NEWS

Levenez finally lands World Duathlon title

By David Peddie (ETU) | 31 May, 2014

It was sixth time lucky for Sandra Levenez (FRA) as she dominated the ITU World Duathlon Championships in Pontevedra.

After four podium finishes in the last five years but no gold medal to speak of, Levenez dominated the race from start to finish to finally become ITU Duathlon World Champion.

Levenez signalled her intent from the off as she surged into the lead, taking control after just one lap of the opening 10km run. She remained in front for the four laps and exited T1 in the lead, with Sonia Bejarono (ESP) pushing hard in second place.

A quick transition saw Franziska Scheffler (GER) exit in third with Melanie Vernon (AUS) and Sabrina Monmarteau (FRA) following quickly. Levenez and Bejarono worked together to increase the gap to a minute over the opening bike laps. The three chasers were joined by a second pack that included Gillian Backhouse (AUS), Petra Fasungova (SVK) and Miriam Casillas Garcia (ESP).

The chasing pack did make ground but where Bejarono faltered and was caught, Levenez stayed strong out on her own. She maintained her lead of a minute over the course of the 8 bike laps and began her final 5km run with that lead intact.

Superb riding from Backhouse propelled her to the front of the chasers and she exited T2 in second place, followed by Scheffler and Monmarteau. The trio had a further minute gap as they started the 5km run with seemingly two podium positions to fight for.

Indeed, it was Levenez who remained composed to cross the line a clear winner in Pontevedra and finally claim the ITU World Duathlon crown.

Behind her, a real fight developed on the opening lap for the remaining podium places but Backhouse and Monmarteau did enough to over the final 5km to secure second and third respectively.

Related Event: 2014 Pontevedra ITU Duathlon World Championships
31 - Jun, 2014 • event pageall results
Results: Elite Men
LAP. Yasuhiro Horiuchi JPN LAP
LAP. Daniel Formela POL LAP
LAP. Yuya Fukaura JPN LAP
LAP. Ehsan Aminyan Dehkordi IRI LAP
LAP. Danny Russell GBR LAP
LAP. Jake Shoemaker USA LAP
LAP. Jin Oshima JPN LAP
LAP. Gil Maia POR LAP
LAP. Yusuke Nakamura JPN LAP
DNF. Vincent Onyango KEN DNF
Results: Elite Women
LAP. Marina Milković CRO LAP
LAP. Lesley Smit NED LAP
LAP. Jessica Oosterloo NED LAP
LAP. Zorana Tezak CRO LAP
DNF. Yamaguchi Moyu JPN DNF
DNF. Laura Gomez Ramon ESP DNF
DNF. Mozhgan Kavyani IRI DNF
DNF. Melinda Vernon AUS DNF
DNF. Valentina Zapatrina RUS DNF
DNF. Cristiana Valente POR DNF
Results: Junior Men
1. Jacob Birtwhistle AUS 00:54:15
2. Antonio Serrat Seoane ESP 00:54:32
3. Gustav Iden NOR 00:54:36
4. Max Biewer LUX 00:54:53
5. Roberto Sanchez Mantecon ESP 00:55:20
6. Pierre Balty BEL 00:56:20
7. Richard Allen GBR 00:57:45
LAP. Luke Schlebusch RSA LAP
DNF. João Pedro Ferreira Pereira POR DNF
DNF. Marco Corrà ITA DNF
Results: Junior Women
1. Angelica Olmo ITA 01:03:38
2. Fumika Matsumoto JPN 01:04:00
3. Claudia Luna ESP 01:05:32
4. Bronwen Owen GBR 01:05:36
5. Madalena Amaral Almeida POR 01:05:58
6. Cecilia Santamaria Surroca ESP 01:06:08
7. Luisa Iogna-Prat ITA 01:06:11
LAP. Tamara Maksiyanova RUS LAP
DNF. Antonija Zaharija CRO DNF
DNF. Carla Bertos ESP DNF
Results: U23 Men
LAP. Jin Oshima JPN LAP
LAP. Yusuke Nakamura JPN LAP
LAP. Yasuhiro Horiuchi JPN LAP
DNF. Pedro Antonio Lopez De Haro ESP DNF
DNF. Antonio Benito Lopez ESP DNF
DNF. Aidan Katz CAN DNF
DNF. Bruno Miguel Pereira POR DNF
DNF. Gil Maia POR DNF
DNF. Anton Kozlov RUS DNF
DNF. Alexandre Nobre POR DNF
Results: U23 Women
1. Gillian Backhouse AUS 02:05:26
2. Miriam Casillas García ESP 02:06:50
3. Georgina Schwiening GBR 02:07:22
DNF. Mozhgan Kavyani IRI DNF
DNF. Yamaguchi Moyu JPN DNF
DNF. Zahra Bahramian IRI DNF
DNF. Haruna Kida JPN DNF
DNF. Laura Gomez Ramon ESP DNF
DNF. Sinem Francisca Tous Servera ESP DNF
DNF. Marina Milković CRO DNF
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