Hewitt wins WTS Abu Dhabi

The race may have been missing all three Olympic medallists – with Gwen Jorgensen and Nicola Spirig focusing on growing their respective families, and Vicky Holland starting her race season later in the year – and the reigning champ Flora Duffy due to a hip injury, but the Abu Dhabi WTS still had its fair share of dramatic racing. 

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A standard distance for the second year running, the swim was non-wetsuit, while the 10-lap 40km bike and 10km run legs were, for the first time, held on the UAE capital’s F1 course. With 180° turns and plenty of switchbacks, the technical bike course favoured strong riders.

Spain’s Carolina Routier led from the horn to T1 with 2016 Edmonton WTS winner Summer Cook (USA) in second. Cook was followed in by compatriots Katie Zaferes and Sarah True, who together made up the lead pack out onto the 40km bike leg. Returning WTS Abu Dhabi champ Jodie Stimpson exited the swim 40secs behind, to collect the chase group alongside Kiwi Andrea Hewitt.

Stimpson and Hewitt put the hammer down from the off, halving the front pack’s lead by the end of lap one, and catching it midway through lap two. Continuing to push the pace over the next eight laps, the 15-strong group steadily dwindled to 10 by T2.

Onto the run, Hewitt, Sara Vilic (AUT), Stimpson and Rachel Klamer (NED) pushed to the front and worked as a quarter over the first 6km, before Klamer dropped off the pace with 4km to go.

With 3km to go, the podium was all but decided but in which order?

Running in a triangle, with Stimpson and Hewitt just in front, only a sprint could decide the final positions. Stimpson made the first move and for a moment it looked like she would defend her crown, but Hewitt had kept more in reserve, slingshotting from behind and outsprinting her to the tape.

To the delight of her supporters, Vilic made her first WTS podium at the age of 24 with a third place. 

Kalmer finished in fourth, while the diminutive power rocket Ai Ueda from Japan put in a fantastic run performance (making up 20secs on the first lap) to come home fifth.

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The victory was Hewitt’s fourth WTS win, but her first since 2011. The win was of particular significance to Hewitt, whose finance Laurent Vidal tragically passed away in November 2015 after suffering a heart attack in his sleep. 

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Gomez wins WTS Abu Dhabi

The Brownlees may have been absent but it was still a top-class line-up at WTS Abu Dhabi on Saturday 4 March. Nestled within the 54-strong line-up was reigning world champion Mario Mola (ESP), five-time ITU world champ Javier Gomez (ESP) and Rio bronze medallist Henri Schoeman (RSA). But it would be lucky number 13 (WTS wins) for Gomez, the Spaniard taking his first WTS win since Yokohama 2015 and in only his second race since injury wiped out his Rio Olympic medal ambitions last spring.

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Contested over a standard distance for the second year running, conditions were breezy while the 23.2°C water temperature meant, like the women’s race yesterday, it would be a non-wetsuit swim.

The breeze provided a bit of chop in the 1.5km swim, but, as expected, France’s Raphaël Aurélien led the swim with teammate Pierre Le Corre, Schoeman and Russia’s Polyanskiy brothers in the mix.

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With Ali Brownlee switching to middle distance for 2017 and Jonny Brownlee absent due to injury, British hopes for a top performance were buoyed by Tom Bishop, who was just 10secs down at T1 and in the lead group of 25 at the start of the 40km bike leg. Last year’s victor Mola and his training partner Murray had disappointing swims to exit T1 in the chase group, approx 45secs secs behind.

By the end of lap three, the lead group had more than halved, with 10 athletes, including Gomez, Schoeman and Bishop working hard to maintain their 50sec lead over the chase group. Entering T2, the gap had increased to 63secs.

Schoeman capitalised on a slow changeover for Gomez in transition, racing to the front and setting the pace. It was short-lived, however, as veteran Gomez and Bishop caught him within seconds and quickly established a gap over the Rio bronze medallist.

