David Dellow and Melissa Rollison dominate in Noosa
Triathlon, October 31: Australia’s David Dellow has upset a
world class field to claim the Noosa Triathlon, the race that has
eluded him for over a decade, while 70.3 World Champion Melissa Rollison continued her meteoric rise in the sport claiming the women’s title from pre race favourite Emma Jackson in the Olympic distance race.
Dellow, a Sunshine Coast resident is the first local to claim a win in Australia’s favourite triathlon race.
"It's been a bit of a hoodoo because there have been plenty of good
athletes from here and I've finished second twice which was
frustrating," Dellow said after claiming yesterday’s prestigious Noosa crown.
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"I have been coming to this race for more than two-thirds of my life, at first to watch my Dad race, so it's great to win."
“I was checking over my shoulder during the last few hundred meters. I know Matthews is pretty tough and I knew he wouldn’t give up but with a couple hundred meters to go I knew I had it,” Dellow said.
Paul Matthews topped off a great year for him to fall just short after leading in the run but did enough to grab second with James Seear rounding out the podium.
“It was good conditions, a bit windy on the bike and it ended up being really hot on the run but Dellow was just the best man on the day".
“At the bike turn-around we really picked it up and managed to break away we all put in work on the way back, I was out of T2 (bike to run) first and I was hurting,” said Matthews.
After overcoming a health scare during the week and being hospitalised for stomach cramps three time Noosa Triathlon champion Courtney Atkinson left himself a little under done and saw his dream of a fourth consecutive win vanish. He hit the run three minutes down on the leaders and eventually finished 14th, more than six minutes behind race winner David Dellow.
“It was probably a risk starting, I was feeling good and I’d been training well, at half way I thought I was still in it, but that’s triathlon, it’s 2 hours you can just break your way through it.
“I felt fantastic, I knew my training had been going really well, my swim was right on and I lead on the bike up the hill, I thought I might have had it, and then just before half way on the bike there was just a switch and suddenly my legs and my whole body just ran out of fuel.
“This is what Noosa is all about, I struggled a bit, I really enjoyed people cheering me on along the finish line and although I’m disappointed I’m proud that I gave it a shot,” Atkinson said.
Olympic distance champion Clayton Fettell emerged from the swim in the lead followed by Courtney Atkinson with another group that contained all the contenders including David Dellow, Paul Matthews and James Seear.
Atkinson lead the pack in the first half of the 40km cycle leg up Garmin Hill but it was Dellow, Matthews and Seear who broke away and maintained their pace and Matthews went out of transition and onto the run course with 10-second lead on Dellow followed closely by Seear.
“I went out pretty hard on the run to try and make a break but Dellow just came storming home and managed to finish up a bit better than I did,” said Matthews.
Third place getter James Seear just didn’t have the speed in his legs to keep up with Dellow or Matthews.
“I came off the bike, felt pretty good and thought I could run with these guys. I was trying really hard to keep up with this front runners. They run really strong and I just caught by Dave and by this point I was in a world of pain,” Seear said.
“I knew Clayton was strong at this style of racing so I used his pace and drafted off him on the run and just relied on staying fast and I am pretty happy with my result,” Seear said.
Chris McCormack’s return to Noosa wasn’t the winning one he had hoped for finishing in tenth.
Rollison’s finish was anything but resplendent, stumbling and falling over the finish, then collapsing in a post race interview from her effort.
The 28-year-old athlete, had to overcome a two and half minute deficit after the 1.5km swim to early race leaders Jackson and McIlroy.
“It was amazing. I knew my bike and run was really strong that’s why I started out in the longer distance. I knew I would come out behind in the swim and I was hoping it would just be by about 2 minutes but didn’t realise it would be such a hard task as I think it was about 7 minutes. I just gave it everything I could in the bike and the run.
“My aim was to just catch them all in the run and I did,” Rollison said.
Despite not claiming victory, Emma Jackson, was pleased with her result and is looking forward to a well deserved break.
Jackson dominated the swim with a clear lead ahead of McIlroy and was caught by Rollison towards the end of the 40km cycle leg.
“Not quite the win but it was very tough out there and I am very happy with the second place. I have no idea where Rollison was swim and I was just waiting for her to catch me on the bike and she caught me right at the end. I was hoping I could stay with her in the run but unfortunately I couldn’t.
“This race was the last race of my season and I am going to have a little break before getting ready for next year,” Jackson said.
Hot and humid conditions tested athletes with over 7500 individual and team competitors taking in the 1.5km swim 40km cycle and 10km run on one of Australia’s most famed triathlon courses.
Amongst them were a bevy of sporting heroes and celebrities including V8 Supercar drivers Will Davison and Paul Dumbrell who finished the race in 2:28:47 & 2:16:18 respectively.
After competing in the Legends Tri on Super Saturday, TV personality James Tobin took to the course for the first time finishing with a time of 2:39:55.
Olympian Susie O’Neill completed the cycle leg in a team and Paralympian Michael Milton made his debut at Noosa clocking 3:04:23.
MENS RESULTS
| 1. David Dellow 2. Paul Matthews 3. James Seear 4. Clayton Fettell 5. Ryan Fisher 6. Bryce McMaster 7. Clark Ellice 8. Ryan Sissons 9. Joseph Lampe 10. Christopher McCormack |
Mooloolaba Casuarina Brookfield Alstonville Kenmore Hills Daisy Hill New Zealand New Zealand Lennox Head Burraneer |
1:46:36 1:47:01 1:47:42 1:47:49 1:48:14 1:48:48 1:49:21 1:50:04 1:51:04 1:51:37 |
WOMENS RESULTS
| Melissa Rollison Emma Jackson Kate McIlroy Felicity Sheedy-Ryan Matilda Reynolds Belinda Granger Ellie Salthouse Lisa Marangon Tara Prowse Chloe Turner |
Indooroopilly Joyner New Zealand Wembley Surry Hills Noosa Heads Balmoral Vancluse Willoughby Buderim |
2:00:25 2:01:09 2:01:46 2:04:03 2:08:28 2:08:56 2:09:01 2:09:30 2:10:40 2:10:51 |
A full set of results are available from the website at www.noosatri.com.au