Whitfield fifth in Sydney

Today, New Zealand’s Bevan Docherty won the opening round of the 2010 Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series by breaking away on the final lap of the run, crossing the line in 1:51:27. Docherty also won the first race of the World Championship series last year in Tongyeong, South Korea.

American’s Hunter Kemper and Matt Chrabot began to pull away on the second lap of the run, building a 30-second lead but they weren’t able to hold off the hard charge from Docherty, who led a group of five chasers. The Kiwi made up half of that deficit on the third lap of the run, closing to within just 15 seconds. Running alongside Docherty were Brukhankov, Hauss, Canada’s Simon Whitfield, and Dmitry Polyansky of Russia.

Docherty, Brukhankov and Hauss caught the pair of leaders as they headed up the final hill on the bell lap, and there was little doubt that Docherty was running the strongest of the group. Docherty stretched his lead throughout the final kilometre, holding off the charge from Brukhankov and Hauss.

“It was a real tough course today,” Docherty said to the ITU Media. “It was much harder than I expected, but I felt good heading into the final lap and was able to make a break. Winning in front of the Sydney Opera House is amazing.”

Russia’s Alexander Brukhankov (1:51:33) finished six seconds back of the Docherty, just one second ahead of France’s David Hauss (1:51:34). Whitfield had the fourth best run (31:14) to claim fifth spot (1:51:42).

The next stop on the World Championship Series Tour is on May 8^th, in Seoul, Korea.

Elite Men Results
1. Bevan Docherty (NZL) 1:51:27
2. Alexander Brukhankov (RUS) 1:51:33
3. David Hauss (FRA) 1:51:34
4. Dmitry Polyansky (RUS) 1:51:40
5. Simon Whitfield (CAN) 1:51:42
6. Tony Moulai (FRA) 1:51:49
7. Greg Bennett (AUS) 1:51:53
8. Laurent Vidal (FRA) 1:51:54
9. Matt Chrabot (USA) 1:51:56
10. Hunter Kemper (USA) 1:52:07
World Championship Standings after Round 1 of 8
1. Bevan Docherty (NZL) 800pts
2. Alexander Brukhankov (RUS) 740pts
3. David Hauss (FRA) 685pts
4. Dmitry Polyansky (RUS) 633pts
5. Simon Whitfield (CAN) 586pt