TriAthlone - A Race to remember!

   Ireland’s biggest triathlon

TriAthlone (which was first run in 2006) has quickly established itself as one of the Europe’s premier races. This was once again confirmed when TriAthlone was named as the host venue of the European Triathlon Championships in 2010. This will be the the first time that Ireland will host such an event and it is expected to attract over 4,000 competitors from across the continent.

This years race itself one of the final opportunities for some of the world’s top triathletes to compete ahead of this summer’s Olympic Games. It was also an opportunity for Ireland’s top triathlete and Olympic hopeful Gavin Noble to compete on home soil ahead of a possible appearance in Beijing.

The main race began with a 750m swim in the River Shannon and from there the competitors took to their bikes for a 20km cycle before a 5km run saw the event finish in the heart of Athlone town.

  Davis finishes second at the Waterways Ireland TriAthlone

Ireland’s first Olympic triathlete Emma Davis finished second at the Waterways Ireland TriAthlone in a time of 2:01:51 on Saturday. The race was won by fellow Olympian Lenka Zemanova from the Czech Republic in a time of 2:01:19, with Felicity Sheedy Ryan from Australia coming home in third in 2:02:34.

Davis began well in the swim and led the race coming into transition. It was during the bike race when Zemanova made up the time on Davis and she eventually overtook her on the cycle. Davis stuck with Zemanova but when the run began the Czech started to extend her lead and eventually came home in first in front of a huge crowd of 6,000 in Athlone.

“I was delighted to finish second today. There was a great crowd and having everyone cheering me on was fantastic,” said Davis who was racing in her first major triathlon in Ireland and her last before the Olympics. “Zemanova is a brilliant athlete and has great experience so to be close to her is good for me and my preparation ahead of Beijing.”

The only other Irish competitor in the women’s race was Aileen Morrison from Derry, who finished in 6th place.

The men’s Elite race was won by the World and European Junior Champion Vincent Luis from France, in a time of 1:48:49. Luis snatched victory in a thrilling sprint finish. The Frenchman was in the lead group from the start but the field opened out following the cycle.

Luis broke clear with fellow country man Aurelien Raphael and Australian Aaron Farlow. On the final lap Farlow and Luis broke away but Raphael hit back on the final straight to finish second in a time of 1:48:52, while Farlow took third in 1:48:53.

The best of the Irish contenders was Gavin Noble who came home ninth in a time of 1:50:48, taking the Irish Championships title as the highest home finisher. Noble started fast and was well placed during the cycle but several fruitless efforts to break away ahead of the run meant he faded during the final laps.

This was the third year of Waterways Ireland TriAthlone with 1,500 people taking part in the event. This was also the first year that Ireland had hosted an ITU European Cup race and in 2010 TriAthlone will be the first Irish venue for the European Triathlon Championships