Samuels finishes 6th at Richards Bay

Nicky Samuels was the only New Zealander in either the women’s or men’s elite fields at the 2008 Richards Bay South Africa ITU BG World Cup Triathlon race overnight New Zealand time but flew the flag proudly in finishing 6th in the 199th ITU World Cup race.

The fourth BG World Cup race of 2008 featured a number of leading athletes and nations still looking to sort out their Beijing Olympic teams.

Canada’s Carolyn Murray proved strongest on the day to collect her first ever World Cup podium and victory. Murray won from Australian Felicity Abram and Switzerland’s Magali Di Marco Messmer.

For Samuels part, the race was effectively her first of a new campaign as she begins a busy time of racing and training in preparation for the World Championships in Vancouver in early June, making her top ten finish all the more meritorious.

Sarah Groff (USA) broke clear of the field in the 1500m swim leg, exiting the water with a 22 second lead over Kerry Lang (GBR) with Samuels a further 6 seconds back in an impressive 7th place out of the water.

Groff would maintain her lead for half of the 40km bike leg before she was eventually caught by the large chasing group, one that included Samuels. Indeed upon catching the American, it was the Kiwi who broke clear herself, if only briefly to pick up the second prime and the cash bonus before sitting up and allowing the pack to close in on her before transition.

Not surprisingly given the travel and training workload for Samuels in recent weeks, the Wanaka athlete was not expecting miracles at this stage of her season in the 10km run leg but nonetheless finished strongly inside the top ten, a great sign for the Worlds in a month’s time.

The result is all the more impressive given Olympic reserve Samuels has been training hard following her peak at Mooloolaba and New Plymouth in late March / early April with a view to peaking again at Vancouver on June 7th.

NameNationGross timeDiff.
1Carolyn MURRAYCanada2:03:32
2Felicity ABRAMAustralia2:03:350:00:04
3Magali DI MARCO MESSMERSwitzerland2:03:420:00:11
4Kathy TREMBLAYCanada2:03:510:00:20
5Ricarda LISKGermany2:04:120:00:41
6Nicky SAMUELSWanaka / NZ2:04:200:00:49
7Tania HAIBOECKAustria2:04:250:00:54
8Marion LORBLANCHETFrance2:04:280:00:57
9Emma DAVISIreland2:04:290:00:58
10Maria CZESNIKPoland2:04:360:01:05

For complete results, interviews and images from both women’s and men’s elite races at Richards Bay, visit www.triathlon.org