Triathlon: Docherty is back on track

Bevan Docherty's solid training has given him plenty of confidence ahead of today's opening world championship series race, to be held in Sydney. Photo / Kenny Rodger

After a decade as a triathlete and two Olympic medals, there's not a lot Bevan Docherty does wrong.

He admits, though, he made mistakes last year. The 33-year-old put an accent on running last year in an effort to find more speed on the final leg, the 10km run.

Docherty is determined to add gold to complete his set of Olympic medals (he won silver in 2004 and bronze in 2008). The course in London in 2012 is expected to be flat and fast, prompting Docherty to work on his run.

But he found it improved to the detriment of his other disciplines, especially his cycling. He slipped from second to 13th in the world rankings and in the final race of the season finished a disappointing 29th.

"It didn't work," Docherty says. "But I guess last year being a non-Olympic year gave me an opportunity to try a few things. It was the perfect time to do that.

"A lot of people think triathlon is a running sport and that it all comes down to the run. Some of these World Cup races are but a lot of damage can be done on the swim and bike legs.

"I was in some of my best running form ever last year but my bike fitness suffered and I found I couldn't run to my full potential. What I'm doing this year is back to hard training and a good, solid base."

It means he's in great shape ahead of today's first race in the world championship series in Sydney. It's the first of eight races to decide the world champion, with the final race of the year, in Budapest, counting double points.

It means a quality field in each race, rather than an athlete pulling it out on the day, and Docherty plans to race in seven of the eight events.

Today's race will be missing world champion Alistair Brownlee, who is out with a femoral stress fracture, and last year's runner-up Javier Gomez, who has a hip injury. Brownlee is the dominant force in triathlon, with the Englishman winning all five world series races he entered in 2009.

It gives Docherty and fellow Kiwi Kris Gemmell, who finished eighth last year, the chance to get a jump on their rivals.

"My form is really good at the moment," Docherty says.

"I'm expecting quite a good race because training has been going really well. "I'm giving it 100 per cent this year as opposed to 2009, which was a non-Olympic year. I held back a bit because I had smashed myself going into the Beijing Olympics and had to back off a bit.

"It's frustrating that Brownlee and Gomez won't be racing because I would have liked to have seen how my form is. The fact they are both missing due to injury shows just how hard they are training. This sport is about pushing the limit and it's a fine line between being in the best shape of your life and being injured."

Docherty has made another change in 2010, moving from his altitude base at Bolder, Colorado, to sea level at Santa Cruz on the West Coast. There were two reasons for that.

Firstly, he was sick of living at altitude and the new world championship series and the constant programme of racing and travelling meant the benefits from being in the mountains are minimised. Secondly, it was a compromise with his wife, who is American, and means he is close to San Francisco airport.

New Zealanders are expected to feature highly in the women's race, with Andrea Hewitt, Debbie Tanner, Kate McIlroy and Nicky Samuels all starting.

Both the men's (9am) and women's (11.45am) races will be screened live on Sky TV. TVNZ are also covering the event.