Graves and Gossage win the inaugural TriStar Milton Keynes

English triathlon focus was today in Milton Keynes, just 10 days before the Olympic triathlon at London 2012. The inaugural edition of the TriStar Milton Keynes took place in Emberton Park, and two of the favourites lead the race from the cannon to the Finish Line. British Philip Graves and Lucy Gossage were the first winners of the TriStar111 Milton Keynes in a fast and fun race over an unique distance hosted for the first time in the UK: 1km swimming, 100km cycling and 10km running.

Keeping Graves looking over his shoulder all morning was the talented British Pro and TriStar Ambassador Ben Howard who has already recorded a second at TriStar Mallorca and third at TriStar Lyon this year. Both the guys came out of the water together but with the power of Graves on the bike Howard was unable to hang on. Graves went into the run with too much of a lead for Howard to make up, almost 8 minutes (3h19:41). Further Back was Rich Hunt, who finished third in 3h:23:48. Graves break with this impressive performance the TriStar111 World Record with 3h:11:46. The former record holder was set by German Maik Twelsiek (3h:12:45). “It was a very hard challenge! I pushed a lot during the second bike lap and I felt strong running. This course is fabulous and fun course, flat, and perfect to go fast. I came out the water with Ben Howard and I know his a good cyclist, so I decided that I have to take some risk to pull away! I like this format, and I aimed to win again a TriStar race” said a happy Philip Graves at the Finishline.

Lucy Gossage, had to make sure to get a lead on the bike segment to have a smooth victory in 3:35:55, followed by Anna Turvey (who was third at TriStar Mallorca 2012) in 3:40:35. And also British Eleanor Haresign completed the podium in 3h:47:38. Gossage emerged from the Emberton Park Lake first and controlled the whole race. “It wasn’t an easy day for me! My rivals were pushing me and I tried to do my best to win. This format is really sprinting, despite of the 100km, you have to run fast the 10km! Thus you don’t have time to breathe! The format suits very nice to me, I like this long bike segment. It was a good race with a very good and professional organization and I look forward to racing here again!” said Lucy Gossage.

Moto2 rider Bradley Smith finished in 4h08:40 and showed that he is in a really good shape “Maybe this is the most long and fun sporting experience of my life. I did some sprint and Olympic distances triathlons, and this was my first ever long distance. I enjoy a lot this format, it’s perfect for my trainings and also I had fun from the start. I’m focused on my career, but triathlon suits perfect on my workouts….” Said Bradley Smith, who was the youngest competitor of the race (he is 21 years old).
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TheTriStar label is presented by Star Events, a Monaco based company specializing in organizing high quality sports events that are focused on fun, social responsibility and environmental protection. The TriStar Series has grown to 28 races in these 14 destinations in less than three years: Nevis (St.Kitts and Nevis), Mallorca and Madrid (Spain), Lyon, Deauville and Cannes (France), Split (Croatia), Worms-Germany (Germany), Salzkammergut and Kufstein (Austria), Milton Keynes (United Kingdom), Estonia-Otepää (Estonia), Monaco (Monaco) and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). TriStar has introduced new distances to the sport of triathlon (A/N: 111km and 222km), officially recognized by ITU, as well as a brand new Team Racing ConceptT5. More Info: www.tristarseries.com and www.star-events.cc

TriStar Milton Keynes
TriStar111 and TriStar33.3 on the 29th July 2011
www.tristarmiltonkeynes.com