Warriner wins in Hungary - Tanner third

New Zealand triathlete Sam Warriner has dominated the latest round of the BG Triathlon World Cup in Hungary, winning in commanding fashion from Australian Emma Mofffat and fellow Kiwi Debbie Tanner.

The world number three from Whangarei simply proved too strong for the field the moment they hit the pavement, powering away to a comfortable winning margin for her second BG World Cup title this year.

“I went from the word go on the run and within a few hundred metres was running on my own and knew I wasn’t going to be beaten,” said Warriner.

“I felt great coming into this race and that feeling stayed with me throughout, I felt great, really strong and like no one could stay with me all day.”

Warriner had to work hard for her victory though with a messy transition from swim to bike almost derailing her efforts.

“Normally my transitions are great but today was poor into the bike. There was such a crowd coming out of the water when I got to my bike my helmet fell off the bike and the straps twisted and I couldn’t get the thing on! This left me chasing hard to stay with the lead group and once I got there despite my best efforts the other girls wouldn’t work together and what was a 50 second lead disappeared on the last lap as the pack caught us before transition.”

Warriner credits all aspects of her life and training as responsible for her great form.

“I am an athlete that needs balance in my life to race well. On a personal level the support I am receiving has never been better, my training is going so well and I recovered superbly from Salford. I’ve enjoyed such great support from home too with so many emails and texts of encouragement from friends, family and sponsors. I’m doing everything with a smile on my face and the opposition know a smiling Sam is a dangerous proposition.”

Fellow Kiwi Debbie Tanner made it an even more memorable day for New Zelaand with a strong third place, running side by side with highly regarded Australian Emma Moffat.

“Overall this was a good race for me and importantly was another non-wetsuit swim in a lake which is perfect preparation for the Worlds and Beijing. I was further behind than I would like out of the water and had to work hard in the chase group but we caught the leaders just before the transition to the run. The course was very much a criterium set up with plenty of corners and changes of pace but eventually we got there. Emma and I were shoulder to shoulder the entire way until she had that little bit extra in the sprint home but what a great buzz, another domination of a World Cup by us Kiwis with three silver ferns on the podium (including Kris Gemmell in the elite men’s), great to see and be a part of.”

Kelly Bruce finished an impressive 38th in her debut BG World Cup appearance as she prepares for the U23 World Championships at the end of the month.

In the men’s race a quite remarkable day unfolded for Kiwi Kris Gemmell who despite not having his race bike and arriving only hours before the event after training at altitude, finished a hugely impressive second behind former world champion and current number one ranked Javier Gomez of Spain.

Gemmell overcame those setbacks and the loan of Sam Warriner’s bike to post his third podium of the year and in the process give the sports number one runner a fright as he closed over the closing stages to eventually finish just 8 seconds down on the Spaniard and comfortably in front of two time European champion Frederic Belaubre of France.

The news wasn’t quite so good further down the field with Blair Jordan (Auckland) the next best of the Kiwis in 30th place while Liam Scopes, Tony Dodds, Ben Pulham and Dylan McNeice all struggled to stay with the pace on the run.

New Zealand now lead the overall race for total podium finishes in the World Cup this year with an incredible 14 (8 women, 6 men), two ahead of Australia.