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Bishop, in what was fast-becoming his breakthrough race, kept Gomez honest until the London silver medallist made his move with just over a lap to go. Never looking back, Gomez ran through with a 17sec margin of victory over Bishop to take his 13th WTS career victory. For Bishop, Abu Dhabi marked a career-first WTS podium and reinvigorated British hopes for a strong men’s 2017 season. Frenchman Vincent Luis rounded out the podium in third, while huge runs from Spain’s Fernando Alarza and Murray saw them take 4th and 5th places, respectively.

High-intensity interval training helps battle ageing affects

High-intensity interval training causes cells to make more proteins for their energy-producing mitochondria and their protein-building ribosomes, effectively stopping ageing at the cellular level.

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What is high-intensity interval training (HIIT)?

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How and why increasing mitochondria improves performance

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“Based on everything we know, there’s no substitute for these exercise programmes when it comes to delaying the ageing process,” said study senior author Sreekumaran Nair, a medical doctor and diabetes researcher at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. “These things we are seeing cannot be done by any medicine.”

Interval training: why and how

    

The study enrolled 36 men and 36 women from two age groups; ‘young’ volunteers who were 18-30 years old and ‘older’ volunteers who were 65-80 years old. these volunteers were then split into three different exercise programmes; one where the volunteers did high-intensity interval biking, one where the volunteers did strength training with weights, and one that combined strength training and interval training. Then the researchers took biopsies from the volunteers’ thigh muscles and compared the molecular makeup of their muscle cells to samples from sedentary volunteers. The researchers also assessed the volunteers’ amount of lean muscle mass and insulin sensitivity.

They found that while strength training was effective at building muscle mass, high-intensity interval training yielded the biggest benefits at the cellular level. The younger volunteers in the interval training group saw a 49% increase in mitochondrial capacity, and the older volunteers saw an even more dramatic 69% increase. Interval training also improved volunteers’ insulin sensitivity, which indicates a lower likelihood of developing diabetes.

However, interval training was less effective at improving muscle strength, which typically declines with ageing. “If people have to pick one exercise, I would recommend high-intensity interval training, but I think it would be more beneficial if they could do 3-4 days of interval training and then a couple days of strength training,” says Nair.

As we age, the energy-generating capacity of our cells’ mitochondria slowly decreases. By comparing proteomic and RNA-sequencing data from people on different exercise programmes, the researchers found evidence that exercise encourages the cell to make more RNA copies of genes coding for mitochondrial proteins and proteins responsible for muscle growth. Exercise also appeared to boost the ribosomes’ ability to build mitochondrial proteins. The most impressive finding was the increase in muscle protein content. In some cases, the high-intensity biking regimen actually seemed to reverse the age-related decline in mitochondrial function and proteins needed for muscle building.

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The high-intensity biking regimen also rejuvenated the volunteers’ ribosomes, which are responsible for producing our cells’ protein building blocks. The researchers also found a robust increase in mitochondrial protein synthesis. Increase in protein content explains enhanced mitochondrial function and muscle hypertrophy. Exercise’s ability to transform these key organelles could explain why exercise benefits our health in so many different ways.

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New run course and name for Windsor tri

For the first time the run of the Windsor Triathlon will take participants fully onto Royal grounds, running from the gates of the castle and into gorgeous Windsor Great Park, including the spectacular Long Walk, right in front of the world famous Windsor Castle.

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Since 1990 the event’s unmistakeable run course has been hugely popular, giving triathletes the opportunity to race on closed roads alongside the walls of the castle, home to The Queen and over 900 years of Royal history.

Nick Rusling, CEO of organisers Human Race Events, said “It’s only appropriate that an event so important to the history of triathlon is given the Royal seal of approval. It’s a great honour for us to be able to use the Royal prefix and the stunning Long Walk, which we know people are going adore running on. It’s something we have been working towards for many years, and now we cannot wait for the 18th June!”

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Nuffield Health have become the title partner of the Royal Windsor Triathlon, and will have a big presence across the event weekend. Chris Blackwell-Frost, Chief Customer Officer at Nuffield Health said “We are delighted to be title partner for the Royal Windsor Triathlon. This iconic event in the Triathlon calendar is renowned for being one of the top Olympic distance triathlons in the UK and as the official Health and Wellbeing Partner for Human Race we believe that we are the perfect partners to give expert advice on race preparation, training, recovery and injury prevention.”

