Published August 7, 2010 12:11PM
Great Britain’s Philip Graves and the United States’ Desiree Ficker won today’s TriStar111 Estonia event.
See the race recap below:
Philip Graves and Desiree Ficker won today’s TriStar111 Estonia event. Steady sunshine and temperatures above 33 degrees made it a hot day of triathlon racing. Philip Graves (GBR) won the race covering 1km of swimming, 100km of cycling and 10km of running with a total time of 3:13:43. Desiree Ficker (USA) dominated the female race and finished first in 3:37:02. 74 relays composed of 3 competitors started eleven minutes after the individual athletes, and the first relay finished with a total race time of 3:09:46 and a couple of minutes after the male winners.
“The course was just right to accommodate the athletes and everyone could really enjoy it!” said winner Graves.
Today’s TriStar111 Estonia 2010 has attracted 274 individual athletes and 74 relays to race in Otepää in the South of Estonia. The race start was given on the beach of Pühajärv, the “Holy Lake”, at 11:00 local time for 111km of Triathlon fun on.
The 1km swim in the 25°C waters was completed in 12min 20sec by Philip Graves from Great Britain. Just seconds behind were Björn Andersson (12:24), and Chris McCormack (AUS, 12:26). McCormack changed very quickly in the transition area and started the bike first.
On the 100km bike leg of the race, Björn Andersson and Philip Graves pushed hard and managed to make the gap to the following athletes longer and longer. It was not until km 85 that Andersson decided to pull away in order to go on the run with the lead. Björn Andersson finished the cycling leg 2:29:11 after the race start. Graves followed at 2:31:26, and Thomas Hellriegel with 2:39:03.
The 10km run was the hardest part of today’s race – short, demanding, and under the burning heat of the sometimes underestimated Estonian sun. With temperatures above 33°C it was a hot race that Philip Graves could win. He managed to take the lead pretty early into the run. At km 5, he was already more than 3 minutes ahead of Andersson. Graves won his first international title at TriStar111 Estonia 2010 with a Finish time of 3:13:42. Björn Andersson followed at 3:19:04, Thomas Hellriegel finished 3rd in 3:21:30.
The women’s race was thrilling all the same. Kairi Schmidt from Estonia was the first out of the water in 13:36. Close behind was Tanja Slater (GBR) with 13:46. Third was Helen Schmidt with 14:23. Desiree Ficker (USA) was 4th 20 seconds down. Ficker took the lead quite early in the race and would not let it go anymore today. She finished the three loops of the bike course around Lake Pühajärv after 2:53:14. Slater came in second after 3:04:33, followed by Venla Koinvunla from Finland. Until arriving at the Finihsline, Ficker extended the lead and finished in 3:37:02. Slater came in second in 3:51:26, and Alma Sarapuu (FIN) in 4:06:48.