Elite Men-Race Story

Final: With more 2nd place finishers than anyone else in World Cup history,   Bevan Docherty didn’t settle for 2nd today as he ran a blistering final lap   to win the 2004 ITU Ishigaki Triathlon World Cup, with time to spare in the   finish straight receiving high 5’s from his fans. Dimitri Gaag was 2nd and {exp:tag_this}Paul   Amey{/exp:tag_this} of Britain with a huge comeback from several years of injury was 3rd -   which also earned him a spot on the British Olympic team for Athens.

Run: 2nd Lap: Docherty and Gaag have increased their lead to 25 seconds and   continue to run shoulder to shoulder at the front. The trio of Bennett, Johns   and Amey are running together as the chase pack and are in the battle for the   final step on the podium. A further 15 seconds back, Brazilians Leandro Macedo   and Juraci Moreira are running together with Stuart Hayes.

Run: 1st Lap: Bevan Docherty and Dimitri Gaag of Kazah{exp:tag_this}kstan overtook the leaders   on the 1st lap and built up a 15 second lead on a trio led by Greg Bennett{/exp:tag_this},   Paul Amey and Andrew Johns. A second chase pack a further 20 seconds back was   led by British teammates Richard Stannard and Stuart Hayes and Juraci Moreira   of Brazil.

Transition #2: The trio of Gemmell, Mazure and Krommidas swept through the   second transition with speedy proficiency, but it was Mazure who was first onto   the final 10km run course. They had barely cleared the transition when the remainder   of the field arrived en masse. Bevan Docherty, Richard Stannard. Dimitry Gaag,   Chris Hill, Richard Allen, Andrew Johns and Greg Bennett were the first from   the huge pack through onto the run. As they headed up the bridge, Cyrille Mazure   moved ahead of Gemmell to take a significant lead.

Bell lap: Mazure, Gemmell, Krommidas held the massive pack off through the   5th lap, as Gerald Hovarth, Richard Stannard and Igor Sysoev broke from the   massive pack trying to bridge to the leaders. The second chase pack did the   amazing thing of catching the big pack, thanks to the brave hearts of {exp:tag_this}Tyler   Butterlfield{/exp:tag_this}, Conrad Stoltz and Norbert Dominik.

4 laps: A new serious breakaway has been orchestrated by Kris Gemmell, Cyrille   Mazur of France and Vasiliv Krommidas, who will be competing at home this summer   in Greece. At the end of the 4th lap the trio had a 43 second lead on the chase   pack which was now down to 28 riders. The chase pack was led by Japan Hirokatsu   Tayama and Shane Reed. Meanwhile Andrew Johns, Greg Bennett and Dimitri Gaag   appear to be sitting at the end of the chase pack waiting for the run to begin.   The second chase pack which was pulled through the entire 4th lap by Conrad   Stoltz is closing on the big pack which is just 38 seconds ahead of them.

18km of Bike: The Kiwi breakaway ended halfway through the second lap, but   Belgium’s Alex Zeebroek, along with British teammates Richard Stannard and Richard   Allen appeared to be attempting at second breakaway as the leaders sped through   the stadium to start the 3rd lap.

13km of Bike: Bennett led the huge pack of 31 riders through the first 2 laps,   exchanging with Shane Reed and Richard Stannard. The energy spinning off them   as they sped through the spectator lined streets of Ishigaki was magic. Just   before they entered the stadium area to begin the 3rd lap, Kiwi teammates Bevan   Docherty and Kris Gemmell broke from the mob and threated to make a breakaway,   with Shane Reed, Stannard, Axel Zeebroek from Belgium, and Franz Hoefer from   Austria. Meanwhile, Bermuda’s Olympic hopeful Tyler Butterfield had taken control   of the chase pack and was working hard along with South Africa’s Conrad Stoltz   to make up some time on the leaders.

Transition #1:A huge pack exited the water moments behind the leaders that   included Shane Reed of New Zealand, Chris Hill of Australia, Hirokatsu Tayama   of Japan and Russian teammates Ivan Vasiliev and Igor Sysoev. Greg Bennett,   who stayed in about 10th place through the swim, exited the 1st transition in   14th place. On the first lap, Bennett appeared to be not content with his position   in the pack, so powered his way through the field to take the lead up and over   the Southern Cross Bridge - the familiar landmark on the course.

Swim: 2 laps 1500m: It was a perfect start for a powerful collection of the   world’s best. Richard Stannard of Britain took his familiar position at the   lead from the start signal with Tsukasa Hirano of Japan on his heels. Stannard   led through the first lap, but he an Hirano swam neck and neck through the final   750 metres. Stannard was first out of the water and through the first transition,   with Hirano and Paulo Miyashiro of Brazil on his heels. Pre Race: Air Temperature:   28C, water: humidity: 66%, wind: 3.6 ESE.

The sunshine is brilliant, the water azure blue, as thousands of local fans   line the course in anticipation of the start of the ITU Ishigaki Triathlon World   Cup. The rhythmic boom of the odeku drums are serving the heighten the anticipation   of everyone here in this tropical community.

The event will begin with a dive start into the pristine pure water of Tonoshiro   Bay where on a normal day fishing boats would be heading off for their daily   catch. Today, however the only fishing that will be happening is by over 120   athletes looking to snare a spot on the start line of the Olympic Games in Athens   in just over 4 months time.