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Buckingham and Pallant win in Windsor

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Mark Buckingham took the men's British Elite Standard Distance Triathlon title at the Triathlonguard Windsor Triathlon 2014. Jenny Manners won the women’s title, whilst Emma Pallant was the race winner and moves further ahead in the British Triathlon Super Series.

Buckingham's result also sees him take over from Matt Sharp at the head of the 2014 British Triathlon Super Series standings as he added victory at Windsor to his second-place finish in the opening Super Series race of the season, the 2014 Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research Blenheim Palace Triathlon.

Richard Stannard led out of the water, just as he had at Blenheim, in 17min 09sec but Buckingham was very much in the race with the main contenders going into T1 all within a few seconds of the 18-minute mark.

Stannard's lead was soon reeled in on the bike course as Buckingham, David Bishop and Rory Atkins were prominent in a pack that set the pace, before Buckingham and Bishop stamped their authority on the proceedings with dominant runs.

Buckingham showed the benefit of his background in track athletics by finishing the 10K run in 31:41, to record an overall time of 1:49:15, and Bishop was not far behind, finishing the run in 31:58, to finish second place 1:49:40. Iestyn Harrett was third in 1:50:42, while Atkins, still a Junior, was an impressive sixth in 1:52:14.

Buckingham said: "There is no race like Windsor because right from the start of the swim it is a really demanding course. You're battling the current of the Thames for the first kilometre so if you let anyone get away it is really hard to get back up. Then the bike is one big 40K loop, so you never get switchbacks where you get to see your competition.

"I've been British Elite Duathlon Champion three times but this was my first Elite Triathlon title. I'm really chuffed to have finally done it.

"At the start of this season I was travelling a lot for the ITU World Triathlon Series: my first three races were Abu Dhabi, Auckland and Cape Town. The travelling really wore me down so I decided to target the Super Series to get my racing head back on. Now that I've done two and I'm leading the Super Series I'm definitely going to continue and race the rest of the series.”

The women's race saw Jenny Manners take the British Elite Standard Distance Championship despite crossing the line in second place behind Emma Pallant, who is ineligible for the British title as she now races under the ITU's banner. Pallant, however, is still very much part of the Super Series and consolidated her lead at the top of the standings with the win, her second in a row after taking first place at Blenheim.

The race was a tightly contested affair over the swim and the run legs, with Pallant, Manners, Lucy Smith, India Lee and Hannah Kitchen all among the leading pack, but Pallant's class over the run was ultimately to prove a significant difference.

The former international runner ran the 10K in 35:23, almost two and a half minutes faster that the next fastest runner, Manners in 37:52.

Pallant said: "I'm really happy with the win. I've got the ETU European Triathlon Championships this weekend so it was good to do Windsor ahead of that and I really enjoyed the race."

The women's British Elite Standard Distance Triathlon Championships finished with Manners first in 2:05:51, Smith second in 2:05:57 and Lee third in 2:06:09, while the result for the Super Series standings saw Pallant first in 2:03:43 with Manners and Smith in second and third.

Speaking about her British Elite Standard Distance Triathlon Championship title Manners added: "It's great. I wasn't expecting it at all but I had my best race to date in the Super Series. The Super Series was a focus going into the season and ideally I would like to finish on the podium again having been third last year. So I am now looking forward to the remaining Super Series races in London and Liverpool."

British Elite Standard Distance Triathlon Championships leading results

Men
Mark Buckingham (25-29) 1:49:15
David Bishop (20-24) 1:49:40
Iestyn Harrett (20-24) 1:50:42

Women
Jenny Manners (20-24) 2:05:51
Lucy Smith (20-24) 2:05:57
India Lee (25-29) 2:06:09

Triathlonguard Windsor Triathlon Super Series leading results

Men
Mark Buckingham (25-29) 1:49:15
David Bishop (20-24) 1:49:40
Iestyn Harrett (20-24) 1:50:42

Women
Emma Pallant (25-29) 2:03:43
Jenny Manners (20-24) 2:05:51
Lucy Smith (20-24) 2:05:57

Full results humanrace.co.uk/results-archive/2014/triathlonguard-windsor-triathlon

Images: Matthew Alexander
Published: 17 June 2014

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