 With over 2,000 people already signed up, an additional batch of places for the event are to be made available from www.humanrace.co.uk/triathlon .

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Elite marathoners could run sub 2hrs say scientists

Will Kenyan Dennis Kimetto’s marathon world record of 2:02:57, set at Berlin Marathon in 2014, ever get beaten and will elite men marathoners be able to break the two-hour mark? A team of researchers led by the University of Colorado Boulder believe they can – and it’s all down to the maths.

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They have laid out a series of mathematical calculations that show that elite men marathoners could shave about four and a half minutes off the current world record.

 Postdoctoral researcher Wouter Hoogkamer, who led the new study, explains the calculations for running a marathon in under two hours include the baseline physiological capacity to run Kimetto’s time. The team then considered biomechanical changes that could reduce energy consumption and improve running economy.

“People have been thinking about the magical sub-two-hour marathon for a long time,” said Hoogkamer. “Our calculations show that a sub-two-hour marathon time could happen right now, but it would require the right course and a lot of organisation.”

So how can they do it? For starters, say the researchers, the athletes would need shoes roughly 100 grams lighter than Kimetto’s world record shoes, which weighed 230 grams, or just over eight ounces each. A previous study led by Hoogkamer and Professor Roger Kram showed running in 130-gram shoes could shave 57 seconds off a marathon time.

In addition, a record-breaking elite runner would do best running the first 13 miles of the race as a loop course behind a wedge of marathon ‘pacemakers.’ “He would need to draft behind them on a route that blocks the wind like a paved loop through a pine forest”, said new study co-author Kram of the Department of Integrative Physiology.

“A 1971 study by a British scientist showed that one runner drafting one metre behind another runner in a wind tunnel can reduce air resistance by 93%. But even reducing air resistance for the drafting runner by just 36 percent would improve running economy by 2.7% the savings needed to facilitate a marathon time of 1:59.59 for an athlete capable of running a solo 2:03:00 marathon.”

The second half of the race, according to the new study, should be slightly downhill but still within the regulations of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), with four top runners in a line, one behind the other.

 Hoogkamer said: “They would need to take turns blocking the air resistance and cooperatively “drafting” off of each other. This could reduce the metabolic cost of the drafting runners by about 5.9%, shaving about three minutes off the current world record.”

Alternatively, the CU Boulder study showed marathon runners in the second half of the hypothetical course could also shave off about three minutes of time in the marathon if they were lucky enough to have a strong tailwind approaching 13mph.

“We are not the first team to suggest such ideas to speed up marathon runners,” said Kram, who directs CU Boulder’s Locomotion Laboratory. “But we are the first to quantify each of the strategies with careful calculations in a single paper.”

“This study is significant for both scientists and serious marathon runners because we really delve into what we know about the exercise physiology of running, as well as the biomechanics of running,” said Assistant Professor Christopher Arellano of the University of Houston, a study co-author. “Now it’s up to scientists and the most elite marathon runners to put our ideas to the test.”

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This study was published online in the journal Sports Medicine

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Research finds wrist-worn heart rate monitors less accurate than chest strap ones

The scientists put five popular wrist-worn fitness trackers to the test to find out how accurately they gauge heart rate compared to chest-strap heart rate monitors, using an ECG as the control.

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They found the standard chest strap was the most accurate regardless of the intensity of the workout or whether someone was using the treadmill, cross-trainer or stationery bike.

“If you need to know your heart rate with accuracy when exercising — either because you are training for a marathon or have safe heart rate limits set by your doctor, perhaps due to coronary artery disease, heart failure or other heart conditions — wrist-worn monitors are less accurate than the standard chest strap,” said Marc Gillinov, MD from the Cleveland Clinic, Ohio and the study’s lead author. “We found these devices can equally over- and underestimate heart rate. The error ranged from +/-34 beats per minute to +/-15 beats per minute, depending on the type of activity.”

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The study followed 50 volunteers who were on average 38 years (±12 years), 43% female and generally healthy. Each participant was fitted with a continuous 4-lead electrocardiogram (ECG), a chest monitor and an armband (Scosche Rhythm+). They were then randomly fitted with two of four different wearable heart rate monitors (one on each wrist). The devices chosen for testing were the Apple Watch, Fitbit Blaze, Garmin Forerunner 235, and TomTom Spark Cardio.

