Triathlon: Top 10 finish for Hewitt in Washington

Christchurch triathlete Andrea Hewitt was the best of the Kiwis, finishing sixth at the latest round of the world championship triathlon series in Washington this morning (NZT).

Hewitt could do nothing to stop an Australian one-two while Debbie Tanner finished 11th and Rebecca Spence failed to finish on debut.

The race was won by Emma Moffatt who outgunned fellow-Australian Emma Snowsill.

Neither Bevan Docherty nor Clark Ellice featured for New Zealand in the men's race, with both failing to finish the event raced in the shadow of the White House.

Alistair Brownlee of Britain made it two from two as he won from Spaniard Javier Gomez and German Michael Petzold.

New Plymouth's Ellice was sick during the bike leg before pulling out of the race in the hot and humid conditions while Docherty decided to save himself for the round in Des Moines, Iowa, next weekend.

Docherty was comfortably in the main chase group on the bike but found himself the lone ranger unable to combat the American team tactics to slow the pack.

Rather than risk emptying the tank at this early stage of the season and hammer his way to a possible top ten, he pulled the pin on the day, knowing that the rich Des Moines World Cup and the world team championships are just a week away.

- NZPA