Reed, Potts, Bennett Rematch Set For The New York City Triathlon
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A preview of the professional field of the second race of the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon Series, the New York City Triathlon, to take place this Sunday, July 26.
Americans Matt Reed and Andy Potts, and Australian Greg Bennett provided one of the most exciting finishes of the year at the opening race of the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon Series in Minneapolis on July 11. Just two weeks later, the three will be battling it out again in the second race of the series, the Nautica New York City Triathlon. On the women’s side, the field is open with Minneapolis-winner American Sarah Haskins trying to strike a balance between the Lifetime Series and the ITU, and choosing to race in the ITU circuit in Hamburg this weekend.
While Reed and Potts have been winning races in a variety of distances since the beginning of the 2009 season, Bennett had remained quiet from the race scene until Minneapolis. Bennett seems to be working his way into top form, and could pose even more of a threat to the Americans this weekend. While the three are definitely the favorites, the Olympic-distance is always capable of producing a surprise winner. Great Britain’s Stuart Hayes and the United States’ Andrew Yoder are specialists in this distance and will definitely be looking to shake up the podium.
In addition to Haskins, the women’s field will be lacking Minneapolis runner-up Julie Dibens of Great Britain. Dibens has suffered a setback with injuries and will not be able to compete this weekend. Without Haskins and Dibens, Minneapolis third place finisher and last year’s series’ winner, American Becky Lavelle, will be the heavy favorite. Another American, Rebeccah Wassner, lives in New York City and will be looking to run strong for a win on her home turf. While Australian Pip Taylor has always competed heavily in Olympic-distance events, she has recently become a force in the half-ironman distance and earned a win at the Vineman Ironman 70.3 last Sunday. Taylor also competed in Minneapolis, making this her third race in three weeks. American Mary Beth Ellis rounds out the favorites for the women.