Reed and Cave Take the Titles at Rev3 Knoxville

Published May 15, 2011 10:14AM

Rev3 Knoxville took place on May 15, 2011 under gray skies. The pro field was stacked including 2010 champions Matt Reed and Julie Dibens who were back to defend their titles.

The day started with a moment of silence honoring the late Sally Meyerhoff who tragically died in a bike accident earlier this year in Arizona.

The 1500m swim took place in the river next to World’s Fair Park in downtown Knoxville, Tenn. The strong swim current led to very fast times. Out of T1 for the men were Brian Fleischmann with a time of 18:50, followed by Cameron Dye and Reed. On the women’s side, out of T1 were the top names all within a pack. Annabel Luxford headed out onto the bike course first with a time of 20:20 and Leanda Cave was right on her heels. Dibens was just two seconds back.

On the bike course, Dye rode out into first place with Reed pushing for lead. The chase pack followed at 1:50 back. On the women’s side, Cave and Becky Lavelle were out in front. However, Dibens went off course within the first six miles, so she found herself over three minutes behind the leaders.

At mile 18, Dye still held onto the lead, followed by Andrew Yoder who was having a strong day on the bike. Reed had dropped back into fourth. For the women, Cave held onto the lead at mile 18, but Dibens fought her way into the top three with just under 1:30 back.

Out of T2, Dye held his lead, followed by Yoder and Reed. Reed was two minutes behind going out onto the run, which was considerable time to make up to defend his title. For the women, Cave held onto her lead out of T2 with a time of 1:25:12, followed by Lavelle who was 45 seconds back and Dibens who was just over one minute back.

But Reed was able to pass both men and came down the finisher’s chute first. Dye and Yoder placed second and third, respectively. Cave held onto her lead for the win, followed by Dibens who overcame bike issues for second place. Magali Tisseyre, who was in a bike accident yesterday after crossing some railroad tracks, was able to hang on for a podium finish.