36th and 37th for Kiwis in Middle Final

Tania Robinson (Counties Manukau) placed 36th in the womans final for the middle distance, whilst Ross Morrison (Hawke's Bay) placed 37th in the mens final.

Both seemed to have a tough time of it, with Robinson over 14 minutes behind the eventual winner Simone Niggli of Switzerland.  Niggli is the legend of the sport, with this being just one of many world titles won over the last few years.  Robinson seemed to have lost the majority of her time early on in the course, having lost around 11 minutes by the half way mark of the course.

Morrison was just over 10 minutes behind the winner, Thierry Gueorgiou of France.  Gueorgiou is very much regarded as the "king of the middle distance", and after losing the title last year to Norwegian Holger Hott, he was extremely keen to win it back.  He did so in convincing fashion, beating second placed Tero Fohr by just over 2 minutes.

 

Morrison is still to compete in the sprint distance final, whilst Robinson is to feature in the long distance final.   Chris Forne, who didn't make the middle final, is to feature in both the sprint and long finals.