Courtesy: USAT

U.S. elite Hunter Kemper just missed standing on his fourth 2005 World Cup podium on Sunday, but fourth place at the International Triathlon Union (ITU) World Cup race in Madrid, Spain was good enough for him to hold on to his No. 1 World Cup ranking.

Kemper (Longwood, Fla.) finished just two seconds behind third- place Reto Hug of Switzerland and six seconds behind winner Tim Don of Great Britain, who finished in 1 hour, 55 minutes, 27 seconds. Volodymyr Polikarpenko of Ukraine was second in 1:55:29.

Kemper was with the leaders -- Don, Polikarpenko, Ivan Rana of Spain and Cedric Fleureton of France -- in the second transition and on the run, but did not have an answer when Don and Polikarpenko made their moves. Hug moved up throughout the run for his third-place finish.

U.S. elite Mark Fretta (Portland, Ore.) continued to race well, finishing 10th after losing a sprint finish to Germany's Andreas Raelert by .6 of a second. U.S. elite Andy Potts (Princeton, N.J.) was just a second behind Fretta in 11th and Joe Umphenour (Bellevue, Wash.) was 18th.

On a side note, there is a story about Kemper in the extended Scorecard section of the June 6 issue of Sports Illustrated. It is the first time he has been in the magazine since he appeared in Faces in the Crowd at age 13 for being a junior triathlon champion.

In the women's elite race, U.S. rookie Sarah Groff (Cooperstown, N.Y.), racing in her first ITU World Cup, finished 18th. Vanessa Fernandes of Portugal won the race in 2:06:18. Annabel Luxford of Australia was second and Spain's Ana Burgos was third.

ITU World Cup
June 5, 2005; Madrid, Spain
1.5k swim; 40k bike; 10k run

Men
1. Tim Don (Great Britain) 1:55:27; 2. Volodymyr Polikarpenko (Ukraine) 1:55:29; 3. Reto Hug (Switzerland) 1:55:31; 4. Hunter Kemper (Longwood, Fla.) 1:55:33; 5. Hendrik De Villiers (Russia) 1:55:36; 6. Sven Riederer (Switzerland) 1:55:44; 7. Marek Jaskolka (Poland) 1:55:53; 8. Cedric Fleureton (France) 1:56:00; 9. Andreas Raelert (Germany) 1:56:05.0; 10. Mark Fretta (Portland, Ore.) 1:56:05.6; 11. Andy Potts (Princeton, N.J.) 1:56:07.

Other U.S. Finisher
18. Joe Umphenour (Bellevue, Wash.)

Women
1. Vanessa Fernandes (Portugal) 2:06:18; 2. Annabel Luxford (Australia) 2:07:55; 3. Ana Burgos (Spain) 2:09:01; 4. Virginie Jouve (France) 2:09:44; 5. Liz Blatchford (Great Britain) 2:10:03; 6. Magali Di Marco-Messmer (Switzerland) 2:10:10; 7. Carole Peon (France) 2:10:14; 8. Tania Haibock (Austria) 2:10:28; 9. Joelle Franzmann (Germany) 2:10:48; 10. Ainhoa Murua (Spain) 2:11:05

U.S. Finisher
18. Sarah Groff (Cooperstown, N.Y.)