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Joerie Vansteelant honored his late brothers memory the best way he knew how, by winning todays Richmond ITU Long Distance Duathlon World Championships with a time of 3 hours 6 minutes and 12 seconds, more than a full six minutes ahead of the rest of the field.  Vansteelant kept the coveted world championship in the family with his older brother Benny, last years champion, unable to defend the title after being tragically killed in an accident while training at his home in Belgium.  After the race Joerie admitted thinking about his brother.

In the second half of the race, he was on my mind, said the newly crowned world champion.

The Belgian, who won bronze in 2006, finished the first leg in the lead, just seconds ahead of Sergei Yakolev of Russia.  But with a quick transition, Vansteelant took off on the bike leg and increased his lead.  Through the streets of downtown Richmond, he scorched the bike course and headed off onto the final run leg with a sizeable lead.  Proudly carrying the Belgian flag, Vansteelant crossed the line for the final ITU world title of the 2007 season.

Javier Garcia of Spain took the silver while Koen Maris of Belgium won the bronze medal.  Denmark rounded out the top five with Kenneth Rasmussen and Aksel Nielsen finishing fourth and fifth respectively.

2007 Richmond ITU Long Distance Duathlon World Championships Unofficial Elite Mens Results:
Gold JOERIE VANSTEELANT (BEL) 3:06:42
Silver JAVIER GARCIA (ESP) 3:13:03
Bronze KOEN MARIS (BEL) 3:13:22
4th KENNETH RASMUSSEN (DEN) 3:14:55
5th AKSEL NIELSEN (DEN) 3:15:33
6th ARMAND VAN DER SMISSEN (NED) 3:16:44
7th VINCENT ALDEBERT (FRA) 3:17:20
8th CHRIS FISCHER (DEN) 3:18:19
9th ROB WOESTENBORGHS (BEL) 3:18:38
10th OLIVER MOTT (GBR) 3:19:05

Click here for full field men’s results

This was the first time the Long Distance Duathlon World Championships have ever been staged in the United States and the first world championship of any kind hosted by Richmond. 

Click here for womens race report

Click here for more information on the event

Click here for full results from other 2007 ITU Duathlon events

In the womens field, European Duathlon champion Catriona Morrison led a British gold-silver sweep at the Richmond ITU Long Distance Duathlon World Championships.  The Scot hit the line with a time of 3 hours, 34 minutes and 56 seconds, a comfortable five minutes ahead of teammate Michelle Lee who took the silver.  Defending champion Yvonne Van Vlerken of the Netherlands came across for the bronze. 

Pre-race favourite Morrison did not disappoint and led from virtually start to finish.  She held a 20-second lead after the first run leg but during the bike she laid down a punishing pace and built a lead of almost four minutes.  With such a big lead in hand, Morrison could have let up and coasted to the finish line but instead she hammered out the fastest final run leg of the day amongst the elite women.

“I knew I had a large gap in the last lap of the bike and so I was able to relax,” said Morrison.  “I was pleasantly surprised that the course was so technical. I really enjoyed it. And Richmond is very, very pretty, especially this time of year.

Morrison adds the Long Distance Duathlon world title to a stellar career that already includes the 2006 short course Duathlon world championship, this years European Duathlon title and a bronze at this years Long Distance Triathlon world championships in Lorient, France. 

2007 Richmond ITU Long Distance Duathlon World Championships Unofficial Elite Womens Results:
Gold CATRIONA MORRISON (GBR) 3:34:56
Silver MICHELLE LEE (GBR) 3:40:05
Bronze YVONNE VAN VLERKEN (NED) 3:43:43
4th LUCY SMITH (CAN) 3:45:11
5th ULRIKE SCHWALBE (GER) 3:45:25
6th JOAN BLAAFOSS (DEN) 3:47:36
7th ISABELLE FERRER (FRA) 3:47:42
8th KATHRYN KASISCHKE (USA) 3:50:19
9th GABRIEL HNILKOVA-JENKS (USA)  3:50:23
10th MICHELLE PARSONS (GBR) 3:51:13

Click here for full field women’s results

This was the first time the Long Distance Duathlon World Championships have ever been staged in the United States and the first world championship of any kind hosted by Richmond. 

Click here for the mens race report

Click here for more information on the event

Click here for full results from other 2007 ITU Duathlon events