Doe dares all for Port of Tauranga Half Ironman win

Bold frontrunning tactics paid dividends for the dread-locked Kieran Doe who took out the prestigious Port of Tauranga Half Ironman triathlon in Mt Maunganui today.

The 26-year-old Aucklander outlasted eight time winner Cameron Brown by 1min 52sec to claim the title for the first time in the 19th running of the popular event that doubled as the official Triathlon New Zealand long distance championships.

It proved to be a tough day for the defending champions with Joanna Lawn edged out by Australian Kate Bevilaqua by a mere 10 seconds for the women’s honours.

This sets up an intriguing battle for Ironman New Zealand in March where both Doe and Bevilaqua will again take on their more illustrious rivals.

Doe has often found his hard charging tactics have come up short, especially on the tough Mt Maunganui course but he had enough of a buffer from the fast finishing Brown to claim his first major victory on home soil. He enjoyed a breakthrough win at Ironman Canada last year using the same tactics.

“It doesn’t always work. You know it has taken me four or five years of hard training and racing to build up the strength where I can really hammer hard on the bike but be able to run well off it,” Doe said.

“This win means a lot to me. I am definitely more confident after I won at Ironman Canada with the same tactics. It was getting a bit wobbly on the run around the Mount but I managed to hold on.”

Doe heaped praise to his coach, training partner and current Ironman world champion Chris MacCormack.

“He has been an incredible influence and I have learned so much from him. He knows how to make the best of every situation and training with him has made all the difference.”

Doe said he is not reading too much into the result over Brown with Taupo in mind although he is looking forward to the encounter.

He was in the lead group behind Gisborne’s Stephen Sheldrake out of the 2km swim but by the 20km mark on the bike Doe had already jumped out to a 34 second advantage from the swim leader with record holder Nathan Richmond (Auckland) third at 1min 55sec. Beijing aspirant Shane Reed (New Plymouth) was fourth at 3min 25sec behind with Brown already 4min 25sec down on the leader following an unspectacular swim.

Doe continued to build on the advantage with his 2:08.13 bike nearly four minutes better than the next fastest rider, opening more than three minutes buffer over Sheldrake. Richmond was a further three minutes behind while Brown stood up the leader by nearly eight minutes.

Brown immediately made an impact on the two-lap, 21km run to push past Sheldrake and Richmond to grab second overall, and cut nearly six minutes from the winner’s advantage.

Doe was home in 3:56.41 with Brown second in 3:58.33 and Richmond third in 4:00.04.

“Good luck to him. He had a fantastic race and he has been improving over the last few years,” Brown said.

“I am quite relaxed as I have only been back in training for six weeks. I had a strong race and in terms of my foundation, then my preparation for Ironman New Zealand is good.

“I have to do some work on my swimming because I would not want to be giving the likes of Kieran that sort of advantage in Taupo.”

Richmond said he was pleased with his form, with a negative split on the two-lap run but was beaten by the stronger man today.

Reed zoomed home with the day’s best run of 1:16.55 to finish in fourth ahead of Sheldrake, talented 20-year-old James Bowstead (Waiuku) and Jamie Whyte (Auckland).

Former record holder Walter Thorburn, 44, showed his class to finish eighth in 4:09.49.

Christchurch’s Gina Ferguson, the current Ironman USA champion, led the women’s race out of the swim but was quickly swallowed up by pre-race favourites Lawn and Ironman Australian champion Rebekah Keat by the 20km mark on the bike.

Keat punctured shortly after and was forced out, leaving Lawn out on her own. While she pushed clear early, the two-time winner could only open a buffer of less than two minutes on another Australian Bevilaqua after the 90ikm bike.

“I felt quite strong on the first long lap but I was not able to extend it on the two shorter laps when there was a lot more riders on the course,” Lawn said.

The Western Australian had reduced the margin to 1min 30sec after the first lap, and passed Lawn around the Mount base track for the last time. However the five-time Ironman New Zealand champion, ranked fourth in the world, showed her fighting qualities with the Australian winning by a mere 10 seconds in 4:18.04.

“I was really surprised. Last year I finished fourth in every major race and 24th at the world championships in Hawaii,” Bevilaqua said.

“I’m glad the jinx was broken. I didn’t know what to expect as I am half way through a training block for Ironman New Zealand and just wanted to see where I am at.

“I didn’t expect to be second on the bike and from there my whole race plan changed because running is my strong suit.”

Lawn, while disappointed to lose her title, was also satisfied with the workout as she chases her sixth straight win at Ironman New Zealand in eight weeks.

Ferguson settled for third placing, the same as last year, nearly 12 minutes behind the leader with Auckland’s Fleur Bromley fourth and fellow Aucklander Carmel Hanly fifth.

Former All Black Ian Jones completed his first triathlon in 5:17.57 as did former professional cyclist Stephen Swart who finished in 5:09.20.

A number of leading sporting stars took part in teams including Beijing bound triathlete Debbie Tanner, who was part of the winning women’s team, and Sarah Ulmer who took part with fellow cyclist Meshy Holt and partner Brendon Cameron.



Results:

Port of Tauranga Half Ironman (2km swim 90km bike 21km run):

Male: Kieran Doe (Auckland) 3:56.41 (22.59 swim, 2:08.13 bike, 1:23.38 run), 1; Cameron Brown (Auckland) 3:58.33 (24.31, 2:14.06, 1:17.50) 2; Nathan Richmond (Auckland) 4:00.04 (22.57, 2:14.44, 1:20.24) 3; Shane Reed (New Plymouth) 4:01.29 (22.59, 2:19.45, 1:16.55) 4; Stephen Sheldrake (Gisborne) 4:03.46 (22.21, 2:11.58, 1:27.23) 5; James Bowstead (Waiuku) 4:06.48 (26.52, 2:12.06, 1:25.35) 6; Jamie Whyte (Auckland) 4:09.07 (26.09, 2:14.29, 1:26.27) 7; Walter Thorburn (Auckland) 4:09.49 (27.14, 2:14.51, 1:25.21) 8; Scott Thorne (Hamilton) 4:10.03 (27.26, 2:16.53, 1:23.26) 9; Paul Westwood (Rotorua) 4:10.37 (28.47, 2:18.32, 1:21.15) 10.

Female: Kate Bevilaqua (Australia) 4:17.54 (28.39, 2:23.52, 1:22.48) 1; Joanna Lawn (Auckland) 4:18.04 (27.13, 2:23.04, 1:25.27) 2; Gina Ferguson (Christchurch) 4:29.39 (25.53, 2:30.39, 1:30.33) 3; Fleur Bromley (Auckland) 4:34.40 (28.49, 2:34.31, 1:28.32) 4; Carmel Hanly (Auckland) 4:38.32 (27.23, 2:35.33, 1:32.40) 5; Jennifer Cooper (Auckland) 5:02.19 (26.13, 2:41.17, 1:52.26) 6.

Full coverage on SKY

Full coverage of the 2008 event will be screened on SKY TV in January. See below for screening times.

24 January - 21:00 SKY Sport 1
25 January - 10:30 SKY Sport 2
26 January - 07:30 SKY Sport 1
26 January - 17:30 SKY Sport 1
29 January - 10:00 SKY Sport 2
30 January - 21:00 SKY Sport 1