World Triathlon

At the halfway point of the swim Walton’s plan was not unfolding as intended,   as he had a mere 2 second lead on Germany’s Christian Ruderer and veteran World   Cup podium finisher Vlodimyr Polikarpenko of the Ukraine. French teammates Frank   Bignet, Stephane Poulat and Frederic Belaubre, always a power to be reckoned   with on the swim-bike section, were also in contact with Walton.

Walter exited the swim 11 seconds ahead of Ruderer, with the rest of the field,   led by Polikarpenko, a further 20 seconds back.

Once onto the bike course, Walton tried to establish his solo act at the front   and by the 5km mark he had a 22 second lead on the chase pack of 16. Frank Bignet   and Axel Zeebroek of Belgium seemed to have plans in store for Walton as they   continually challenged the pace at the front. Olympic silver and bronze medallists,   Stefan Vukovic of Germany and Jan Rehula of the Czech Republic, as well as the   current World Champion, Ivan Rana of Spain were sitting in good position in   the chase pack at this point.

By the 10km mark, the chase pack held Walton to his 22 second lead as Frederic   Belaubre dropped off the back of the chase pack and was swallowed up by the   second chase pack led by Italy’s Emilio d’Aquino, Maik Petzold of German and   New Zealands Bevan Docherty.

At 15km the 2 chase groups joined, as Stefan Vukovic and Bevan Docherty took   charge at the front. Walton’s lead still increased to 25 seconds - the rain-drenched   roads being easier to handle alone than with a large group of riders.

Axel Zeebroek, Frank Bignet and Denmark’s Rasmus Henning managed to get the   chase group organised and by the 20km mark they had taken a huge chunk out of   Walton’s lead, reigning him back to just 12 seconds.

On lap 5, Bignet, Zeebroek and Poulat broke away and caught Walton. They then   joined forces with the powerful Aussie to make time of the chase pack. By lap   6 the leaders had built their lead to 15 seconds, then to 26 seconds by the   start of the final lap. Craig Watson of New Zealand tried to pull the chase   pack up to the leaders, but the power at the front was too much.

By the time the lead quartet reached the bike to run transition they had built   up a credible 40 second lead. Watson was first out of transition onto the 10km   run course followed by Zeebroek, Bignet, and Poulat. Rasmus Henning was the   first one from the chase pack onto the run, 45 seconds back. Ivan Rana was in   12th place at this point 50 seconds behind Walton.

On the first lap Alex Zeebroek moved to the front as Craig Walton dropped back   to 3rd, with Poulat in 2nd and Bignet 4th.

Meanwhile Daniel Unger of Germany, Kiwi teammates Matt Reed and Bevan Docherty,   along with Ivan Rana made up considerable time and by the 2nd lap were just   30 seconds back.

Drama started building by the 5km mark as Rana moved up to Zeebroek, with Reed,   Poulat and Unger within seconds of the leader. Bevan Docherty was in 6th place,   8 seconds back, with Walton still hanging onto 7th place, 13 seconds behind.

Spain’s World Champion moved into the lead on the 3rd lap, and as they entered   the final 2km of the event he had a 14 second lead on Daniel Unger and Matt   Reed who were running shoulder to shoulder - both hunger for those coveted podium   steps. Bevan Docherty had dropped back 23 seconds, as the event’s “Brave   Heart” Alex Zeebroek - who spoiled Walton’s game plan, dropped back to   5th, now 39 seconds off the pace.

Ivan Rana put the pedal down with less than a kilometre to go and took back-to-back   wins in Madeira, which was also a dress rehearsal for the 2004 Triathlon World   Championships - the final event before the Athens Olympic Games Triathlon Qualification   cut-off.

Daniel Unger held onto 2nd place, taking his first World Cup podium finish   just 7 seconds behind Rana. Matt Reed, who has not been on the podium since   the Cancun World Cup in 2001 was 3rd, a further 8 seconds back. Bevan Docherty   was 4th with Stephane Poulat rounding out the top 5.

Ivan Rana said after the race, “This made up for my loss to Hunter Kemper   in Madrid, which was a very sad day for me. Now I know that I can race full   out alone from start to finish.”

Another story within the event was the breakthrough of the swim-bike specialists   such as Craig Walton, Stephane Poulat, Frank Bignet and Axel Zeebroek - the   powerhouse at the front of the Madeira bike section. They can also run well   after a hard bike - all four of the leaders off the bike finished in the top   10.