KEY POINTS:
Bevan Docherty's blistering form carried him to victory in the International Triathlon Union race at Edmonton, Canada, yesterday.
Docherty climbs to second on the World Cup rankings at the halfway stage of the ITU series while three of his compatriots filled places in the top 10 in a superb return for New Zealand.
Kris Gemmel, who opened up a 20-second break on the field on the cycling leg, finished fourth while Terrenzo Bozzone was sixth and Shane Reed ninth.
Docherty, who was second in the seventh-round race at Des Moines in Iowa last weekend, again used his running speed to best effect to claim the fourth World Cup title of his career. The last was at Mooloolaba 15 months ago.
His success ended a run of seven straight top-eight finishes, including runner-ups in his last two races at Des Moines and Ishigaki, Japan, in April.
"It's really hard to win a World Cup and, you know, silver seems to be haunting me," he said.
"Now I sort of race with the brain a bit more and I think I race a lot smarter. And on a day like this, it certainly paid off."
His time of 31m 38s for the 10km run was the best in the field as he stormed past young Russian Alexander Brukhanov and then Gemmell to clock a winning time of 1hr 45m 53s.
Brukhanov was next, 20s back, with Switzerland's Sven Riederer third.
Olympic silver medallist Docherty was 14th after the 1500m swim in a field of 51 and had a relatively comfortable 40km cycle leg in the leading group of 18.
Docherty is just four points behind series leader Javier Gomez, of Spain, while Gemmell climbs to third on the rankings 41 points further back.
It was an excellent result for Bozzone, who is coming off a long lay-off due to injury and knee surgery. It was his second best World Cup finish after a fourth in Honolulu two years ago.
"The last few weeks have been tough for various reasons so I was more determined than ever to nail a good race," Bozzone said.
"I was aggressive on the swim, made sure I was in the lead bunch on the bike and then enjoyed a strong run.
"I did suffer a little on the second lap of the run with stomach cramps, losing a few places but came back strong on the last lap to overtake a few guys."
The result will almost certainly lift Bozzone to fourth of the New Zealanders on ITU ranking points.
Bozzone's goal will be to stay there and earn a start at the Beijing World Cup race in September, an event that doubles as New Zealand's first Olympic trial race for 2008.
Meanwhile, New Zealand's Debbie Tanner was a disappointing 11th in the women's race, paying the price for failing to be part of a lead group early in the cycle leg. Tanner, who remains the world No 6 on rankings, found herself 2 1/2 minutes down on the leaders at the end of the cycling leg.
Australian age group star Emma Moffatt went on to win in 1h 57m 52s, pipping Canadian teenager Kirsten Sweetland by 2s in a sprint finish. Australian Anabell Luxford was third.
The World Cup moves next to Kitzbuhel, Austria, on July 22.
- NZPA
