Amey and Dogana Win TriStar200 Andalucia

Photo: actionpix.com

Paul Amey has won the inaugural TriStar200 Andalucia. As part of the lead group from the start, Amey held off a fast-finishing Marcel Zamora to take the title on a blisteringly hot day in Andalucia. In the women’s race, Italian Martina Dogana finished strongly to take the title against a battling Tiina Boman.

Starting under the cover of darkness, the stronger riders immediately attacked at the head of the field as packs started to form. Three riders – Darby Thomas, Ramon Garcia Lopez and Alexander Franc – managed to escape from the pack and worked hard to build up a solid lead over the opening 40k.

There was no let up from this lead group as they hit the steep 3km climb of the Medina Sidonia. The chasing pack, containing some of the pre-race favourites including Amey and Zamora, were obviously keen to keep the lead group in range, and worked hard to narrow the gap as they approached the 60km mark. Finally, at 65km they were close enough for two of the relay riders to work together and cross that gap, and so the lead group of three became five.

Sensing that he had an opportunity to create daylight between himself and both Zamora and Santamaria, Amey then attacked, working hard to bridge the 90-secoond gap to the leaders. From that point onwards the six leaders worked effectively to build a substantial six-minute lead on the chasing pack. Franc attacked in the last few kilometres to extend his lead over the group and was first into T1 in 4:02:36. Amey followed some 30-seconds back (4:02:56) with Zamora (4:08:52) part of a chase group who had it all to do on the swim and run.

The swim, across the fast-flowing Rio Guadalquivir, served to split this group of three, with Amey leading out of the water.

And from that point onwards it was a battle of attrition. Most of the pros suffered from cramping at some point, but that was just the start.

On the sun-drenched beach and into a headwind, Amey took flight knowing that Zamora has a strong run on him. Severe cramping after 1km affected the Brit’s running, but he managed to build up a good rhythm and had a solid lead going through the 10km mark.

With the sun at its hottest and a solid headwind challenging the leader, victory was far from secure. And Zamora was working hard. Going through 10km in the second-fastest split of the day (27:30), Zamora put the hammer down in the next 20km.

It wasn’t enough. Amey held off the Spaniard to take the win in 6:09:40, with Zamora in second (6:12:31) and Alejandro Santamaria in third (6:15:12).

Photo: actionpix.com

The women’s race became a two-horse affair following an accident on the bicycle that left Ironman 70.3 Monaco winner Christel Robin with a shoulder injury that ruled her out of the race.

And the race quickly became a ding-dong battle. Initially it was Tiina Boman who appeared to have the upper hand, the Finnish athlete going through 100km with a 90 second lead (2:39:39) on the chasing Martina Dogana (2:41:24). But Boman couldn’t sustain the early pace, entering T1 twelve-seconds adrift of Dogana (4:28:28).

Boman, however, demonstrated her strength in the water and re-took the lead with a blistering 14:15 swim against the current.

But Boman’s lead was too slim to hold-off Dogana. The Italian immediately re-took the lead, and had built up a lead of 90-seconds through 10km. As Dogana put the hammer down, Boman had answer and the Italian eventually crossed the line in 6:55:48 with Boman second (7:02:32) and Maria Bravo in third (7:56:13)

TriStar200 Andalucia
169km Bike – 1km Swim – 30km Run

Men’s Results
1. Paul Amey (ENG) 6:09:40
2. Marcel Zamora Perez (ESP) 6:12:31
3. Alejandro Santamaria (ESP) 6:15:12
4. Victor Del Corral Morales (ESP) 6:17:04
5. Darby Thomas (FIN) 6:35:19

Women’s Results
1. Martina Dogana (ITA) 6:55:48
2. Tiina Boman (FIN) 7:02:32
3. Maria Bravo Zuniga (ESP) 7:56:13
4. Nieves Infante Velez (ESP) 8:16:20
5. Dolores Fernandez Sanchez (ESP) 8:26:49

Filed under : News • Race Results
Read more about :Alejandro-Santamaria, Marcel-Zamora, Maria-Bravo-Zuniga, Martina-Dogana, Paul-Amey, Tiina-Boman, TriStar200, TriStar200-Andalucia, Victor-Del-Corral-Morales