Sissons goes back to back in front of huge home crowds

Auckland's Ryan Sissons went back to back at the Takapuna Contact Tri Series today (February 17), racing superbly to defeat Clark Ellice (New Plymouth) and Tony Moulai (France) to win in sweltering conditions on Auckland’s North Shore.

All three were in business out of the water and set to work on the bike over the 16km circuit, with Aaron Barclay (Gore), Cameron Goldsmid (Wellington), Kim (Korea) and Cameron Todd (Taupo) taking their share of the work as this group established a 30 second lead going into the run.

Once on foot, the race quickly came down to three with first the world number 13 ranked Moulai leading out and then Ellice as Sissons struggled to find a rhythm. But by lap two it was the London Olympian in control as the Kiwis shout out the Frenchman on the run home in front of a large and noisy home crowd.

Sissons was pleased with the win, one that comes in the middle of some high mileage in training.

“That hurt the whole way. I had a good swim and that is key for me at the moment, I came out right in touch and rode really hard on the first lap and then the group got away. It was a solid group with a few other boys working hard and we managed to stay away.

“The run really hurt, I’m doing a lot of base miles at the moment so trying to run that fast straight off the bike is really hard. I struggled on the first lap behind Tony and Clark but then I came right and decided I had to go from a long way out, that’s what I did and managed to hold off Clark.

“The first lap I was being dictated to the whole time, I didn’t enjoy that, I thought if I am going to win this I have to go from the front, that is what I did and it started hurting straight away but I managed to hold out until the end.”

Ellice was pleased with his hit out, six weeks ahead of the opening ITU World Triathlon Series race in Auckland on April 7.

“I am racing a bit angry this year and have a point to prove, it is really hard to come off half ironman to super sprint but Ryan is class over this distance. I am trying to work on my explosiveness, I have been doing a lot of work at the velodrome which paid off today (Feb. 17), I was dictating a lot of the pace on the bike. I have a month and a half now to work on my leg speed but this is a tell tale as to where training is at to come in 10 seconds behind Ryan, but he is a gun over this distance, he is a class act.”

Moulai couldn’t foot it with the Kiwis over the closing lap of the 4.2km run and came in third, just ahead of a highly impressive performance from Wellington’s Cameron Goldsmid who finished fourth.

In the women’s race that was hit by the late withdrawals of Kate McIlroy (Wellington) and Maddie Dillon (Auckland), it was Simone Ackerman (Whangarei) that came through for a well deserved victory. Penny Hayes, Rebecca Clarke and Simone Ackermann led the race out of the water and on to the tight and technical bike course.

The leaders extended their lead, sharing the workload throughout the 20km bike until Ackermann made her break on the final of the 10 laps and established a vital lead of a few seconds, it was a break that proved the crucial one as she maintained that margin throughout the 5km run to win by 11 seconds from a fast finishing Anneka Jenkins (Tauranga) with Clarke finishing third a further 4 seconds back.

Ackerman was pleased with her race execution today (Feb. 17).

“The plan kept changing before the race with the uncertainty over who was starting but in simple terms it was about a good swim and bike and then a steady run, I went out hard today (Feb. 17) to see what I could do. This is my first win at Cup level in the Contact Series, I have won a trophy (age group) race before but this is my first win at top level which is nice.”

Jenkins is a relative newcomer to the sport, a former breast stroke specialist who swam at World Cup level, the 23 year old has already made vast improvements in her first year in the sport as she showed today (Feb. 17), posting one of the quickest run splits on the day to earn a spot on the podium.

“I swam at World Cup level but got sick for a couple of years, started running for fitness, did a triathlon about a year ago, started training and raced at Nationals in Wellington and then raced in Auckland. I then got a coach in Brendon Downey and it just feels natural to go hard. This is the focus for me for sure.

“I want to go to the Olympics, it didn’t happen in swimming but I’ve always wanted to so I now want to give it a shot in triathlon. I have so much to learn though; swimming breast stroke is so different from swimming freestyle with a whole bunch of people on top of you. It is just experience apparently, I’m not bad but I’m not in front and that frustrates me. I feel I have a good run and I am getting stronger on the bike all the time.”

Earlier in the day sold out fields competed at the stunning waterfront venue on closed roads over the super sprint and shorter distances in an event that continues to rise in popularity on the New Zealand summer schedule of triathlons.

Contact Cup
Takapuna
500m swim, 16km bike, 4.2km run
Elite Men
1 Ryan Sissons                                Auckland                   44:39
2 Clark Ellice                                                New Plymouth          44:44
3 Tony Moulai                                   France                       45:03
4 Cameron Goldsmid                      Wellington                 45:28
5 Juseok Kim                                                Korea                         45:59
Elite Women
1 Simone Ackermann                     Whangarei                51:19
2 Anneke Jenkins                           Tauranga                   51:30
3 Rebecca Clarke                            Auckland                   51:34
4 Penny Hayes                                Invercargill                52:15
5 Deborah Lynch                             Wellington                 52:54