Researchers then recorded volunteers’ heart rates at rest and after light, moderate and vigorous exercise across three types of activities, including the treadmill, stationary bike and cross-trainer(with and without hand levers). Measurements on the wearable devices were compared to readings from the chest strap and ECG. Participants exercised for a total of 18 minutes; one dropped off at the final stage due to fatigue.

The chest strap monitor closely matched readings from the electrocardiogram (ECG), which is the gold standard for measuring the heart’s activity (level of agreement with EKG, rc=.996; 1 being perfect agreement); however, the wrist-worn devices were less accurate on average (level of agreement with EKG, rc=.67-.92).

While the watch-style heart rate monitors may accurately report heart rate at rest, and most were acceptable on the treadmill, they were fairly inaccurate while cycling or using the cross-trainer.

Of the wrist-worn heart rate monitors, only the Apple Watch provided accurate heart rate readings when participants switched to the cross-trainer trainer without arm levers; none gave correct measurements when they used arm levers. The wrist and forearm monitors also became less accurate the more intense the activity levels, with the exception of the Apple Watch.

“Even though all these wrist-worn monitors work by the same general principles, there is considerable variation among them,” Gillinov said. “Overall, they were most accurate when someone was using the treadmill at low intensity and worst when exercising on the elliptical at high intensity.”

What’s behind the discrepancies? While the chest strap and the ECG measures electrical activity of the heart, wrist-worn monitors use optical sensing or light to measure blood flow.

“It’s not measuring what the heart does, but rather [downstream] blood flow – basically the volume of blood in the tissue,” Gillinov said, adding that these devices also introduce many more variables that can result in incorrect readings (e.g., insufficient contact with the skin because of sweating or poor fit, skin pigmentation).

The bottom line, Gillinov said, is that the wrist-worn devices don’t provide the full picture; nor are they intended to be medical devices.

“We are just at the beginning of a revolution in personal management of health by virtue of wearable physiological monitoring,” Gillinov said. “As people take more control of their health and record their own physiological data, they need to know how accurate it is; this is especially concerning for people with heart conditions that can be exacerbated [with activity]. Cardiologists can use this data and decide which monitor they would recommend and help educate patients about their limitations.”

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ITU, Xterra and Ironman races to be televised

The Bike Channel, the first television channel dedicated to the world of cycling, has agreed exclusive UK deals to broadcast highlights and magazine shows from the world’s leading triathlon events; the ITU World Triathlon Series, Xterra World Tour, and Ironman World Series.

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Ironman World Series highlights will be carried exclusively in the UK by the channel, with a range of competitions available including Short Course Tri, Ironkids and Ironman.

 Likewise, Xterra World Tour highlights will air exclusively on BIKE Channel, with athletes from around the world competing in off-road triathlons and trail runs in some of the the world’s most spectacular and challenging natural environments.

Filippo Ubaldini, Founder & CEO of Bike Channel
 said: “Bike Channel is the perfect destination for endurance sports involving cycling, and we are thrilled to be expanding our coverage to include the ITU World Triathlon Series, Xterra and Ironman World Series. 

We know that our audience loves to see what has happened in an event, and these acquisitions will hopefully open our channel up to even more people.”

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BIKE Channel is available on Sky channel 464, Virgin Media channel 552 and Freesat channel 251. 

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Wahoo launches new aerodynamic bike computer

Wahoo Fitness have released their latest bike computer, the Elemnt Bolt, a GPS cycling computer and mount developed as an integrated system designed to drastically reduce drag.

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When Wahoo tested it against some of the leading competitors using computational fluid dynamics (CFD), the company says that it reduced air resistance by over 50% – equating to a 12.6 second time reduction over a 40km time trial course for a rider traveling at 21 miles per hour.

World-renowned cycling aerodynamics expert Dimitris Katsanis collaborated with Wahoo to develop and test the Eelemnt Bolt.

