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
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 |