Fast and furious racing for Elite 13

Manama : The Bahrain Endurance 13 team comes off another big week of valiant racing with Fredrik Croneborg in fourth place at Ironman 70.3 Taiwan, while Javier Gomez, Terenzo Bozzone, Brent McMahon, and Javier Gomez raced among the world’s best in the inaugural Super League Triathlon on Hamilton Island.

Gomez ranked highest among the Bahrain Endurance contingent with a sixth position on the overall leaderboard after three days of racing.

The Spaniard showed consistency and said, “I Guess I wasn’t that quick and need to go back to work and take this as a training day.”

Bozzone was on the back foot from Day one, finishing in 23rd, but the long-course maestro gave every race his all. “If I wasn’t here I would regret it,” the Kiwi said. “Racing these guys was inspirational and I watch them all -- the fast ITU guys Richard (Murray], Javier, Mario (Mola), Alistair (Brownlee) -- and just to get to meet them and race alongside them is a pretty amazing experience.”

He and his wife are expecting their second child, a baby girl, in three weeks’ time. “Then I’ve got the middle of the year to start racing strong,” he added.

McMahon is a few seasons into Ironman racing since his days in the ITU, but still proved himself competitive on every day to finish 16th.

The Canadian said, “It was unbelievable. I’ve been racing for 20 years and never have I been to an event like this that’s so world-class, everything measured out perfectly. It’s unbelievable that they’ve put this together in a fairly short time. It’s gonna catch on, it’s gonna go worldwide.” He will race Ironman 70.3 Oceanside next.”

Over the first two days of racing on Hamilton Island, Brownlee was uncharacteristically heavy on his feet. Unfortunately, the Olympic champion had caught the flu, causing him to pull out of competing in the final day. “I loved the Super League Triathlon and just disappointed I wasn’t able to compete at my best,” said the Briton.

His gaze now turns east as he flies out to train with HH Shaikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa. “I’m now looking forward to visiting Bahrain and our team leader.”