World Triathlon

Great Britain’s Jacqueline Slack became the 2010 GE Strathclyde Park ITU Triathlon European Cup Champion beating off strong competition from Alexandra Tondeur and Charlotte McShane who came in second and third respectively.

Slack, from Stoke-on-Trent, came out of the water in the chasing pack where she remained until she pulled on her running shoes and pushed up through the field to take the lead. With a finishing time of 02:05:54 she exceeded her own expectations to take the win.

She said: “I’m amazed to be honest, I didn’t expect to come out and win. I was aiming for top five, possibly top three – either would have been great so early in the season, I’m delighted.

“The swim was absolutely beautiful, the conditions were amazing, but the bike was tough and the run was really hard because of the heat and the hills.”

Slack finished tenth in the final ranking standings of the 2009 British Triathlon Super Series and she will no doubt be looking to improve on that performance this year. Today’s win in the first of the five race British Triathlon Super Series gives her and early lead over the rest of the field. “This is such an amazing start to the series for me and I now can’t wait for the next event in Blenheim.”

Second place Alexandra Tondeur of Belgium, whose finishing time was 02:06:56, said: “It feels very good today and I’m thrilled with the result because I’ve had a bad week and I’ve been really tired. It was a beautiful course but hard on the legs, especially on bike with all the hills. I was pleased with second place and looking forward to the rest of the series.”

Third place Charlotte McShane finished in 02:07:53. Charlotte was born in Scotland but competes for Australia, she said: “I’m really really happy with third place. I had a few problems during the race, I got a stop start penalty in transition for a silly mistake but definitely happy with how it all ended. The course was tough, it was really undulating, those sharp little hills really take it out of you.”

Scotland’s own Kirsty McWilliam put in a fantastic swim coming out of the water in joint first but the bike and run really took their toll on the young athlete who finished in 02:21:25 and twelfth position.

After the race Kirsty said: “I learned how to suffer today, I honestly hated every second of that run. I swam amazingly; it went really well, it just didn’t happen for the rest of the race.”

In the men’s contest, Great Britain’s Ritchie Nicholls held off countryman David McNamee to take the victory in 1:50:34. McNamee finished 17 seconds later to grab second, while Ireland’s Bryan Keane took the final spot on the podium in 1:51:03.

The event holds ITU Triathlon European Cup status allowing the athletes to pick up ITU ranking points.