“In recent years, the sport of cycling has placed a premium on the study of aerodynamics and gaining a mechanical advantage wherever possible,” said Katsanis. “With this in mind, Wahoo created a bike computer design that lends itself to actually improving results on the bike, in addition to tracking them. We thought about the desired result and worked backwards from there, designing the computer and mount as a single integrated aerodynamic package while still delivering on the core Wahoo user experience.”

“It seems silly professional riders spend hours in the wind tunnel trying to reduce every watt of drag possible on their equipment setup, but until now, no one has focused on the computer design and how it affects performance,” said Chip Hawkins, CEO of Wahoo Fitness. “We designed the Element Bolt to provide riders with all the data they need to perform at their best, while also improving their results.”

It is equipped with WiFi for over-the-air updates and both ANT+ and Bluetooth, allowing it to connect to sensors of all kinds and the most popular electronic shifting systems.

Pre-loaded with maps from around the world, the Elemnt Bolt also seamlessly integrates with popular cycling platforms like Strava Live Segments, Best Bike Split Race Plans, and Ride With GPS.

Elemnt Bolt retails for £199.99 and is now available for purchase from wahoofitness.com and leading bike dealers.

220 will also be reviewing the Elemnt Bolt soon and seeing whether it lives up to these claims.

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Murray wins opening round of Super League Triathlon

South African triathlete Richard Murray has won the first round of the inaugural Super League Triathlon’s first event, which saw the athletes racing the Triple Mix format. In this format athletes racing three stages, with ten minutes of rest counting down between each stage starting when the first finisher crosses the line. Stage 1 was swim-bike-run, Stage 2 run-bike-swim, and Stage 3 bike-swim-run.

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 Murray finished Stage 1 in third place after hanging off the back on the bike and making up time on the run. Richard Varga (#12) led the swim through the first turn buoy with a clear lead through the 300-metre course. But once on the bike, the lead switched several times throughout the six laps to make up the 6-kilometer cycle course. Siggy Ragnarsson (#57) dropped out, leaving only 23 competitors who all stayed close on the last lap. Ryan Fisher (#10) led through the first lap of 250 meters, but in the end it was compatriot Jake Birtwhistle (#44) followed by Mario Mola (#03) and Murray who finished in the top three spots for Stage 1.

Stage 2 began with a run led out by triathlon greats Spencer Smith and Brad Bevan through a neutral zone. Athletes took position behind him according to their finish order from Stage 1. Ben Shaw (#73) and Birtwhistle led the rest of the field through all four run laps, running shoulder-to-shoulder into transition to get on their bikes. Fisher and Birtwhistle took the lead on the bike, with Alistair Brownlee dropped from the pack. However, Shaw crept up on Fisher and the two were first to hop off the bike and into the water. Varga’s swim prowess again took him into the lead but this time to take the Stage 2 victory, with Andrea Salvisberg (69) and Igor Polyanskiy (#77) in third.

The final stage of Triple Mix began on the bike with Robbie McEwen leading the athletes out through the neutral zone. Josh Amberger (#27) and Salvisberg made an early move and steadily built a 15-second gap through four laps. Brent McMahon (#83) led the chase pack, and Ryan Bailie (#39) made a huge effort to bridge the gap and entered the top three by the last lap. It was game over for Shaw as he overcooked the turnout of transition to crash out.

Salvisberg was first to the dismount line and made a flying leap off the pontoon and led through to the first can, but Varga once again surged through the water to take the lead, with Bailie on his shoulder. But in fifth place, Murray was waiting to strike. And strike he did, taking the lead, lapping a struggling Alistair Brownlee (#23) who was more than a minute back out of the swim, and chatting to the camera as he came down the finish chute. Varga and Bailie sprinted for second place, with the former edging the latter by a shoulder and then collapsing past the finish line.

Not only did Murray take the stage win, but also the overall win. Varga placed second even with the five-second bonuses he won for being first out of the water in Stage 1 and winning Stage 2. Bailie picked up the final spot on the podium.

“I planned to take it pretty easy on the first day, but then on the last run I noticed the favourites were behind me, so I knew it was my moment to go,” said Murray.  “I don’t think he [Alistair Brownlee] was in the best shape ever when he came here. I can’t say it wasn’t great, I’ve done it once before but I think he had an injury, maybe the heat got to him or something. It’s definitely not the usual Alistair Brownlee that you’d see every single day. I don’t feel awesome from lapping someone who’s probably going 50 percent or 70%.”

