THE Riverina’s keenest triathletes lined up to race one of the country’s most elite, Caleb Noble, at his home-town event, the Ganmain Triathlon on Sunday, fielding the largest numbers on record, with 122 entries in the open event.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Noble forged an impenetrable lead in the 20km bike leg, and finished more than five minutes ahead of runner-up Dan Judd, in 54 minutes and 23 seconds, just shy of breaking the course record.
“He killed us on the bike, he absolutely left us for dead, it shows the difference between the elites and us,” Judd said.
Judd worked with Wagga triathlon winner Ben Cattle on the bike leg, which eased the burden of the headwind on the way home.
He killed us on the bike, he absolutely left us for dead, it shows the difference between the elites and us
- Dan Judd
Last week, the run was split into two 2km legs, and the longer 5km stint this week allowed Judd to edge ahead of Cattle, who came in fourth after Andrew Bruce.
“It’s going to be closely-fought between Ben and myself this series so I’m looking forward to it, it’ll be fantastic,” Judd said.
Judd and Noble shook hands and Judd took the opportunity to pick Noble’s brains about his smooth transition onto the bike.
Noble, who’s in training for long course triathlons, appeared comfortable throughout the race but it wasn’t all smooth sailing.
“Going out we had a huge tailwind so I was pushing it going out, and then a headwind coming back so that was hard,” he said.
And while the Ganmain event is just a drop in the ocean compared to the 2km swim, 83km cycle and 20km run he’s taking on at the Husky Long Course Triathlon, it certainly didn’t hurt him to take part.
“It’s not too different, you’ve still got to put in the speed work, and I’m starting to do big miles with the Wagga crew, I’ve got a few big races coming up so I’ll see how I go,” Noble said.
He will be back for more next week at the Temora Triathlon.
“It’s always good to come back and do local events,” Noble said.
Judd recently moved to Wagga from Adelaide and has found it to be a pretty seamless transition due to his ties with the triathlon community.
“I’m loving the lifestyle, it’s fantastic, the community here gets right behind the sport, everyone cheers everyone else on, it’s fantastic,” he said.
In his first triathlon, Wagga cyclist Chris Powell was in second place after the cycling leg, but struggled to compete with the regulars in the run.
Check out all of the action in the gallery here.