The second stop of the ITU World Triathlon Series touches down in Auckland this Sunday, which includes a roster of the highest star-studded potential all vying to take home the next circuit title in the season’s first standard distance race of the year. The world’s finest will battle it out on a choppy two-lap harbour swim, hilly eight-lap bike and finish it off with a four-lap run course.
Women’s Preview
With a blowout finish, the defending World Champion Gwen Jorgensen (USA) secured the first 2015 WTS win in Abu Dhabi. After being down nearly a minute, the top runner showcased her foot-to-pavement skills and made up the time to secure the gold-medal finish and reaffirm herself as the one to chase.
Jorgensen claimed success with the same strategy in Auckland in 2012 when she came from behind to run herself into silver medal position. But last year’s race told a different story when she got caught up in a bike crash and finished 12th – the only time she didn’t finish on the WTS podium last year.
The Americans are on a hot streak right now, having finished 1-2 in the rankings last year, and having started out the 2015 season in the same way. With Katie Zaferes and Sarah True on the start list, expect some red, white, and blue on the podium.
Joining the lineup is New Zealand’s own Andrea Hewitt, whose cycling skills will serve her well on this leg-burning course. While Hewitt has yet to step on the podium in Auckland at a WTS race, she picked up a win in the race when it was a World Cup in 2011. A strong cyclist well suited for the leg-burning course, Hewitt’s run appears more on point than ever after she posted the third-fastest run split of the day in Abu Dhabi.
But it’s Germany’s Anne Haug who knows true success in Auckland, having collected two gold and a silver medal here. Despite a disappointing 2014 season, as one of the strongest bikers on the Series, Haug knows how to handle the hilly bike course. Haug and Hewitt will have company on the bike with equally impressive riders Olympic silver medallist Lisa Norden and Flora Duffy toeing the line. If these ladies get away on the bike, it will be tough to reel them in.
1 Gwen Jorgensen USA
2 Katie Zaferes USA
3 Barbara Riveros CHI
4 Andrea Hewitt NZL
5 Lindsey Jerdonek USA
6 Charlotte McShane AUS
7 Yuka Sato JPN
8 Sarah True SA
9 Rebecca Robisch GER
10 Hanna Philippin GER
11 Yuko Takahashi JPN
12 Anne Haug GER
15 Carolina Routier ESP
16 Rachel Klamer NED
17 Lisa Norden SWE
18 Maaike Caelers NED
19 Emma Moffatt AUS
20 Aileen Reid IRL
21 Vendula Frintova CZE
22 Ai Ueda JPN
23 Miriam Casillas García ESP
24 Lisa Perterer AUT
25 Lucy Hall GBR
26 Ellen Pennock CAN
27 Jolanda Annen SUI
28 Kirsten Sweetland CAN
29 Juri Ide JPN
30 Pamella Oliveira BRA
31 Sarah-Anne Brault CAN
32 Ashleigh Gentle AUS
33 Margit Vanek HUN
34 Mateja Simic SLO
35 Agnieszka Jerzyk POL
36 Yurie Kato JPN
37 Amelie Kretz CAN
38 Paula Findlay CAN
39 Claire Michel BEL
40 Simone Ackermann NZL
41 Emmie Charayron FRA
42 Rebecca Clarke NZL
43 Romina Palacio Balena ARG
44 Yuting Huang CHN
45 Renee Tomlin USA
46 Michelle Flipo ITU
47 Lianyuan Wang CHN
49 Natalie Van Coevorden AUS
50 Elizabeth Bravo ECU
51 Romina Biagioli ARG
52 Valentina Carvallo CHI
53 Kirsten Kasper USA
54 Sofie Hooghe BEL
55 Jessica Learmonth GBR
56 Rebecca Spence NZL
57 Erin Densham AUS