MORE than 100 of the region’s top triathletes converged on the Macquarie River yesterday as Dubbo held its round of the central west’s Interclub Triathlon Series, and it was a local that led the way home in the main event on the program.
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Scott Stevenson completed the sprint course - which comprised a 550m swim, 18km bike ride and 4km run - in a time of 51:52 to finish ahead of fellow Dubbo club member Eli Beach, with Bathurst’s Matt Windsor finishing third after leading the field at the transition from the bike to run leg.
The women’s event saw Jess Richards capitalise on a stunning bike leg to clear out and win ahead of her clubmates Estelle Dean and Kim Dale in a time of 55:20.
For Stevenson, the result came as a shock as he has overcome illness through the summer and is preparing for longer events.
“I’ve had a chest infection this summer and haven’t done much racing so to come out and perform like that was encouraging,” he said.
“I knew it was going to be hard on the bike so I rode conservatively.
“I really tried to keep a bit up my sleeve for the run and it panned out pretty well in the end.
“I’m still not 100 per cent as far as fitness goes so I had to race a bit smarter today, expecially because these sprint races kill me a bit.
“They’re short but they’re very intense and there’s seconds between the competitors so you have to make the most of the home-course advantage.”
Next up for Stevenson will be the Huskisson half-ironman this weekend while in a few weeks time he will tackle the Melbourne ironman, which consists of a 3.8km swim, a 180km bike ride and a 42km run.
In yesterday’s other events, exceptional bike and run legs helped Orange’s Sam Broadley to victory in the short-course event.
Broadley finished ahead of Tomas Tudor (Orange) and Lachlan Sinclair (Dubbo), with all three juniors tipped to have bright futures, while in a first for the Dubbo club a junior duathlon was also contested.
Cowra’s Rory Sullivan took the honours in that event, finishing ahead of Jessie Tudor (Orange) and Charlie Miller (Orange).