• Hauschildt 2nd time lucky in women's event; • Brownlee wins short-course race
ABU DHABI — The 2011 Abu Dhabi International Triathlon champion, Belgium's Frederik Van Lierde, clinched his second win in the UAE capital as Melissa Hauschildt of Australia kept her cool to snatch her maiden title. Leading the men's charge on Abu Dhabi's pure power 223-km flagship distance, Van Lierde finished ahead of 2010 champion Spain's Eneko Llanos to take the crown, while Tyler Butterfield, husband of 2012 female champ, Nikki, who withdrew mid-race due to cramping, rounded out the titanic trio. Van Lierde finished in a time of 6h41m02s, four minutes ahead of Llanos and 6m45s seconds of Butterfield. In the women's field, Brisbane's Hauschildt, who only made the switch to triathlon after an injury forced her out of steeple chase, was electric on the bike as she brought her ‘A'-game to the heart-pounding final leg, to leave Switzerland's Caroline Steffen still chasing her first Abu Dhabi win. Living up to her moniker as one of the sport's top cyclists, Haustchildt took the Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) organized race by the horns in the final run, as the ‘Swiss Miss' Steffen, faded in the closing stages to take second - three-and-a-half minutes behind the Aussie champion. A record 2,050 athletes from 76 countries signed up for the biggest Abu Dhabi International Triathlon, with world elites and first-timers going shoulder-to-shoulder on a course that started with a sunrise swim in the Arabian Gulf's shimmering turquoise waters before weaving through the closed roads along the Abu Dhabi Corniche beach, up to the spectacular Yas Island and around the Yas Marina Circuit – home to the annual Formula 1™ Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - before returning to the heart of the capital. The London 2012 gold medal winner, Britain's Alistair Brownlee, meanwhile, smashed the Abu Dhabi International Triathlon short-course record on way to clinching his first win since the Olympic Games last summer. Dutchman Cesar Beilo finished second, more than five minutes behind Brownlee, with Russia's Alexander Bryukhankov coming third. Egyptian star, Omar Nour, finished the race in seventh spot. That made him the highest Arab athlete on the day. Suited up in the colors of the Union Jack, the 24-year-old Yorkshireman looked every inch the champion in Abu Dhabi. Having spent much of his winter training acclimatizing to the warm Arabian temperatures, the hard work paid off for the back-to-back European Triathlon Union champion as he finished the 111.5-km course in 3h20m18s — 29 seconds ahead of the previous record, set in 2010 by Dutchman Jan Van Berkel. Brownlee, who is used to the shorter Olympic distances and is in Abu Dhabi to expand his competitive horizons, was full of praise to the thousands of fans who turned out to cheer him over the line. “It is a good race to do for an introduction to longer distances and I would like to do more, but right now my focus is on the ITU circuit. Thanks so much for all the support, it was fantastic, and well done to all those who raced, I hope you all do it again!” said Brownlee, whose win will send shockwaves through the long-course community. — SG
