Wednesday 8 February 2012

Bridgetown CC - Feb 12

Mens startlist can be found here

A first for Barbados in hosting an ITU event. Great to see, and hopefully the event will become a regular addition to early season racing.

Mens field is small but has a fairly strong/even top 15 athletes. We should see I.Polyankskiy (RUS) lead this non-wetty swim out with a group with or just off his feet. In that group will be Wiltshire (GBR), making his return to racing after his suspension for unsportsmanlike behaviour.

Quickly into the bike we will see our front group, and the race, form. I think we see all the main players including Nicholls (GBR) in this group. With Nicholls recent win in Vina, the others may be looking to put pressure on him over this bike.

Into T2 as a group we should see our podium potential group form right away on the run. Nicholls I'm afraid has this one bagged unless something unforseen happens. The remaining two spots should be a dog fight with many possible scenarios.

I feel we see the podium as: Nicholls, Unger (GER), Polyanskiy

Darkhorse: Lamar (USA)
New Flag Watch: Wilson (PATCO), Gaag and Fanous (ASIA)

WOMENS

Womens startlist can be found here

This womens field hosts a number of athletes looking to get 2012 on track and rolling. Campbell (CAN), Brault (CAN), Sweetland (CAN), Raw (GBR), and Lisk (GER) all will be looking for the podium in this one to gain more valuable ITU points towards a start in Sydney.

Out of the water Lang (GBR) will do us the honors. On her feet should be Hinton (CAN) and perhaps one other. A small gap could be next to the main group of athletes including all the contenders.

On this bike I don't see a lot going on once Lang and co. are caught. Into T2 we should a group of about 12 get ready to sort this out over the 5k run.

Quick to the front will be Brault (CAN) coming off a PATCO win and a silver in Vina. On her heels will be a group containing Campbell, Sweetland, Shiver (USA), and Bravo (ECU).

At the line we'll see a Canadian sweep with:

Brault,Campbell,Sweetland

Darkhorse: Wassner Twins (USA)
New Flag Watch: Bravo (PATCO)

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