The men got the racing underway shortly after 9am with a 1500m two lap swim in the Potomac River. Heavy rains in the days preceding the race raised the water level and generated some strong currents which the athletes had to contend with.
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The early pacesetters were the American pairing of Hunter Kemper and Andy Potts who took the initiative to try and establish a breakaway. Kemper, who has been suffering with a back injury, was hoping to make his move before the run, whilst Potts was an elite swimmer before turning his attention to multisport. They managed to pull along young Alistair Brownlee, the winner of the Madrid leg of the series, Javier Gomez the 2008 World Champion and experience German, Maik Petzold, as the five exited the water with a fifteen second advantage over Olympic gold medallist Jan Frodeno.
The quintet were away and gone on the bike before Frodeno could latch onto the back of them, and working hard the leaders quickly opened up a 40 second gap. The large group of chasers included all of the pre-race favourites, but they could not orchestrate a successful routine to share the workload and pull themselves back into the race. By second transition the advantage was stretched to two minutes and the podium positions were quickly made unassailable as Brownlee, Gomez and Petzold took off in full flight.
Brownlee used the same tactic as Madrid early on as he hammered the opening kilometres to try and break the resolve of his opponents, however the hard working Gomez who only recently returned to action following an ankle injury closer him back down. Petzold remained in close contention throughout as he looked to better his fourth place finish from Madrid.
Further back home favourite Jarrod Shoemaker headed the charge from the chase pack as they set about closing down the tiring Potts and Kemper. A competitive group including Frodeno, his fellow countryman Steffen Justus, Australias Brad Kahlefeldt, Britains Will Clarke and Frances Laurent Vidal worked together with the American in lifting the pace.
At the front the Brit made his move with one 2.5km lap remaining, surging away from Gomez who in turn was able to drop Petzold. Entering the home stretch the reigning under 23 world champion took in the moment before he crossed the line against the backdrop of the iconic Capitol Building.
Gomez ran through for second with Petzold in fourth whilst Potts and Kemper were able to hold on to complete the top five. Frodeno took sixth ahead of Vidal, Shoemaker, Justus and Clarke.
It was great to have another good result at a world championship race, a delighted Brownlee told the media. The venue here in Washington DC is fantastic; its rare to get the chance to race in a setting like this, it was pretty amazing! It was a hard race, a windy bike and I really had to push on the run to get rid of the other guys. I kept looking behind me on the run and they were still there, and finally on the last lap they werent.
Im getting better with every race, but today it was not enough to catch Alistair. He is in really phenomenal shape, admitted Gomez. Brownlee went out fast like in Madrid and I focused to stay with him. But on the last lap he pushed again and I couldnt go with him. I was hurting.
It was an ideal race for me, said a delighted Petzold. Good swim, the bike was tough and we pushed really hard. I didnt think before the race started that we could break away, but we just put our heads down and gained time. It is always fantastic to get on the podium, it is just my fourth time, so it shows that I am on track and doing a good job with my new coach. This result makes me want to even harder.
2009 Dextro Energy Triathlon - ITU World Championship Rankings
After Race Three of Eight
1. Alistair Brownlee (GBR) 1600pts
2. Brad Kahlefeldt (AUS) 1536pts
3. Courtney Atkinson (AUS) 1437pts
4. Javier Gomez (ESP) 1425pts
5. Jarrod Shoemaker (USA) 1372pts
2009 Washington DC Dextro Energy Triathlon - ITU World Championship
1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run
Elite Men - Unofficial Results
Gold Alistair Brownlee (GBR) 1:48:58
Silver Javier Gomez (ESP) 1:49:11 +0:13
Bronze Maik Petzold (GER) 1:49:24 +0:26
4th Andy Potts (USA) 1:49:51 +0:53
5th Hunter Kemper (USA) 1:50:24 +1:26
6th Jan Frodeno (GER) 1:50:32 +1:34
7th Laurent Vidal (FRA) 1:50:36 +1:38
8th Jarrod Shoemaker (USA) 1:50:41 +1:43
9th Steffen Justus (GER) 1:50:52 +1:54
10th Will Clarke (GBR) 1:50:59 +2:01
El britnico Alistair Brownlee, llev a cabo una excelente tctica de carrera para ganar su segunda prueba de las Series de los Campeonatos del Mundo de Triatln ITU Dextro Energy con un tiempo de 1:48:58 en el simblico escenario del Edificio del Capitolio en Washington DC, Estados Unidos.
