Great Britain's Katie Hewison and Portugal's Sergio Silva were crowned this year's ITU Duathlon World Champions in the northern Spanish city of Gijon over the weekend. And the Light wind and low sun was the perfect environment for Katie Hewison (GBR) to earn her first world title.
"I had a lot of injuries last year, and wasn't able to train much, so this is a fantastic result for me," Hewison said. "I'm really, really happy."
Hewison proved to be a strong competitor throughout the race, riding and running with the lead group the entire race. However, she never took the lead until the final run portion of the competition.
Instead, it was 2010 runner-up Sandra Levenez (FRA) who wasted no time in making her way to the front. Right from the beginning, she took command of the race, heading up a 12-person run pack on the first lap.
Levenez, determined not to let this year's title slip away from her, got a head start on the bike with the top runners. Meanwhile, the remaining athletes struggled to form chase groups more than a minute back. A small contingency of just five women, which included Hewison, formed the lead group on the biking portion.
Midway through the bike portion, Levenez sat back and allowed the group to pull her, occasionally giving up her number one spot. She traded places with the leaders, never of who were Hewison. While Levenez pumped the pace of the bike, Hewison strategically drafted in the middle of the group.
It was a decision that paid off, as Hewison quickly overtook Levenez when they put feet to pavement. Hewison pulled nine seconds ahead on the first of two laps, followed by Levenez who ran shoulder to shoulder with Jenny Schulz (GER).
Outside of the stadium, Schulz recovered the nine seconds to speed past Hewison in the last kilometer. However, in a massive last-ditch effort over the final 50 meters, Hewison fought back to blast past Schulz and cross the finish at 2:02:45.
2011 Gijon ITU Duathlon World Championships
10km run, 40km bike, 5km run
Elite Women - Final Results
1.
GBR
02:02:45
2.
GER
02:02:47
3.
FRA
02:02:54
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