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Samuels wins her first World Cup in Mooloolaba

Findlay gets fourth and Campbell ninth.

New Zealand’s Nicky Samuels won her first career ITU World Cup race today amidst miserable weather conditions (gloomy skies, rain, and strong winds).

Samuels and Switzerland’s Daniela Ryf worked together on the bike and established a sizeable 2:03 lead heading out on the run. From there, Samuels broke away from Ryf, and while Australian Emma Moffatt chased hard, she could not close the gap leaving her 20 seconds short of Samuels winning time of 2:03:13. Chile’s Barbara Riveros Diaz served two time penalties and still was able to snag third.

“Daniela went (on the bike) and I thought she’s a strong cyclist, I should go with her and we just pulled away from there. We worked well together and that’s the key when you’re away,” said Samuels to the ITU Media. “To tell you the truth I wasn’t too confident I’d be able to hold the lead. Then I thought I had a good head start and couldn’t ask for anything more. Once I had it on the third lap I thought I should be able to hold this.”

“It’s a tough course and I don’t really it gets much tougher than this so it’s a great way to start the year,” said Moffatt.

Canada’s Paula Findlay finished 53 seconds back in fourth, Lauren Campbell got ninth, Kathy Tremblay finished 15th, and Kyla Coates 28th. Kirsten Sweetland suffered a crash on the bike and tweeted this update on her condition – “Stacked it 🙁 just cuts..bones are all good.”

Full results.

Elite Women Results

1. Nicky Samuels (NZL)  2:03:13

2. Emma Moffatt (AUS)  +00:20

3. Barbara Riveros Diaz (CHI)  +00:43

4. Paula Findlay (CAN)  +00:53

5. Vendula Frintova (CZE)  +00:53

6. Daniela Ryf (SUI)  +1:15

7. Liz Blatchford (GBR)  +1:26

8. Sarah Groff (USA)  +1:29

9. Lauren Campbell (CAN)  +1:44

10. Kerry Lang (GBR)  +1:58

15. Kathy Tremblay (CAN)  +2:56

28. Kyla Coates (CAN)  +5:15

Interviews with: Samuels, Moffatt, and Riveros Diaz.