Page 17 - Trimax_mag162_pagesuk

REPORT
The tough bike course takes a toll on Siggy Ragnarsson
maximum number of 20 points for his Triple Mix
win, with Varga and Bailie logging 18 points and 16
points respectively.
Day 2 began early for the two-stage Equalizer
format. The Stage 1 six-kilometer cycling time
trial in the morning would determine the start
order for the afternoon’s swim-run-swim-bike-
run sequence. Cameron Dye (#08) of the USA was
King of the Hill, setting the fastest time from the
runway of Hamilton Island Airport all the way up
the island’s highest road on One Tree Hill. Dye
started with an advantage over the field, however,
Murray bridged the time deficit in the first half
of Stage 2 and once again tore through on the
run to take the Equalizer win. Birtwhistle placed
second and Mola third. This result allowed Mola
to move up the overall leaderboard to second with
31 points, and relegated Varga to third
overall with 30 points. Murray still led
comfortably with 40 points.
Day 3 saw action over the three-
stage Eliminator format. The goal
was simple: swim, bike, run, and avoid
getting eliminated. Only the top 15
finishers of Stage 1 went into Stage 2,
and only the top 10 finishers of Stage
2 had the opportunity to battle it out
for the day’s win in Stage 3. Kristian
Blummenfelt (#02) of Norway went
full-gas and topped Stage 1 and 2,
with Bailie, Birtwhistle, Murray, South Birtwhistle Claims Eliminator
African Henri Schoeman (#04), Mola,
Gomez, Polyansky, Ryan Fisher (#10),
and Varga making up the final field
of ten for Stage 3. Here Birtwhistle
shone through with a powerful sprint
on the final lap of the run leaving
Murray and Mola in his wake to win
the Eliminator and log a total of 48
points to edge Varga out of the overall
top three. Mola took second and
ended Day 3 with 49 points. However,
Murray was the big winner of day
three, with his third-place finish in
the Eliminator securing the overall
win and the AUD $100,000 first prize
purse.
Post-race, Murray said, “Wow. Just wow. The most
enjoyable, refreshing, and energizing racing I’ve done
ever. Super League Triathlon has raised the game in
triathlon. Chris McCormack, sir, you rock. And to your
team, thanks to everyone who contributed and helped.”
Gomez, who had been a pre-race favorite but
finished in sixth overall, had the same sentiments.
“Athletes were treated like true professionals and
organizers did an amazing job, taking our sport to a
different level,” he said.
Super League Hamilton Island was attended by
a veritable who’s who of world sport, including
Australian sports icon, super swimmer and five-
time Olympic champion Ian Thorpe, Formula
One driver Marcus Ericsson, and Paris Roubaix
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