Erin Densham (AUS) added another highlight to her already stellar year on Sunday, this time pulling away from Emma Moffatt (AUS) and Sarah Groff (USA) in Hamburg to record her second ITU World Triathlon Series win of 2012.
It was the third time Densham had raced in Hamburg and her first podium, and she said it was brilliant to win in front of the great Hamburg crowd.
While Densham's other win in Sydney this year started with a strong swims, this time she came out of the water almost 30 seconds behind the leaders Pamela Oliveira, Moffatt, Groff, Aileen Morrison, and Rachel Klamer and was 20 seconds down leaving transition. But in a busy first bike lap, Densham managed to get herself into the 19-strong lead bike pack, as did Anja Dittmer, Ricarda Lisk and Kate Roberts.
While the first chase pack initially looked like they would catch the leaders, Moffatt's blistering pace in the lead helped them stay in front. While there was just an eight second difference leaving T2 between the chase packs, it was enough for the leaders to get the jump and Moffatt and Roberts immediately rocketed to the front, overtaking Lisk who was first out of T2.
But Densham quickly worked her way past the field. Roberts dropped first, and while Moffatt hung on for a while longer, she couldn't stay with Densham who pulled away in the final kilometre to win her second race in the 2012 ITU World Triathlon Series. She clocked a total time of 56 minutes and 7 seconds, anchored with a run split of 15 minutes and 50 seconds. Densham was the only woman to run under 16 minutes, adding another impressive stat to her pre-Olympic preparation.
Behind her the race for podium places was far from over, as Groff pulled up to run with her training partner Roberts. After overtaking her, she had her sights set on Moffatt but couldn't quite catch the reigning Hamburg champion who held on for second place. Click here for full review.
Image: Janos Schmidt/ITU
