantastic
runner. I was running scared but | 1:25:39 | 1:25:44 | |
fitness is there, it is good to have
a race like this, tells me I am in | 1:25:44 | 1:25:48 | |
great form leading into the
Commonwealth games as my next race. | 1:25:48 | 1:25:51 | |
STUDIO: What a great race for
Schoeman and unusual as you pointed | 1:25:51 | 1:25:56 | |
out to do this, lead all the way
through. | 1:25:56 | 1:25:58 | |
I liked the fact that he took the
bull by the horns and went for it. I | 1:25:58 | 1:26:03 | |
think he didn't expect to stay away,
and that's what they thought in | 1:26:03 | 1:26:08 | |
commentary, and he kept driving and
riding. The nature of the course, | 1:26:08 | 1:26:14 | |
the style, the conditions played
into his hands but take nothing away | 1:26:14 | 1:26:16 | |
from Henri Schoeman he held off
Mario Mola, got close at the end but | 1:26:16 | 1:26:21 | |
deserved the win. Conditions, again,
really bad for a lot of people. We | 1:26:21 | 1:26:27 | |
understand every bridge vastly came
off their bikes. Worrying, isn't it? | 1:26:27 | 1:26:30 | |
For everyone involved, you just want
to stay in one piece. It's | 1:26:30 | 1:26:38 | |
difficult, it was treacherous out
there and I think you were lucky to | 1:26:38 | 1:26:41 | |
stay on your bike and when you see
the likes of Johnny Brownlee coming | 1:26:41 | 1:26:44 | |
down, who we know has decent bike
handling skills, anyone can come | 1:26:44 | 1:26:47 | |
down, so tough day. How does that
affect you, when you come off your | 1:26:47 | 1:26:52 | |
bike and need to be checked out? All
sorts of things go through your | 1:26:52 | 1:26:58 | |
head, it would take a brave athlete
to remount his bike and say he would | 1:26:58 | 1:27:02 | |
crack on because you are then
suddenly very aware that you can | 1:27:02 | 1:27:06 | |
come off and there are lots of spots
on that course that are dangerous. I | 1:27:06 | 1:27:10 | |
think it will make you edgy. Thanks,
Annie. You are with me throughout | 1:27:10 | 1:27:15 | |
the series so we have lots to look
forward to. Very exciting, I've | 1:27:15 | 1:27:18 | |
enjoyed my copy with you as well.
Absolute pleasure, that is it for | 1:27:18 | 1:27:23 | |
triathlon today but plenty more
sport on the BBC the rest of the | 1:27:23 | 1:27:26 | |
afternoon. | 1:27:26 | 1:27:28 | |
sport on the BBC the rest of the
afternoon. Up next, Jill Douglas | 1:27:28 | 1:27:30 | |
presents highlights of the first
three days of action from the | 1:27:30 | 1:27:33 | |
cycling world track Championships in
the Netherlands including the return | 1:27:33 | 1:27:37 | |
to action of new mum Laura Kenny.
Tune into 5Live for commentary on | 1:27:37 | 1:27:45 | |
Tottenham Hotspur against
Huddersfield Town and later in the | 1:27:45 | 1:27:48 | |
afternoon we had to Birmingham for
the athletics world indoor | 1:27:48 | 1:27:52 | |
Championships on BBC Two | 1:27:52 | 1:27:52 | |
the athletics world indoor
Championships on BBC Two at 5:30pm. | 1:27:52 | 1:27:56 | |
That's it for the first round of the
World Triathlon Series, a rather | 1:27:56 | 1:27:59 | |
slippery one, but gold medals for
Henri Schoeman | 1:27:59 | 1:28:06 | |
Henri Schoeman and Rachel. The next
triathlon on the BBC will be the | 1:28:08 | 1:28:14 | |
first of the Commonwealth Games.
Goodbye for now. | 1:28:14 | 1:28:24 |
Highlights from the opening leg of this year's World Triathlon Series, with double Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee and his brother Jonny both set to compete in Abu Dhabi.
Spaniard Mario Mola retained his men's title last year, while Bermudan Flora Duffy successfully defended the women's crown, so both will be hoping to clinch hat-tricks this season.