ITU World Cup Hamburg
Hamburg, Germany
Saturday, September 7, 2002
1.5k swim, 40k draft legal bike, 10k run

For immediate release - Hamburg, Germany: A strong field of the world's finest women triathletes had a clean start to the Hamburg ITU Triathlon World Cup, as an estimated 50,000 spectators gathered for the event. The café terrasse around the Hamburg city streets were packed with spectators, as were the grandstands at the transition area and finishline. 3 rows of spectators lined the entire course.

Leanda Cave of Britain exited the 1.5km swim first with hometown favourite Joelle Franzmann in second, and the winner of last week's Boston ITU International Triathlon, Laura Reback of the USA in 3^rd place.

Onto the 40km, 8 lap bike section, Laura Reback and Leanda Cave joined forces at the front and for the first two laps increased their lead to almost 40 seconds over the chase pack. However, Siri Lindley of the USA, the current World Champion and a strong German team of Anja Dittmer, Christiane Pilz, Joelle Franzmann, Ines Estedt and Nina Fischer got themselves organized and started to reel in the leaders.

By the halfway point on the bike, Cave and Reback had been swallowed up by the chase pack, and Germany's Nina Fischer had taken the lead at the front of the pack of 19 women. Olga Generalova of Russia went through in 2nd, Christine Pilz of Germany was 3^rd, followed by Leanda Cave and Siri Lindley who was sitting comfortably in 5^th place.

The 40km bike course, which featured 12 technical corners on each lap, finished with 19 women charging through transition onto the 10km run course. Leanda Cave was first onto the run followed closely by Christian Pilz, Carla Morena of Brazil, Laura Reback, Liz Blatchford of Australia and Siri Lindley. Meanwhile, the event organizers had given the estimated 50,000 spectators noise-makers, and the success of the German athletes had stirred the crowd into a frenzy.

In the early stages of the run, Siri Lindley took up her traditional place at the front, but unlike previous races, did not build up an insurmountable lead after the first lap. By the 5km mark, a persistent Carla Morena was still clinging to her shoulder, with Jill Savege and Britain's Michelle Dillon a few metres back. Leanda Cave and Christianne Pilz had dropped back a further 20 seconds at this point, and the entire group of 19 that exited the second transition together was now spread out over the course.

In the final lap of the run, the drama was building at the front, as Siri Lindley and Jill Savege, who had switched places with Carla Morena, ran shoulder to shoulder. This is the way it stayed until the final metres of the event, when even the race announcer was welcoming Siri Lindley as the winner. In a spectacular sprint finish, Jill Savege surprised everyone, and especially Lindley as she powered by her to take the win. It was the first World Cup victory for Savege, originally an Ironman competitor from Penticton, Canada, and an end to a 4 World Cup winning streak for Lindley. Carla Morena of Brazil was third.

In an interview following her 2^nd place finish at the Lausanne ITU World Cup, Jill Savege was quoted as saying, I guess it's time I started thinking about coming first. Today she proved to herself and everyone else that she can. Triathletes from 6 nations and 4 continents finished in the top ten.  

Top 10 results:
1. SAVEGE, Jill, CAN, 1:57.54
2. LINDLEY, Siri, USA, 1:57.56
3. MORENO, Carlo, BRA, 1:58.05
4. DILLON, Michelle, GBR, 1:58.39
5. CAVE, Leanda, GBR, 1:59.11
6. PILZ, Christiane, GER, 1:59.24
7. DITTMER, Anja, GER, 1:59.56
8. BLATCHFORD, Liz, AUS, 2:00.34
9. LISK, Ricarda, GER, 2:00.47
10. SUPINOVA, Anna, CZE, 2:00.53