Haskins Wins Monterrey ITU World Cup
USA Triathlon National Team member Sarah Haskins rode away from the field to earn her first career World Cup victory, and three-time Olympian Hunter Kemper grabbed his second straight podium finish to lead a strong showing for the United States at the Monterrey International Triathlon Union World Cup on Sunday.
A 2008 Olympian, Haskins (Colorado Springs, Colo.) covered the Olympic-distance course in 1 hour, 57 minutes, 15 seconds to claim gold, while Kemper (Colorado Springs, Colo.) earned the men's bronze medal in 1:47:11 to continue a solid start to 2011. He was victorious at the April 17 World Cup event in Ishigaki, Japan.
Three additional U.S. standouts claimed top-10 finishes Sunday, as Gwen Jorgensen (Milwaukee, Wis.) was fifth in the women's race in 1:57:32, and Jarrod Shoemaker (Maynard, Mass.) and Matt Chrabot (Colorado Springs, Colo.) placed sixth and eighth in the men's event in 1:47:37 and 1:47:50, respectively. In all, seven Americans finished in the top 20.
As usual, Haskins was one of the leaders out of the water, and a group of six owned a 40-second lead on the field. Once on the bike, Haskins and Bermuda's Flora Duffy broke away on lap No. 2. Haskins eventually pulled away from Duffy and built a 1-minute, 24-second advantage heading into T2.
"Once I got on the bike, I noticed that Flora and I had a gap right away," said Haskins. "About with three laps, two and a half laps to go, I just looked behind me. I didn't see Flora, so I just kind of made the decision; I only had two and a half laps to go. I just went."
With a comfortable lead heading onto the 10-kilometer run, Haskins cruised to the tape, holding off runner-up Ai Ueda of Japan by six seconds. Haskins' victory was the 55th all-time World Cup title for the United States. Click here for a complete women's recap from ITU.
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