Con esta Victoria Brownlee se sita en lo ms alto de la Clasificacin General del Campeonato del Mundo de Triatln ITU Dextro Energy tras la disputa de la tercera de las ocho carreras y desbanca de la primera posicin al ruso Dmitry Polyansky, quien gan ayer en Italia los Campeonatos de Europa Sub 23. El australiano Brad Kahlefeldt se mantiene en segunda posicin, por delante de su compatriota Courtney Atkinson en tercera.
Brownlee estuvo en el centro de la accin desde el inicio, ayudando a formar un grupo fuerte en el que estaban el espaol Javier Gmez, Campen del Mundo en 2008, el alemn Maik Petzold y la fuerte pareja estadounidense formada por Andy Potts y Hunter Kemper. Este grupo consigui abrir un hueco en la bicicleta, mientras que el campen Olmpico alemn Jan Frodeno se frustraba tras quedarse fuera de la accin.
El grupo de cabeza mantuvo una ventaja constante de 40 segundos la mayor parte de los 40km de la bicicleta, sin embargo en las dos ltimas vueltas alrededor de la capital los perseguidores disminuyeron el ritmo, provocando que la ventaja aumentase hasta unos inalcanzables dos minutos despus de la segunda transicin.
Brownlee utiliz la misma tctica que le llev a la victoria en Madrid, al intentar abrir una ventaja al comienzo de la carrera a pie, sin embargo tanto Gmez como Petzold hicieron todo lo posible para seguirle, mientras que los americanos es quedaron descolgados. Los tres europeos continuaron luchando uno con otro hasta los 2,5 ltimos km, donde Brownlee atac distancindose por ltimo de Gmez.
Por detrs Frodeno ancabeza un grupo de 6 perseguidores, pero fue incapaz de dar caza a Potts y a Kemper que se hicieron con la cuarta y la quinta posicin respectivamente. El francs Laurent Vidal termin sptimo, justo por delante de Jarrod Shoemaker, que fue el tercer estadounidense entre los diez primeros clasificados.
Ha sido genial conseguir otro buen resultado en una carrera del campeonato del mundo. El lugar donde se desarrolla la carrera en Washington es fantstico; es raro tener la oportunidad de correr en un lugar como este, es realmente asombroso! Ha sido una carrera dura, con un segmento de la bicicleta con mucho viento en la que he imprimido un ritmo muy fuerte para intentar escaparme del resto. En la carrera estuve mirando detrs de m y ellos todava seguan all, pero finalmente en la ltima vuelta ya no estaban, dijo Brownlee.
Ha sido una carrera ideal para m. Buena natacin, el segmento de la bicicleta ha sido dura y hemos llevado un ritmo muy exigente. No pensaba antes de la carrera que pudisemos escaparnos, pero agachamos la cabeza y les sacamos tiempo. Siempre es fantstico subirse al pdium, es mi cuarta vez, por lo que parece que voy por el buen camino y estoy haciendo un gran trabajo con mi nuevo entrenador, dijo Petzold.
Clasificacin General del Campeonato del Mundo ITU2009 Dextro Energy
Despus de la Tercera de las Ocho Carreras
1. Alistair Brownlee (GBR) 1600pts
2. Brad Kahlefeldt (AUS) 1536pts
3. Courtney Atkinson (AUS) 1437pts
4. Javier Gomez (ESP) 1425pts
5. Jarrod Shoemaker (USA) 1372pts
Campeonato del Mundo de Triatln ITU Washington DC 2009 Dextro Energy
1.5km natacin, 40km bicicleta, 10km carrera a pie
Elite Masculina Resultados no oficiales
Oro Alistair Brownlee (GBR) 1:48:58
Plata Javier Gomez (ESP) 1:49:11 +0:13
Bronce Maik Petzold (GER) 1:49:24 +0:26
4th Andy Potts (USA) 1:49:51 +0:53
5th Hunter Kemper (USA) 1:50:24 +1:26
6th Jan Frodeno (GER) 1:50:32 +1:34
7th Laurent Vidal (FRA) 1:50:36 +1:38
8th Jarrod Shoemaker (USA) 1:50:41 +1:43
9th Steffen Justus (GER) 1:50:52 +1:54
10th Will Clarke (GBR) 1:50:59 +2:01