History was made in the Contact Tri Series with the first ever dead heat in the five years of the nationwide series with Nicky Samuels (NZL) and Barbara Riveros (Chile) unable to be separated at the end of the super sprint race around Takapuna yesterday.
 Nicky Samuels and Barbara Riveros(Photo: Triathlon NZ; click to enlarge) |
Samuels had dominated the first two phases of the event, leading out of the water but quickly stamping her authority on the bike as she rode to a 46 second lead over Riveros, Debbie Tanner (NZL), Sophie Corbidge (NZL) and Simone Ackermann (NZL) with another 40 seconds back to the third chase group.
That lead looked to have eroded in the first lap and a half on the run though, with Riveros closing the gap to under 10 seconds. Riveros drew level with less than a kilometre to go and looked to have the race won with 100m to go, but as the two approached the finish line with a huge crowd cheering for the Kiwi, Samuels found an extra gear to surge alongside Riveros and break the tape simultaneously.
Officials poured over three television camera angles and many still shots but were unable to separate the two, and with official timing also having them crossing the line together, a first ever dead heat was called.
"I thought maybe I could hang on through to the end," said Samuels.
"I was trying to time it so I made it up the hill out of the park on the final lap and if I could stay ahead of her until then I could stay with her until the finish line. She caught me just before that though, but I hung onto her up the hill and then she tucked behind me coming into the wind on the way to the finish line so she raced a great tactical race.
"I was waiting for a sprint and hoping I could hang in there, I have been doing a few 200's in training and have a little speed that I haven't had before so it was great to have it pay off today."
Riveros was delighted with her performance too; the current world number 5 is on her first visit to New Zealand.
"I am very happy with the result, maybe if I didn't have such short legs I might have won but I am very happy to get this result so early in the season. When I was chasing Nicky I was just trying to keep a good rhythm and stay focused and then drew level. But I enjoyed today, I have enjoyed my visit to New Zealand and to Takapuna so I have to say thank you to you Kiwis."
Tanner ran strongly for third in a performance that was a further improvement on her fourth place finish at the National Sprint Championships in Kinloch a fortnight ago while Corbidge raced well for fourth place ahead of Simone Ackermann and a hard charging Mikayla Nielsen (Waikato).
In the men's race it was a demolition job by Ryan Sissons in a race that was tightly contested until the field hit the pavement for the run. A large group on the bike could not be separated despite a number of attempts at a Samuels like breakaway. First Andrew Ranford and then Mike Phillips tried to ride off the front of a large group but it was to no avail as both were caught before transition with Sissons controlling the pace of the bunch superbly.
 Ryan Sissons(Photo: Triathlon NZ; click to enlarge) |
Once on to the run Sissons showed his class, clearing out to win by 44 seconds from Edward Rawles (Taranaki) and Mike Phillips (Christchurch) who held off a fast finishing Harrison Dean (Nelson) for third place.
"I've been training really well and wanted to race aggressively today," said Sissons. "I was riding at the front of the pack and worked really hard and ran strongly off the bike as well. This is a good training day for bigger races ahead, trying to qualify for the Olympics is going to be hard.
"The last 5k in any race is where it starts to get crazy so today was a good rehearsal in that sense as well. I am still very much in a base phase of my training and won't do any speed work for a while, the aim is to come up sharp for Sydney and race big on that day."
The two elite races rounded out a superb day of racing with age groups enjoying a stunning summer's day at Takapuna with the beachside town showing itself off to the country and the big crowd in attendance.
Results: Contact Tri Series, Takapuna
Super Sprint (500m swim, 16km bike, 4.2km run)
Elite Women
1= Nicky Samuels Wanaka 49:23
1= Barbara Riveros Chile 49:23
3 Debbie Tanner Auckland 49:47
4 Sophie Corbidge Auckland 50:21
5 Simone Ackermann Auckland 51:08
Elite Men
1 Ryan Sissons Auckland 45:02
2 Edward Rawles Taranaki 45:46
3 Mike Phillips Christchurch 46:00
4 Harrison Dean Nelson 46:04
5 Lachlan Davey Welllington 46:13
