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Julien Loy of France and Leanda Cave of Great Britain were crowned the new ITU Long Distance World Champions today in Lorient, France. 

After finishing in fourth and fifth place at the last two world championships, Loy not only made the podium this year, he stood atop it this time around, winning gold in a French sweep that thrilled the home crowds.  In a course that was roughly double the Olympic distance, Loy dominated the field crossing the line with a time of 3:30:11.  He was more than a full six minutes ahead of French teammate Xavier Le Floch who took the silver.  Sebastien Berlier won bronze ahead of defending world champion Torbjorn Sindballe of Denmark, who finished off the podium in fourth place.

Loy was just seven seconds off the lead after the swim and was just one of four men to break 37 minutes.  But it was Sindballe who pushed the pace on the bike and took the lead.  But he faded in the final leg, losing more and more time to the French team.  Loy scorched the run course and posted the fastest time of the day by more than 90 seconds.

Fifty-six elite men from 23 countries lined up at the Lake Ter start line.  Other notables include Swiss Olivier Marceau who finished in sixth place while Brazilian Reinaldo Colucci, who won the Lorient event last year, crossed the line in ninth place.

Unlike the men’s event, the home country didn’t fare as well in the women’s field.  France finished one woman in the top ten, a fourth place finish by Delphine Pelletier.  But she was two and a half minutes behind Cave who broke the tape to win the long distance world championship, adding to her short course world title from 2002. 

Cave was more than a minute faster than Hungarian Erika Csomor who won the silver and Brit Catriona Morrison took the bronze.  It was a strong performance for Great Britain on the women’s side as Chrissie Wellington made it three Brits in the top five.  Long Distance triathlon world champion from 2004 Tamara Kozulina of the Ukraine finished in 11th position.

The next ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships will be in Almere, Netherlands on August 30, 2008.  The LOC of Almere sent a small delegation to observe the organization of Lorient.

Men’s results – 2007 Lorient ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships:
1 – Julien Loy (FRA) 03:30:11
2 – Xavier Le Floch (FRA) 03:36:19
3 – Sebastien Berlier (FRA) 03:36:41
4 – Torbjorn Sindballe (DEN) 03:37:09
5 – Hervé Faure (FRA) 03:37:28
6 – Olivier Marceau (SUI) 03:38:31
7 – Jimmy Johnsen (DEN) 03:38:36
8 – Gabriele Pertusati (ITA) 03:39:01
9 – Reinaldo Colucci (BRA) 03:39:16
10 – Patrick Vernay (FRA) 03:39:21

Final Women’s results – 2007 Lorient ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships:
1 – Leanda Cave (GBR) 04:04:03
2 – Erika Csomor (HUN 04):05:20
3 – Catriona Morrison (GBR) 04:05:57
4 – Delphine Pelletier (FRA) 04:06:42
5 – Chrissie Wellington (GBR) 04:07:07
6 – Gina Ferguson (NZL) 04:09:29
7 – Amy Marsh (USA) 04:10:38
8 – Erin Ford (USA) 04:12:07
9 – Eva Novakova (CZE) 04:12:32
10 – Charlotte Kolters (DEN) 04:12:50

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