Brad Kahlefeldt (AUS) flew through the 10km run to finish in a time of 1:51:18 and claim top prize making it a double victory for Australia at the ITU Doha World Cup in Qatar. Only nine seconds separated the top three athletes as Mark Fretta of the USA and Volodymyr Polikarpenko of the Ukraine were hot on Kahlefeldts heels coming into the finish straight and finished second and third respectively. Fretta made his move with only 50 metres to go and Polikarpenko was unable to match his kick.
This is my biggest win by far, to win the first World Cup race of the season is absolutely fantastic said Kahlefeldt. The conditions made it a really tough race today, but I like a hot race so it was good.
The Australians had two men in the top five as David Dellows managed to match his previous best World Cup performance by finishing fourth with Tony Moulai of France rounding out the top five. Dellows and Moulai came off the bike together over a minute ahead of the winners and led for almost 9 km of the10 km run but were eventually reeled in by a fast flying Kahlefeldt, Fretta and Polikarpenko.
Many athletes began to ache in the midday sun that brought temperatures upwards of 36 degrees celcius and gusty winds through out the race but were carried on by the excited crowds who lined the course.
2006 ITU Doha World Cup Elite Men
1.KAHLEFELDT, Brad (AUS)1:51:18
2.FRETTA, Mark (USA)1:51:23
3.POLIKARPENKO, Volodymyr (UKR)1:51:27
4.DELLOW, David (AUS)1:51:52
5.MOULAI, Tony (FRA)1:52:01
Click here for elite men’s official results