Reback Returns to World Cup Podium - Triathlon Week

Robert G. · 06-15-2003, 08:32 PM

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 15, 2003) - U.S. elite triathlete Laura Reback was back on the International Triathlon Union World Cup podium on Sunday, but not as champion. Reback placed second to Australia's Liz Blatchford at the race in Gamagori, Japan.
ITU Logo

On the men's side, Joe Umphenour (Bellevue, Wash.) had his best ITU World Cup finish ever as he placed fifth in Gamagori behind winner Peter Robertson of Australia. Andy Potts (Princeton, N.J.) of the United States took his first World Cup top-10 finish, placing ninth.

Reback (North Palm Beach, Fla.) had won the last two ITU World Cup races, with victories in St. Petersburg, Fla., and Tongyeong, Korea. In Korea, she won a sprint finish against Blatchford.

In Japan, Reback was second coming out of the swim and rode with a lead pack of nine, which also included U.S. elite Amanda Pagon (Glenn Dale, Md.), on the bike. Reback was first out of the second transition. Blatchford caught up and ran with her until the final lap, when she pulled away for the win in 1 hour, 58 minutes, 28 seconds. Reback finished in 1:58:42 and Akiko Sekine of Japan was third in 1:58:50.

"I tried to take control of the race today, and maybe worked too hard in places. I think that this work may have cost me the win," said Reback, who is ranked second in the world behind Barb Lindquist of the United States.

"But I believe that as I was the top ranked athlete here, it was my responsibility to take charge. I am very happy with my effort."

Julie Swail (Irvine, Calif.), competing in her first ITU World Cup since turning elite at the beginning of the year, finished 18th and Pagon finished 20th.

Umphenour, still recovering from hernia surgery in February, was close to pulling out of the men's race with a calf strain, but decided to do the swim and bike for race experience.

The strong swimmer left the swim in fourth place behind Japan's Hirano Tsukasa, Potts and France's Frank Bignet. The four joined Hirokatsu Tayama of Japan to form the lead pack on the bike. They maintained a lead of 30 seconds on a chase group of two -- Peter Hobor of Hungary and Nick Hornman of Australia -- and 45 seconds on a much larger pack - including Robertson - heading into transition. Umphenour left T2 in third.

Robertson used a run of 30:44 to win in 1:47:29. Bignet was second in 1:47:37 and Greg Bennett of Australia was third in 1:47:53. Umphenour finished in 1:48:12 and Potts in 1:48:48.

World No. 1 Chris Hill of Australia pulled out of the race due to a flat tire and Olympic gold medallist Simon Whitfield of Canada did not finish due to the heat and humidity.

U.S. elite Victor Plata (San Jose, Calif.) placed 14th and Brian Fleischmann (Jacksonville, Fla.) narrowly made the top 20, finishing 18th.

More details and complete results are posted at www.triathlon.org.

ITU World Cup
June 15, 2003; Gamagori, Japan
1.5k swim; 40k bike; 10k run

Women
1. Liz Blatchford (Australia) 1:58:28; 2. Laura Reback (North Palm Beach, Fla.) 1:58:42; 3. Akiko Sekine (Japan) 1:58:50; 4. Miranda Carfrae (Australia) 1:59:04; 5. Natasha Filliol (Canada) 1:59:06; 6. Emma Carney (Australia) 1:59:29; 7. Emma Snowsill (Australia) 1:59:50; 8. Samantha McGlone (Canada) 2:00:11; 9. Machiko Nakanishi (Japan) 2:00:18; 10. Silvia Gemignani (Italy) 2:00:20
Other U.S. finishers
18. Julie Swail (Irvine, Calif.); 20. Amanda Pagon (Glenn Dale, Md.)

Men
1. Peter Robertson (Australia) 1:47:29; 2. Frank Bignet (France) 1:47:37; 3. Greg Bennett (Australia) 1:47:53; 4. Dimitriy Gaag (Kazakhstan) 1:48:04; 5. Joe Umphenour (Bellevue, Wash.) 1:48:12; 6. Andriy Glushchenko (Ukraine) 1:48:20; 7. Tsukasa Hirano (Japan) 1:48:23; 8. Bryce Quirk (Australia) 1:48:27; 9. Andy Potts (Princeton, N.J.) 1:48:48; 10. Daniil Sapunov (Kazakhstan) 1:48:54
Other U.S. Finishers
14. Victor Plata (San Jose, Calif.); 18. Brian Fleischmann (Jacksonville, Fla.); 29. Andy Kelsey (Cupertino, Calif.); 30. Christoph O'Donnell (Cambridge, Mass.); 36. Jeff Sneed (La Canada, Calif.); 49. Michael Smedley (Colorado Springs, Colo.)

Source: USA Triathlon