Murray will now focus on getting ready for the Eliminator format for Day 2 of Super League Hamilton Island, which will involve a time trial in the morning and more swimming, biking, and running in the afternoon. “I’m very happy with how it turned out and I’ll try to recover now and get ready through the next ten hours, because in ten hours’ time we’re doing the time trials. I hope I can get a good starting position for the afternoon out of that.”

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Watch Day 2 of Super League Hamilton Island live on superleaguetriathlon.com on March 18 at 16:30 AEST (06:30GMT).

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Murray stays top at Super League Tri

On day 2 the athletes raced The Equalizer; a two-stage race comprising an individual cycling time trial in Stage 1 in the morning, and a swim-run-swim-bike-run sequence as Stage 2 in the afternoon. Athletes were released onto the course in a pursuit format, with gaps between each athlete corresponding to the time lost to the Stage 1 winner.

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The victor of day 1, South African Richard Murray started the afternoon with a 20-second deficit to Cameron Dye, who had been fastest cyclist in the morning’s individual time trial.

The first swim belonged to Australian Jake Birtwhistle, who overhauled his deficit to Dye and took control on the first run. Fellow Australian Ryan Fisher attacked out of the water to hang onto Birtwhistle’s shoulder. Murray emerged from the water in eighth place.

The two Aussies pushed the pace to drop Dye, while Murray picked up the pace with his chase group to bridge the gap. Eventually at the end of the first run the athletes formed a large lead group, and Javier Gomez took the front going into the run-to-swim transition.

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Kristian Blummenfelt led into the water for the second swim, but Igor Polyanskiy showed his swim prowess, churning through to head into swim-to-bike transition first. His strong swim created a gap large enough to eliminate Brent McMahon, Terenzo Bozzone and Siggy Ragnarsson as the three were unable to mount their bikes within a minute after Polyanskiy had headed onto the cycle course.

“Unfortunately, the time difference this morning was too big to bridge,” said Ragnarsson. “The guys out front were putting on a really strong pace. I was hoping I could maybe catch up, at least get on the bike and finish the bike course, but it is how it is.”

Ryan Bailie attacked up Mango Tree Hill into the second lap of the bike leg, with Gomez going with him into the front. Gomez attempted to press the pace but on Lap 5, it was Bailie and Birtwhistle who went on the offensive this time up the hill. Their joint effort was enough to build more than a ten-second gap into the bike-to-run transition.

Murray stayed right inside the chase group and hit the run in third place. Again he chased down the race leaders, but this time asserted his ownership of the run right in Lap 1, overtaking Birtwhistle for first place. The blistering speed from the man who owns the triathlon 10-kilometer run record was enough to lap Josh Amberger, Dmitri Polyansky, Crisanto Grajales Valencia, Dye, Dan Hoy, and Alessandro Fabian.

Birtwhistle’s second place went unchallenged, but Mario Mola pipped Gomez to be the first Spaniard across the finish line.

Murray’s win gives him another 20 points to add to his initial 20 points from yesterday to give him a clear overall lead. Mola moves up the leaderboard to second overall, while Richard Varga has been relegated to third.

“It was not easy,” said Murray. “That was hard, man. Each day is getting harder and harder, and Bailie and Birtwhistle, those kids can run. Give it to them. They can swim as well! I’m very stoked, but I’m going to pay tomorrow for sure.”

Murray said he turned on the gas after overtaking the two Aussies to break them psychologically. He went so hard that he had difficulty remembering how many laps he had left to run. “Two kilometres is really long after the last few days. It wasn’t as hot as yesterday, but it was definitely hard out there.”

While Alistair Brownlee managed to stay in contact throughout Stage 2 of the Equalizer, he was not able to gain any traction on the leaderboard, staying in 19th place.

DAY 2 OFFICIAL RESULTS MAY BE DOWNLOADED FROM THE LINKS BELOW:
Equalizer Stage 1
Equalizer Stage 2

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Watch Day 3 of Super League Hamilton Island live on www.superleaguetriathlon.com on March 19 at 16:30 AEST (06:30GMT)