ITU Elite National sprint championships
The race was cancelled on the Sat due to 98kph winds on the course and the whole thing was raced on Sunday in colder windy conditions. In the Elite mens we had Clayton Fettell, Cam Good and Mitch Robbins racing. Clayto pushed the swim hard and the whole field stretched into a line but Clayto didn't have the realistate to cause a real gap -he lead from the water with Kaldefelt, Sexton, Vidal etc on his heals, he then went on the attack and time and time again Clayto hit them but he couldn't shift them, the effect it did have though was to cause a reverb through the whole field and make it a very fast and furious bike leg, Once Clayto found he couldn't get away he turned the gas off during the run leg and he is working well on going forward with his run. Cam Good did a great job and said the bike pace was really on but Cam still managed a 15:03 run split to finish in 5th overall and another top 5 after his win In devonport has him on a good roll. Mitch Robbins got a little belted in the swim start and found himself chasing in the 2nd pack on the bike, he drove the bike hard across the gap to pull in the lead pack and record the 3rd fastest bike split but the effort cost his run legs a bit of change, but he still managed a 10th place in his first ITU outting in an international feild which is a good effort, Mitch, Cam and Clayto will be in great form for Wellington in 3 weeks time and the step up in distance should suit Micth and Claytons strengths a lot better at this stage.
Paigey Single also copped a bit of a flogging in the swim start and found herself adrift on the bike, she had to do a lot of work to try to limit the losses and then had to work hard on the run - she ended up closing down the gap and finished 6th in a sprint for 5th so again a solid result for Paige but not quite what she was after, Paige has another good shot at Wellington in 3 weeks. Paigey certainly has the talent to win. Jess Fleming did a fantastic job in only her 2nd race as an elite junior and finished 12th - Jess will be a real force next season once she has her bike skills under control she had a very even race is developing well. Brad Clark after only 12 months in the sport brought the crew home in the last race of the day and finished in the pack -again for Brad this year was all about experience and he enjoyed his trip.
Last changed: Feb 21 2011 at 5:04 PM
