TRIATHLON: Commonwealth Games gold medallist Jodie Stimpson admitted she felt right at home after winning the ITU Mooloolaba Triathlon World Cup in hot, humid conditions on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.
Stimpson, the 27-year-old from Oldbury in the British Midlands, calls Australia her second home and was more than comfortable in the sweat-box conditions and even in the tricky, dumping Mooloolaba surf.
“I’ve come to Australia so many time now, I feel like it’s my second home,” said Stimpson, who backed up last week’s opening World Triathlon Series win in Abu Dhabi with a stunning victory.
“We have settled into our training base at Runaway Bay on the Gold Coast and I’ve got so many good friends down there.
“It really helps when you come here to train and to race to have so much support.”
And she knew there was no time to slacken off when she left the transition for the five-kilometre run home in and around the curving, hilly Mooloolaba beachside course.
“When you have a runner like Australian Emma Moffatt in the field there is no time to slacken off, no time to take chances,” said Stimpson.
“I know what Moffy is like, she is such a great runner and I had to make sure I made the most of getting away early in the run.”
Stimpson raced away for the first 2.5km lap with Moffatt and well-placed American Kirsten Kasper in hot pursuit.
And although Stimpson kept the pace on and won comfortably it was Moffatt who charged home on the back of a large supportive crowd with Kasper, who led out of the 750m surf swim, a solid third.
Simpson and Moffatt will now prepare for their next battle, when there is a lot more at stake – this time for Olympic berths in round two of the World Triathlon Series on the Gold Coast on April 9.
For the Glasgow Games gold medallist it will be a race in two with former two-time ITU world champion Helen Jenkins from Wales for the final place on the British team for Rio.
Vicky Holland and Non Stanford along with he Brownlee brothers Alistair and Jonathan have already earned early nominations.
For Moffatt, it will be the final chance for an early nomination onto her third Olympic team, to be earned if she can finish in the top ten in the Gold Coast race.
If not it will be for one of two discretionary positions to be determined in May.
Moffatt was delighted with her first hit out of the season, knowing just how well Stimpson is going.
“Today was like a little bit of the unknown, I didn’t know how I was going to go as I haven’t raced since November,” said Moffatt.
“But I’m really happy with how it all went. As much as you don’t want all the good girls to come, a lot of them were here and it’s actually really nice to race them and to give you an indicator of where you at.
“Jodie won last weekend, so getting second behind here I’m really happy, particularly stringing it all together for the whole race.
“I felt strong with no major big mistakes and I still think there are things to work on, so that’s also very exciting.
“I haven’t raced in a while and something this hot, takes you to Rio and what it potentially could be like (at the Olympics) so it was a good challenge.
“The crowd was unbelievable, it was that loud that at some stage I thought I was winning.”
“Today’s result is a nice indicator that everything in the off season has been in the right direction.”
“I love racing here in Mooloolaba. It feels like a home race. To do well in front of my family is always a bonus.”
Ashleigh Gentle, off the back of her second place behind Stimpson in Abu Dhabi, fought on strongly to finish sixth after coming out in the middle of the field in the swim and having a frustrating ride around the technical Mooloolaba course.
Other Australians were Gillian Backhouse, who was well placed out of the swim and who led off the bike onto the run finished 14th, ahead of Felicity Sheedy-Ryan (20th) and 21-year-old Emma Jeffcoat (24th) in her World Cup debut against some of the best triathletes in the world
It’s a reign that Spanish triathlete Mario Mola hopes keeps rolling along to Rio after the 26-year-old from Majorca displayed all his moves in Mooloolaba.
Mola maintained his recent unbeaten record to race away with his second ITU Mooloolaba World Cup in two years from fellow Spaniard Vicente Fernandez and Portugal’s Joao Pereira.
It was also his third straight ITU victory after taking the 2015 World Triathlon Series Grand Final victory in Chicago last year and the opening 2016 WTS round in Abu Dhabi last weekend.
Meanwhile in the men's event, Rio Olympic bound Mola got the season start he was hoping for.
After Australian Marcel Walkington showed all of his surf skills to lead the 70-strong field out of the water after the 750m surf swim, it didn’t take long for the peloton to form.
A lead pack of 50 riders put on a classic display of technical bike skills around the four laps of the five-kilometre bike course with Mola positioning himself at the front of the pack coming into the all-important transition.
And it was Mola, Hernandez and Pereira who broke away from the field as the men got down to business for the run home.
A group of five, then four and the three became a race in two between the two Spanish, boys before Mola, showing no ill-effects from his win last week in the UAE.
He put both feet down, showing the Mooloolaba crowd the kind of form that could well take him on to the Olympic podium in Brazil.
“It was an amazing race for the Spaniards and for Portugal,” said Mola.
“It’s hard to plan a sprint distance race with a huge field. Sometimes you just have to do whatever the legs can do and today it worked pretty well.
“I am looking forward to being based here in Noosa and then racing on the Gold Coast next month.”
And forever the humble champion, Mola, who spent 30 minutes signing autographs and posing for photos, paid tribute to one of his former competitors, two-time French Olympian Laurent Vidal, a former Mooloolaba race winner in 2012 who passed away in his sleep last November, aged 31.
“It’s a special win here today. I would like to honour Laurent Vidal. We had a 31 second silence before the start which meant a lot to all of us,” said Mola.
“It’s a great atmosphere here in Mooloolaba. It’s my third time racing and my second win so I will most definitely come back.”
Mola, like so many of the Europeans, has based himself in Noosa and swims in the squad coached by former Australian Olympic coach John “JR” Rodgers and two-time Olympian Graeme Brewer.
Former Australian junior champion Luke Willian was the best placed of Australians today with an outstanding performance to finish 11th in a field of 72 in his best ever performance “against the big boys” in his first World Cup event.
The National Talent Academy and NextGen Commonwealth Games athlete, who is coached by Warwick Dalziel, showed all of his skills on the bike and his tenacity on the run.
He mixed it with some of the best Elite athletes on the circuit in what will be huge confidence booster for him.
The other Australians were Courtney Atkinson (16th), Walkington (20th), Drew Box (21st), Matt Baker (34th) and Cameron Good (34th) after dislodging his bike chain on the final lap.
Atkinson, who will put all of his Olympic selection eggs in one basket on the Gold Coast on April 9, said he was more than satisfied with his race.
“It was pleasing and I’m happy where I’m at in a sprint race against all those youngsters – they’re like jack rabbits,” said Atkinson.
“I got a lot out of it and I’ll put them into good use when it’s all on the line in a couple of weeks on the Gold Coast.”
Atkinson, who is swimming under Elite coach Richard Scarce at Bond University, was well up in the swim and always well place on the helter-skelter bike leg over the 20 kilometre Mooloolaba course.
The world’s best triathletes will descend on the Gold Coast (Queensland, Australia), as they take on round two of the International Triathlon Union World Triathlon Series, on Saturday 9 April 2016.
Triathlon Australia
