Story by Les Tan. Pictures by Lai Jun Wei.
Mandai Road, Sunday, May 4, 2008 – Sebastien Calle came home first to win the sprint duathlon ahead of Clement Chow in a time of 48 minutes 56 seconds. Calle’s win puts him in second place overall in the series, only one point behind Clement Chow in first place. Just over 400 duathletes started the race at the weekend which featured a new scenic route in the endurance sports scene.
With Daniel Plews, the winner of the biathlon absent from the second race of the Singapore Sprint Series, the stage was set for Clement Chow to take the series lead. He did not disappoint, finishing the duathlon in second place in a time of 50min 38sec.
“It was a short, fast, undulating route,” said Clement after the race, his first duathlon. “On the second run, the lactic acid built up and it started to hurt.” Clement, 20, just graduated from Ngee Ann Polytechnic and is headed for National Service. He heads for the A’Formosa Triathlon this weekend in Melacca, Malaysia.
The duathlon, a 3km-run, 15km-bike, 3km-run race, was a first for Singapore. The run route was undulating, alternating between cool shady stretches and a baking hot 1km final stretch at Upper Seletar Reservoir Park overlooking the reservoir.
The bike route saw Mandai Road completely closed to traffic, and given the canopy provided by the magnificent mature trees along the road, it was pure riding pleasure. That pleasure didn’t extend throughout the bike course however as riders had to contend with narrower stretches part way.
It became a tactical race for both the experienced and beginner riders, as everyone had to watch their backs while overtaking along stretches where there was space only for two bikes abreast at a time. Shouts from riders could be heard throughout the course, with the more polite ones yelling “On your right!” while the ruder ones, perhaps unaware of the race etiquette, unhelpfully yelled “Left!”.
“The cyling route was narrow and so I couldn’t really push,” said Ng Zhaomu, 18, president of the Ngee Ann Tri Elite club. “I like the running route because running is my strong point.” Zhaomu recently finished sixth in the tertiary division at the recent Inter-School Aquathlon. “I’m not a good swimmer and that was a tough race for me.”
Lawrence Ng finished third in the sprint duathlon in a time of 50min 39sec but he did not start the biathlon two weeks ago. Andrew Ward Curran, who competed in both, now stands third overall in the series, after finishing ninth in the duathlon in 52min 22sec.
Sebastien Calle indicated that he will compete in the third race, a sprint triathlon, setting up a showdown with Clement Chow. Said Calle: “I really enjoyed Sunday’s race, especially this new course is very nice and is a very welcome addition to Singapore’s growing multisport scene.”
The third race in the Singapore Sprint Series is scheduled for June 15 at Changi Beach Park.
To read about the first race in the series, go to the following story: Daniel Plews pips Clement Chow to win inaugural Singapore Sprint Series biathlon
For more information on the sprint triathlon, go to www.singaporesprintseries.com.
For more pictures, go to the gallery.
[…] stories: Sebastien Calle pips Clement Chow to win Singapore Sprint Series Sebastien Calle wins sprint duathlon but Clement Chow maintains overall series lead Daniel Plews pips Clement Chow to win inaugural Singapore Sprint Series […]
[…] was the night before the Singapore Sprint Series duathlon at Mandai Road and I couldn’t sleep. It was one of those nights where you toss and turn, […]
“with the more polite ones yelling “On your right!" while the ruder ones, perhaps unaware of the race etiquette, unhelpfully yelled “Left!".
Yelling “left” is the ONLY safe, fast, clear and effective way to remind those who have “forgotten” to keep left as the rules state and commonsense suggests. Everyone I saw hearing a “left” call from behind moved… left! Its those well intentioned folk riding in the center or on the right of a tight course who are the ones in breach of race “ettiquette” (well, “rules” to be more pricise). I’ve heard much worse (and much ruder) things said to riders ignoring the race rules on a bike course – putting others in danger. I think newbies are cool and we all were at some point – they just need to spend a bit more time reading up the rules and concentrating hard on race day to make sure everyone has a safe ride.
A cool wee event on a tight but fun course. Nice one Tribob. On time and cracker atmosphere. Looking forward to the tri (though my rubbish swim has me finishing well back)
PS Brainie above is trying to steal my only ever top 10 result (6th). What’s up with that?
Inaccessible? Hmm…computers should be able to open pdfs, regardless of whether they are macs or windows pcs.
Have you downloaded the form and can’t open it? Is that the problem you are having? You may need to download the adobe pdf reader.
Haha… they are…but in an inaccessible Adobe format. 😛 Never mind, thank you, Leslie!
Hi Scott, are the results missing from the singaporesprintseries.com website? I believe they posted the results as well.
Let me know cos I don’t want to spend time typing it out if you can get a hold of it through their website.
There are so many categories!
Can we have the list of results for top ten of each category? Thank you!
but i think 3yr from now because im steel 16yr old i shall return dont forget my name Brainie Celdran the 6th finisher in duathlon hehehehe
Sebastien Calle is a good player yeah also Clement hehehe keep it up boy i will be the next ^_^
Thanks for the correction, Seb.
Clement turns 20 in June.
If clement is 20, why is he registered as racing under the 16 to 19 age category?
Minor amendments suggested 😉
Sebastien Calle came home first to win the sprint duathlon ahead of Clement Chow in a time of 48 minutes 55 seconds. Calle’s win puts him in second place overall in the series, only one point behind Clement Chow in first place.
Cheers,
Seb
[…] To read about the second race in the series, go to: Sebastien Calle wins sprint duathlon but Clement Chow maintains overall series lead […]