Under cloudy skies on Sunday afternoon, the elite women raced at the Hamburg ITU World Championship Series triathlon, with a clean sweep of the podium by the “Emmas”, as Emma Moffatt, Jackson, and Snowsill managed to break free from a large lead pack on the run.

Series leader Paula Findley skipped this stop on the WCS series after racing at home in Edmonton, Canada last weekend, and as a result, Barbara Riveros-Dias from Chile was able to move into the top spot as the series leader with another strong top five finish at the race.

Sarah Groff was the top American woman with a 13th place finish as she continues to have a very strong season and solidifies her position as one of the top contenders for a spot on the 2012 U.S. Olympic team. Gwen Jorgensen, in only her second WCS race redeemed her DNF in her first race last month in Madrid with a 27th place finish and a very strong run. Jillian Petersen rounded out a strong U.S. female team, but was unable to make the first group on the bike after the swim, and looks to rebound next month in London.

Chris McCormack powers through on the run at Hamburg ITU triathlon

Germany’s own Jan Frodeno had bad luck on the bike, but came back from mechanical issues on the bike to the roar of the home crowd on each lap of his run.

Ironman World Champion Chris McCormack had a much better showing in his second WCS start, pushing the pace on the bike and holding a strong 10k pace to finish 26th overall.

Americans Jarrod Shoemaker and Mark Fretta both had tough days. Both U.S triathletes suffered injuries on the swim, and the final results demonstrated the toll the injuries took, with Shoemaker finishing well off his normal strong run split and Mark Fretta dropping at the 5k mark to receive medical attention. Fortunately both athletes are feeling better today (Happy Birthday Jarrod!) as they travel back to the States before the next WCS triathlon race in London next month.

Mark Fretta showing that triathlon is a contact sport

Each triathlete has their own pre-race swim workouts, which I always find interesting. Ultimately, we are all creatures of habit, and I think the closer to a big race, the more comfort we all find in having a set pre-race ritual, even among the elite athletes.

The rest of the pre-race day is usually fairly light. Most of the triathletes get a final massage with our team massage therapist or a last-minute adjustment or body work done by the chiropractor. But for the most part, it’s really a down day with not a lot going on.

The men’s race tomorrow should be fairly competitive. The Brownlee brothers, who have been dominating the World Championship Series races so far, will not be racing in Hamburg. Instead, they’re focusing on a final tune-up for the London WCS race in two weeks that will be a preview of the 2012 Olympic course. The men’s field is still strong, with defending World Champion Javier Gomez from Spain, and Germany’s own 2008 Olympic gold medalist Jan Frodeno scheduled to start. Ironman Triathlon World Campion Chris McCormick is also here in Hamburg as he takes a break from the longer distance triathlons in his attempt to make the Australian Olympic triathlon team.

It seems that weather continues to be a factor in the race series. A traditionally hot Madrid race in May was unseasonably cool for the men, while Kitzbuhel, Austria saw even colder temperatures with freezing rain, hail and wind all hampering most of the athletes with the exception of the Brownlee brothers Alister and Jonathon and women series leader Paula Findley.

Sarah Groff is here looking to continue her outstanding early season results, including a 3rd place podium finish at the Kitzbuhel WCS race two weeks ago and a seventh place finish in May at the Madrid WCS race. Sarah had

Jillian Peterson looks fit, fast and relaxed and is due for a breakthrough performance this weekend. Look for her to be a factor in the race if there is a big split on the bike.

Gwen Jorgensen is ready for her second ITU start after making her WCS debut in Madrdid. She looks forward on building upon the valuable experience and should be a threat to have one of the fastest female run splits on Sunday

Jarrod Shoemaker and Mark Fretta will be representing the U.S for the men’s race on Saturday. Shoemaker has to be considered a favorite to place well in Hamburg based on his previous strong results including winning the race outright in 2009 and a seventh place finish here last year.

We have a smaller number of US triathletes racing this weekend; just 3 men (Greg Bennett, Jarrod Shoemaker and Manny Huerta) and 4 women; Laura Bennett, Sarah Groff, Jillian Peterson and first-time WCS triathlete, Gwen Jorgensen, and a smaller support team. Looking forward to the men’s race on Saturday and the women’s race on Sunday.

We spent today getting the clinic room ready and have already started treating some of the triathletes.

The race course is actually about thirty miles northwest of Tucson proper, up in Oro Valley and right near Sun City, Arizona. While it was a little bit of a drive from the airport to the host hotel, once I arrived, I knew by the number of people wearing compression stockings around the pool, that I was in the right location.

The race tomorrow is a little shorter than normal, with two 5 km runs sandwiched around a 35 km bike segment. Overall, the course doesn’t look too challenging for the faster athletes since the majority of the course appears to be small rollers without any significant steep sustained climbs like we had at the Duathlon World Championships last fall in Edinburgh, Scotland.

My main concern for race day is heat. We’ve been monitoring the predicted temperatures for race day all week in an effort to determine if we needed to move up the 8am wave starts. Fortunately, right now, its predicted to be in the high 70′s for the race with a day time high temp in the low 80′s.

There have been some overnight changes in the course from the course that the age-group athletes competed on yesterday. Gone is the large transition area, replaced by the typical ITU blue carpet transition zone with individual numbered bike racks for the athletes.

The bike course has also been made more difficult (if that is possible). The elite and under-23 men and women will also have to complete 7 loops on the bike compared to 5 laps for yesterday’s racers. The run course will stay as 4 laps for the first 10 km run and 2 laps for the final 5 km run, but with the removal of the transition area run, the run course adds more elevation as the race directors have shifted the run course to include more of the “hill”.

The first 10 km run will serve to significantly break up the starting group and the climb at the beginning of each bike loop with pretty much guarantee that there are significant gaps at the start of the second run.

Local race official William Wallace has emphatically stated that any chin strap violations will be dealt with in typical 13th century Scottish fashion…

New chin strap rules to be strictly enforced by new ITU official

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/1,7124,s6-241-286–13526-0,00.html