BRAD CONQUERS BRUTAL RUN FOR MOOLOOLABA GLORY

TRIATHLON, March 26: Brad Kahlefeldt admitted he once hated racing Mooloolaba, the event he today conquered for the third time in a brutal ITU Triathlon World Cup and Australian Championship win against some of the world's best on the Sunshine Coast.

Kahlefeldt, who had chalked up wins in 2007 and last year, used all his years of experience and patience to conserve as much energy as possible in the 1.5km ocean swim and the gruelling 40km bike to pounce on the final 10km run.

Like a panther on the prowl, Kahlefeldt, stuck fast to his game plan to kick away at the five or six kilometres mark and to be smart and patient.

And that's just what he did for a stunning four run laps around the course, much to the delight of the vocal local crowd, to charge home in a stunning 1-2 finish for Australia with emerging Victorian Institute of Sport star Brendan Sexton making a major break through.

Frenchman David Hauss, who with team mate Laurent Vidal made the breaks on the bike, was a close up third, just ahead of World number one Javier Gomez with Australian Olympian and two-time winner here, Courtney Atkinson sixth.

Kahlefeldt was always in the top ten in the swim and was content to sit in the main group as other riders jostled for positions on the gruelling eight lap bike course in and around Mooloolaba and the gruelling Alexandra Headland hills.

The leaders, including Sunshine Coast British boy  Stewaert Hayes, came and went until the hills again sorted out the men from the boys in one of the most exciting finishes Mooloolaba has seen in its spectacular 19 year history.

In the end it was Kahlefeldt who admitted there were times he hated coming to Mooloolaba because he just couldn't work it out, who reigned supreme.

"You have to race smart here and I've raced here a number of times and at the start of my career I used to hate this race and used to dread coming to Mooloolaba because I used to get flogged every single year but you just need to stick with it and I'm glad I have," said the Wagga-born Gold Coast-based Olympian.

"A lot of people say I can't race well on a hard course and you now in the last five years at Mooloolaba I've always been on the podium so you have to prepare properly for this race and that's what I've done.

"It's a very hard run course, its brutal, it's one of the hardest on the circuit and I'm just happy to get away with the win.

"I felt really good for the whole race - for the swim, bike and run and I knew I just had to stick with them try to press really hard about five or six kilometre mark and that's what I did.

"I pushed really hard and spent most of the time at the front, I probably shouldn't have but I felt really good and I was just hoping they would drop off my feet.

"I was just happy to stay in front and keep pushing the pace really hard and kind of lucky they all started feeling it on the last lap which was nice and I pushed on from there and I  tried to sew it up so I could keep a buffer but it was hard today."

The race had just about everything, including the arrival of a new kid on the rise in the chase for the London Olympics, Melbourne's Maitland-born Brendan Sexton, who overcame a 15 second "transition infringement" to claim his first major podium finish.

Sexton, an outstanding 3000 and 5000m track runner, was one of several athletes who had to spend time in the "penalty box" at the end of second last run lap for not correctly placing his helmet in his gear box at the completion of the bike leg.

"Second place means lot. I knew I had some good form and I know I came into it with good momentum," an elated Sexton said.

"Training in Melbourne has been really good this summer. I had a really good end of the season last year and I really want to go to the Olympics next year so that's been a really big focus for me.

"My target is Brad and Courtney. They're the sort of level I know I've got to get to and just getting that close to Brad was amazing and to get on the podium in my own country for the first World Cup of the year is just amazing."

Denmark's Jens Toft led the field back to the beach after the 1.5km surf swim - which featured a traditional Australian open surf race start for the 76-strong field.

They ploughed head long into the sou-east chop before swimming g back along the beach and a 200m soft sand run to the bike transition.

Toft as soon swamped by the chase group which included Atkinson, Kahlefeldt, Sexton, Vidal and Hauss.

The leading group of 40 riders set out on the first of eight gruelling laps on the bike towards Alexandra Headlands and back.

Vidal, who has raced in New Zealand and was second to Kahlefeldt at the Australian Sprint Championship, and team mate 2007 Junior World Champion Raphael, made a brave move to break away on the third lap.

But in the end it was all about the run and Australian boys Kahlefeldt and Sexton proved too strong for Hauss, Gomez and Atkinson who will now prepare for the Dextro Energy ITU World Championship opener in Sydney in a fortnight.