Emma Moffatt and Clayton Fettell win Coral Coast Triathlon 5150

CAIRNS, Australia (June 02, 2013) “Australia’s Emma Moffatt continued her outstanding form at the Coral Coast Triathlon 5150 today, leading from start to finish in an all-round dominant performance, finishing in eighth place overall.

Moffatt jumped at the chance to spend time in Cairns and get some more racing in her legs as she prepares to re-join the World Championship Series in Europe.

Moffatt exited the water with the second group of males after the 1500m swim off Four Mile Beach despite starting a minute behind.

“I was proud of myself for being brave, you would never normally see me swimming out there on my own it was nice to catch those boys at the end.”

She went on to extend her lead on the two-lap bike course over the 40km course.

“It was the first time I have worked on a time trial bike so it felt really fast compared to what I was used to, it was nice to be around the boys to pace myself and know where I am and how hard to go.”

The 10km run is one of the most unique in Australia “4-laps on the hard sand along the beach.

“It was mentally tough out there today and it’s quite hot which makes it hard too.”

Moffatt cruised to victory ahead of Ange Castle who finished second at IRONMAN Australia, Port Macquarie recently and Sarah Crowley rounded out the podium.

“It’s so beautiful up here!”

“This is my first time racing here. I am usually off overseas racing this time of the year so to come here and actually experience this, is great.”

“I have wanted to do another series this year so the 5150 series was ideal and to be able to do one here in Australia is amazing. This is the last one of the year on home soil.”

Clayton Fettell laid down the fastest bike split of the day to set up a confidence boosting win ahead of his assault on the Cairns Airport IRONMAN Cairns next weekend.

Fettell held off a fast finishing Brad Kahlefeldt who set a blistering pace on the run by ran out of real estate in the end finishing second this morning.

Joseph Lampe had a solid race to finish third.

A group of six broke away on the swim that included all the contenders. As expected, Lampe and Fettell were first back to land with Luke McKenzie, Kahlefeldt, Sam Betten and Michael Murphy in quick succession.

“I tried to go off the front in the swim but I just didn’t have the speed that Joey (Lampe) had today, he really opened it up and split the field early in the race, I just sat on his feet,” said Fettell.

Fettell then set about showing what a machine he is on the bike recording a 50:21 split on the two-lap bike course establishing a two minute lead at the changeover from McKenzie. Lampe was a further 30 seconds back with Kahlefeldt and Betten another 10 seconds behind them.

“I have done a lot of bike work lately so as soon as I got on the bike I felt great. I went straight over 400 watts and those numbers are something I never really hold,” said Fettell.

“Yesterday, Berkel, Lampe and I did a massive session and I think it really opened up the pipes and I had a really great day.”

Kahlefeldt was the quality runner in the field going into the 10km run but found himself with a 2 minute 40 second deficit to Fettell.

At the 5km mark he had halved the gap and going into the final 2.5km had reduced it to 55 seconds.

In the end Fettell was too good on the day beating a world class field, Kahlefeldt second and Lampe running himself onto the podium.

“Having guys like Sticksy (Brad Kahlefeldt), Berkel (Tim Berkel) and Betten (Sam Betten) out on the run makes it tough, and I guess I got lucky and had a great day.”

“From here on in I will just take it easy with no more than 3 or 4 hours a day training before next weekend. I am just going to roll with the momentum and keep with the positive.”

Kahlefeldt was pleased with his effort today as he now prepares to take on the best next weekend in the IRONMAN 70.3 Cairns.

“I couldn’t quite catch Clayton, he had a fantastic bike leg and all credit goes to him but it was nice to be out there racing today,” said Kahlefeldt.

“I am in the 70.3 in Cairns next Sunday and then I am heading overseas to race in Europe and the States. It’s going to be a great race next week, I am just going to push the pace and see what I can do.”

Results

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