Kona, plus the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly...

Hi All,

I was planning to write a nice Monday column about Kona 08, but something about the race just let me down. I'm not sure if it was the lack of drama at the top, the fact that a few big names didn't even start the race, or the fact that the carnage on the marathon course eliminated many of the pre-race faves.

Anyhow, 2008 will be remembered for Craig Alexander using the recent strategy of finishing second one year, then winning the following year (just like Michellie Jones in 2006 and Chris McCormack in 2007). He dominated the run, with a 2:45:01 marathon to win by 3 minutes. Eneko Llanos, who finished 5th last year, actually lead until Mile 14 of the run, managed to hold on for second, 30 seconds ahead of Rutger Beke. The men's race also had a number of surpising Top 10 finishes, as "less-known" pros like Ronnie Schildknecht (4th), Mathias Hecht (8th), and Eduardo Sturla (10th) all finished in the Top 10, ahead of many of the sport's big names. Normann Stadler, who lead for about 5 miles on the run, finished 12th after struggling with a 3:15 run. Faris Al-Sultan finished 11th. Marino Vanhoenacker never was a factor and finished 22nd. Bike leader Torbjorn Sindballe ran (or walked) to a 3:50 marathon to finish 45th. Chris Lieto could only run a 3:30 marathon and finished well back. Chris McCormack, the defending champion, broke a front derailleur cable and dropped out. The two Lukes (Luke Bell and Luc Van Lierde) never finished the marathon. You could make a nice Top 10 list of pro triathletes who didn't finish in the Top 10.

Top 10 Men Finishers
1. Craig Alexander (AUS) 8:17:45
2. Eneko Llanos (ESP) 8:20:50
3. Rutger Beke (BEL) 8:21:23
4. Ronnie Schildknecht (SWI) 8:24:46
5. Cameron Brown (NZL) 8:26:17
6. Patrick Vernay (NCL) 8:30:23
7. Andy Potts (USA) 8:33:50
8. Mathias Hecht (SWI) 8:34:02
9. Michael Lovato (USA) 8:34:47
10. Eduardo Sturla (ARG) 8:36:53

Before moving to the women's race, I did want to highlight the American successes. Andy Potts, in his first Ironman race, finished 7th overall. He was in Kona to gain experience for future races. He will be a favorite next year. Plus Michael Lovato finished 9th for the second year in a row. Much better results for the Americans than for the Canadians. With Tom Evans and Jonathan Caron both not starting this year, there were only 3 Canadian males in the pro field. Mike Neill finished 26th, Kyle Marcotte was 54th, and Nigel Gray was 55th. Ouch. Three Canadian age group males actually beat Marcotte and Gray, lead by Nat Faulkner's 9:16 finish (6th in 30-34 AG). If Faulkner can improve his run to match his ridiculous 4:47 bike, look out...

Ok, onto the women. Chrissie Wellington showed why she was the overwhelming pre-race favorite, by easily winning by 15 minutes. This, despite a 10 minute flat tire change where she ran out of CO2 cartridges and had to wait for another athlete (Bec Keat) to give her another one. She was leading the bike when she flatted, and ended up in 4th place before re-starting after waiting at the side of the road. But by the end of the bike, Wellington was back in first, and her Kona-record 2:57 marathon sealed the deal. Her run was faster than two of the Top 10 Men's run splits. Ridiculous. She finished 36th overall in 9:06, and if she didn't have a flat, she might have been in the Top 20 overall. Careful guys, you better get moving. And if she wins by 15 minutes without a flat, what will she do without one? Wow.

The rest of the women's race was similar to the men's race. Chaotic. Without Michellie Jones and Sam McGlone (both injured) and Natascha Badmann (raced, but is coming back from serious injury), only Yvonne Van Vlerken and Erika Csomor performed up to expectations. Kate Major (25th), Joanna Lawn(14th), Desiree Ficker(39th) and Belinda Granger (17th) all suffered on the run while Nina Kraft, Rebecca Preston, Leanda Cave, and Heather Wurtele all DNFed. Again, a Top 10 list outside the Top 10 probably has more stars than the actual Top 10!

