Bevan reports on his sprint finish win
4 May 2009
ITU World Championship Series Korea
I am thrilled to announce that I have won the first round of the ITU World Championship series in Tongyong, Korea in the closest sprint finish in World championship history!
Going into the race I was a little unsure of my form, I had won every race in the NZ domestic season, however this time I was up against the big boys!
I had raced in Tongyong a year earlier in another dramatic sprint for 2nd beating the eventual winner of the Beijing Olympics, Jan Frodeno. From the past experience I knew that it was going to come down to the run so I just made sure I was well positioned in the swim and the bike, trying to conserve as much energy as possible.
By the end of the 5 lap 40km bike, a large group of about 40 athletes had formed with only a few athletes who posed no threat 50 seconds up the road. As we hit transition 2, I found myself mid pack and had to work extra hard over the first 1km to claw my way back to the front, running through the first 1km in a blistering pace of 2:40 min/km!
Once the pace settled I got into a good rhythm and stuck to my original plan of just waiting, covering surges and not setting the pace, this worked well although I found myself next to one of the best sprinters in the business, Brad Kahlefeldt AUS, with only 500m to go. I was going to have to back myself!
Brad surged first, and I stuck like glue, then with only 70m to go we both gave it everything we had. I slowly drew up to his shoulder and nudged slightly ahead. Then with only meters to go he started to creep back! I remember thinking “Oh God, think is going to be close, LUNGE!” We both crashed over the line with so much momentum I found myself sliding 15m through the finish shoot….
It was down to the photo finish, for the next 5mins no one knew who had won, I was claiming it, and so was Brad. Finally, to my excitement they announce ME as the winner!
This was by far the most exciting race finish I had been involved in and the perfect start to the International season.
Next stop, Boulder Colorado for more training.
Next race, Washington for the 3rd round of the World Championship series.
Thank you for all your support, you have all helped in some way to achieve this result.
Bevan Docherty
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