Courtesy: USAT

Elite triathlete Sheila Taormina passed U.S. teammate Barb Lindquist in the final kilometer of the run to win the Madeira ITU World Cup on Sunday in Portugal.

It was the first World Cup victory of the season for Taormina (Livonia, Mich.), who is ranked third in the world. She has finished second at World Cups three times this year. It was also the first time this year that Taormina has beaten Lindquist (Victor, Idaho), who is ranked No. 1 in the world, but hadn't raced since August.

The results could be a predictor of next year's International Triathlon Union (ITU) Triathlon World Championships, which will be held on the same course and will be a qualifier for the 2004 U.S. Olympic triathlon team.

Taormina and Lindquist came out of the water with an eight- second lead on the pack, but extended that lead to more than two- minutes on the hilly and technical eight-lap bike course.

As a steady rain started to fall, Taormina had a slim lead on Lindquist on the first lap of the run. Lindquist took back the lead at the 5k mark and held it until the final kilometer, when Taormina made her move.

"It's so great to have the confidence to know I can run with Barb (Lindquist), then actually out-kick her at the end," Taormina told the ITU. "We were very lucky to build up that lead on the field, because the course was so slippery with all the rain - we were all pretty cautious."

Taormina finished the 1.5k swim, 40k bike and 10k run in 1 hour, 59 minutes, 33 seconds. Lindquist, ranked No. 1 in the world, finished in 1:59:52. Canada's Jill Savege beat out Australia's Michellie Jones in a photo finish to place third in 2:01:19.

Spain's Ivan Rana, the defending world champion, won the Madeira men's race for the second year in a row, finishing in 1:46:22. Germany's Daniel Unger was second in 1:46:29 and Matthew Reed of New Zealand was third in 1:46:37.

The men also raced in a steady rain. None of the three U.S. men entered in the race finished.

More race information and complete results are posted at www.triathlon.org.

Lindquist will get another chance to beat Taormina next Saturday (Oct. 25) at the Athens ITU World Cup, which is the test event for the 2004 Olympic Games. Hunter Kemper (Longwood, Fla.) and Joe Umphenour (Bellevue, Wash.) are also on the start list for the United States.

Joining the athletes will be a U.S. support team consisting of Libby Burrell (team leader and coach), Gale Bernhardt (coach), Dr. Randy Wilber (exercise physiologist) and Jeff Donaldson (bike mechanic). Following the race, Burrell and Bernhardt will stay in Athens for the U.S. Olympic Committee's team leaders meeting.

"Racing on this course one year out from the Olympics is essential for the top athletes," Burrell said. "Athens presents the athletes with one of the most challenging bike courses ever used on the circuit. The information gathered on this trip will play an important part in the design of the training leading up to Athens 2004.

"As Athens also present many other challenges such as heat, humidity and pollution, our exercise physiologist will be conducting several research projects on this trip to further assist the athletes and their coaches."