AHURIRI, Nzl—Canada’s Desirae Ridenour shocked the triathlon world on Sunday by winning her first World Cup race at the season-opener in Ahuriri, New Zealand.
“This feels amazing. I have come so far in the last year and a half, and I’m just so happy to be here and competing at the pointy end of the race this time,” said Ridenour, who was a member of Canada’s 2023 Pan American Games Team. “I am very happy.”
The 25-year-old becomes the first Canadian in more than 10 years to win a World Cup triathlon. Amelie Kretz led a Canadian sweep of the World Cup podium on home turf in Edmonton in 2013.
Ridenour broke the finishing tape on Sunday for the first time of her career in a winning time of 56:24.
Ridenour (Cowichan Bay, B.C.) was rock solid throughout the three-sport discipline sprint race. She led the 27-woman field with Australia’s Zoe Clarke and Emma Jeffcoat, along with New Zealand’s Ainsley Thorpe in the 750-metre swim off Ahuriri Beach before transitioning onto the bike.
The medallists came out of an early breakaway group on the 20-kilometre bike. The group quickly organized themselves out of the water and onto the four-lap course. A group of talented cyclists in the chase group powered their way on the bell lap, focused on closing in on the leaders, but it was evident the medals would be determined by a five-kilometre foot race.
“I am really happy with my swim. I think I have been a little inconsistent over the last couple of years, so I was happy to make the front pack. We had a solid group of girls working together, and I honestly don’t think I would have won if it wasn’t for them because we worked so hard and got a massive gap,” added Ridenour.
Ridenour charged into second transition with Jeffcoat and Thorpe. The trio of elite athletes raced shoulder-to-shoulder, but it was Ridenour’s sprint down the blue carpet that solidified the victory.
“I really just tried to conserve my energy on the run, and I knew I had a sprint in me at the end. I’ve left a lot of races to a sprint, so I kind of knew I potentially had it in the back end,” she said. “Going into the second lap, it was hard to tell what everyone else was doing so I focused on myself. I had some extra energy. I usually negative split the backend so I potentially knew I had it, but you never know how others are feeling.”
Emy Legault was the last Canadian woman to charge onto the World Cup podium when she won the silver at a 2022 World Cup in Huatulco. Joanna Brown had three World Cup podium finishes in the 2017 season to go along with her bronze-medal triumph at the 2019 World Triathlon Championship Series race in Bermuda.
Three-time Olympian, Tyler Mislawchuk, has six World Cup podiums including three victories in men’s racing. Charles Paquet also claimed a World Cup podium in 2023, finishing third.
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Chris Dornan
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