2005 ITU Winter Triathlon World Championships - Elite Men
As the men approached the startline, the weather in Strbske Pleso worsened, with the sun disappearing and the temperature dropping. However, the expected snow storm never arrived, so the athletes began the race in fair conditions.
From the start, Heinz Planitzer (AUT) took the lead and, together with local matador Patrik Kuril (SVK), the two managed to build a small gap between themselves and the chase group - wihich included reigning World Champion Sigi Bauer, {exp:tag_this}Stefan Frank {/exp:tag_this}(GER), Arne Post (NOR) and Daniel Antonioli (ITA). The top two continued to increase their lead, and had built it to over a minute into transition 1.
Kuril then launched himself superbly into the bike leg, and managed to take the lead from Planitzer in the first lap. Through Lap 2, the crowd of spectators began to see great drama unfold. However, after technical problems with his bike which cost him at least 3 minutes, Kuril relinquished the lead to Planitzer and the rest of the field. He almost gave up on the race, before managing to repair his bike and continuel. After Planitzer pulled out, a new drama took shape: Sigi Bauer, Stefan Frank, Daniel Antonioli and bike expert Thomas Schrenk all pushed for the lead a various times.
Through transition 2, and into the ski leg, a real thriller began to unfold in front of the wildly enthusiastic spectators. The top group fought hard to forge a decisive gap between each other, with local hero Patrik Kuril moving his way back up the leaderboard with a tremendous ski., Sigi Bauer then took over, and moved away from his opponents. It remained tight right to the finish, but Bauer hung on to win the World Championships, ahead of Frank, Schrenk, and Kuril - all crossing the finish line within 6 seconds of each other. Italy’s Daniel Antonioli took the U23 title, with Christian Frommelt of Liechtenstein second, and and Giuseppe Lamastra of Italy third
More details and results at www.triathlon.org