TRIATHLON - Simone targets cycle leg in tilt at world champs

A good bike leg is essential for Whangarei triathlete Simone Ackermann's chances of selection into the New Zealand junior elite team this weekend.
Ackermann will line up tomorrow as one of a large contingent of New Zealand triathletes taking on the best in the region at the Oceania Championships on the Gold Coast.
With selection for the world championships - held on the same course in September - on the line, the pace is sure to be fast as the Australians and Kiwis try to earn spots in their respective national teams.
Coach Ian Babe said Ackermann was about fifth or sixth in the national pecking order but, due to the importance placed on the race, a good finish might force Triathlon New Zealand high performance manager Stephen Sheldrake to include her in the team.
Babe said his charge was improving steadily as her race results had shown this year.
"She's starting to believe she can mix it with the best in her age group and that's the whole thing, being able to have that confidence can make the difference in a race," he said.
Ackermann has had it all her own way in this year's Stroke and Stride biathlon (swim and run) series in Auckland. The 19-year-old won her sixth event in the eight-race series on Tuesday and is virtually assured of this year's title in the series held along Mission Bay.
She has won five of the six races and has taken some big scalps on the way.
On Tuesday, she beat German Lena Brunkhorst, as well as the experienced Joanna Lawn, Kimberley Burke and Fiona Eagles, who were third, fourth and fifth respectively.
"She knows she's strong in the swim and the run, she's just got to have a good confident bike leg and she'll be right up there," Babe said.
Her weakest leg of the triathlon has the coach setting Ackermann plenty of work on the bike, including putting the spotlight on the bike-run transition.
"Riding really close on the wheel of the rider in front of you is vital ... she's improving on that sort of thing but it's a matter of doing it in every race," he said.
"We're also trying to develop her ability to run off the bike leg and that's another key factor for her to improve," he said.
Ackermann got it right last Saturday in the Takapuna leg of the national series.
She had a fast bike leg and managed to lead the age-group field home, beating all of the non-elite athletes in the field.
The extremely promising Whangarei triathlete, Lee Greer, will compete in the under-23 section of the race while Kelly Bruce will contest the elite section of tomorrow's event.