Aileen Reid, competing in the first European Games finished in 6th place in Azerbaijan on Saturday morning last.
Sea conditions were tougher than expected with a stiff wind creating some chop for the 1500m swim leg, however Reid dealt with it well emerging from the water in 20:46 and posting the fastest first transition to remain within reach of the leaders.
Onto the bike and Olympic Silver medallist, Lisa Norden and Rachel Kalmer of the Netherlands made an early breakaway pulling out a gap of some 30 seconds. Olympic Champion, Nicola Spirig recognised the danger and managed to bridge over to the two early leaders. Reid was unable to match her strength and was receiving little help from the chasing pack she was a part of meaning the gap grew out to over two minutes by the time they hit the second transition.
“Ah dear. Not strong enough on the bike.” Reid tweeted after the race.
“The three girls showed where it’s at.”
With a sizable gap there would be no catching the leaders over the final 10 kilometre run. With the temperature beginning to sore Reid kept up a strong pace clocking 35:37 for the distance to come home in 6th place in a time of 2:03:58.
The race was won by Switzerland’s Nicola Spirig (2:00:28) with Rachel Kalmer second (2:01:44) and Lisa Norden third (2:01:46).
While an automatic Rio Olympic Qualification slot slipped away, Reid remains comfortably within the qualification zone, ranked 6th in the world.
Next up for Reid is a return to the World Triathlon Series in Hamburg on July 18th where she will look to continue her rise up the World Triathlon Series leader board.