Barbara Riveros Diaz Wins the Opening Round of 2010 ITU World Championship Series in Sydney

In a tightly contested race Barbara Riveros Diaz from Chile upset the more fancied triathletes to win the first round of the Dextro Energy Triathlon 2010 ITU World Championship series in Sydney.

Riveros Diaz out sprinted Emma Moffatt and Andrea Hewitt to win the race in an exciting finish. The crowd went wild as they watched the front four women start to push each other over the last two kilometers. Riveros Diaz and Hewitt tried to break on the hill of the last lap but were quickly reeled back by Moffatt and Adachi of Japan.

Emma Moffatt missed out on the silver in front of her home crowd as Hewitt surged over the last 50 meters to push Moffatt back in to the bronze.

The race was held in trying conditions with the sun really coming on strong as the women started the 10km run.

One the bike the women quickly built a large main bunch covering most of the field. There were initially two main bunches which quickly combined with a third and fourth bunch following.

Over ten women started the run in a tight pack but by the end of the first lap the four eventual top finishers broke away to assert their dominance.

Mariko Adachi of Japan and Barabara Riveros Diaz of Chile were both surprise leaders. No one had predicted that they would be in amongst the leaders.