Top 10 Women
1. Chrissie Wellington (GBR) 9:06:23
2. Yvonne Van Vlerken (NED) 9:21:20
3. Sandra Wallenhorst (GER) 9:22:52
4. Erika Csomor (HUN) 9:24:49
5. Linsey Corbin (USA) 9:28:51
6. Virginia Berasategui (ESP) 9:29:15
7. Bella Comerford (GBR) 9:34:08
8. Gina Ferguson (NZL) 9:36:53
9. Gina Kehr (USA) 9:37:06
10. Dede Griesbauer (USA) 9:39:53

The American women placed 3 girls in the Top 10. The Canadian women didn't have any until Sara Gross in 20th place. Actually, the top Canadian woman was an age grouper, Rosemarie Gerspacher from Calgary, who finished 2nd in 30-34 category. Catherine Brown (also from Calgary) was the 6th fastest Canadian woman and finished 2nd in the 25-29 category. I'm more happy with their results than any of the Canadian pro women. But with McGlone on the sideline, Wurtele not finishing, and Tara Norton crashing into a volunteer at an aid station on the bike, I guess the pro women can get a pass this year.

For those of you who like looking at fast bikes, Slowtwitch did a nice article showing the Top 15 Men and Women and pictures of them on their bikes. You can see the women's list here, and the men's list here. I did notice that 5 of the top 15 women were riding Cervelo bikes, but Chrissie made do with a P2C. And clinchers! Also 3 top women wore compression socks on THE BIKE! Wow. The men's list had 2 Cervelo bikes, 2 Kuota's, and 2 Scott's. Much nicer variety. And I noticed that both Llanos (2nd overall) and Ain Alar Juhanson (who had the best men's bike split and finished 13th overall) both rode clinchers as well. Hmmm....

Okay, moving on. In April I covered the tragic death of Dave Martin, killed by a shark while swimming near San Diego. ESPN, which normally treats triathlon as an afterthought, did an amazing article on the tragedy, and how the other 8 swimmers who were in the water that morning are coping with the aftermath. It is well-worth the read, or to watch the 10 minute segment, just click below.



I promised some Good, some Bad, and some Ugly, so here goes. A Canadian made news a couple of weeks ago by setting a world record for fastest self-propelled human ever. He and his "bike" managed to go 132.5 kmh in the Nevada Desert. So congratulations go to Sam Whittingham, who has also set world records by cycling over 86.5 km in a one hour time trial! Ridiculous.



Good news for Lance Armstrong. He and his Team Astana have been invited to next year's Giro d'Italia. Lance has never raced the world's second biggest stage race, and this week confirmed he will race in Italy next May. So that's great news.

However, Lance is having trouble with the French. Again. Or still. Or whatever. Lance's news about the Giro might mean that he might not race the Tour de France. It appears the back-and-forth between Lance and the organization that puts on the Tour continues. So we have to wait and see.

More bad news. Actually make this ugly news. Bernhard Kohl, the Austrian chimney-sweep who won the Polka-dot jersey and finished 3rd overall at this year's Tour de France, did fail a drug test for CERA at the Tour. The news broke this week that his blood test showed the 3rd-generation EPO agent, and of course Kohl appeared shocked and asked for the 'B' sample to be tested. But then he called a press conference and admitted his guilt. He blames his drug use on the fact that he crashed in the Dauphine Libere, and could not maintain his training going into the Tour. Since his team (Gerolsteiner) was folding after this season, he was under intense pressure to perform well to get a contract with another team. So he cheated. And got a 3-year contract with Silence-Lotto to ride with Cadel Evans. Until he got caught. So now he's suspended for 2 years. Whoops. Kohl is the 7th rider to test positive during the 08 Tour, and according to L'Equipe, the rest of the riders can breathe easy since the testing is now complete.

More ugly news. Could Jan Ullrich be coming back? Perhaps...there was a story in a German newspaper that suggests that possibility. Although I can't read German, Google does have an amazing translation service. So it appears that Jan is thinking about it...

But if he does come back, the big German might not have too many Germans watching him. The German television networks have decided to not cover the Tour de France due to the large number of doping positives. This decision came on the same day that the German Cycling Association cancelled the Tour of Germany, and the Tour of Stuttgart also was cancelled for 2009. Both races blamed the recent rash of positive doping tests.

Anyhow, here's hoping that next week brings lots of good news and ZERO doping news...see you Friday!