It all came down to the run at the World Triathlon Cup Huatulco tonight as Denmark’s Alberte Kjaer Pedersen ran clear of a tight-knit group for not only her first world cup win, but her first time on the podium for a resounding win over pre-race favorite Kirsten Kasper (USA), who managed to outsprint Austria’s Lisa Perterer.
It was a close race right from the gun as Kasper led the way out of the 30-degree Celsius water in 9:53, with 11 athletes within six seconds. By the end of the first lap on the bike there were 20 women riding in the lead group. At the end of the second loop the group had shed three athletes, with one more getting dropped in the third lap. By the end of the ride there were 16 women who hit T2 within four seconds of each other, setting up a 5 km road race to decide the race.
It didn’t take long on the run before it became clear that the podium finishers would come down to three out of a group of four – Pedersen, Perterer, Kasper and Canadian Amelie Kretz were in a line at the end of the first lap of the run with five seconds separating the Canadian from Pedersen.
Pedersen continued to stretch out her lead, though, and was never challenged as she cruised onto the blue carpet well ahead. She would take the race in 1:00:24 with Kasper and Perterer 13 seconds back. Ecuador’s Elizabeth Bravo managed to run her way past Kretz to take fourth.
