Diemunsch makes it a French double in triathlon world cup

Frances Etienne Diemunsch claimed his first triathlon world cup victory in Guatape, Colombia on Monday (November 7).The win was a second triumph for France following the win by Carole Peon in the womens event on Sunday. Mexicos Crisanto Grajales pulled ahead of Frances Tony Moulai for the silver after Moulai was forced to serve a 15-second penalty on the last lap of run when it looked like he had the win wrapped up.After the women battled cold conditions and a downpour of rain, almost 60 other men lined the pontoon just as the rain finally began to let up.. Heavy overnight rains caused a landslide, rendering half the bike course inaccessible. That forced race officials to reduce the race to a sprint distance - 750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run.Even with the shorter distance, the day did not start well for the eventual champion. Cubas Michel Gonzalez and Richard Varga of Slovakia led the men out of the water and into the cycle stage with Canadas Brent McMahon close behind. The trio was first onto the testing 20km bike course but they were not alone as there was a long line of approximately 35 men behind them.Doing the bulk of the work up front were notably strong bikers such as Moulai, Matt Chrabot and Andy Potts of the USA), Leonardo Chacon of Costa Rica and Spains Ivan Rana. Absent among them was McMahon who suffered a flat tyre and was forced to withdraw from the race.That lead pack -which contained many of the pre-race favourites-rode together, perhaps playing it safe on the slick course. Rana was the first into the second transition stage, followed closely by Chrabot, Kris Gemmell, Diemunsch and Moulai as it was evident this was going to come down to a fast and furious battle on the five kilometre run .Diemunsch quickly surged to the lead but his French teammate Moulai kept within striking distance with Grajales close behind. In the late stages of the final lap, it appeared that Moulai had broken clear of his teammate but his road to victory snarled to a halt as he was forced to serve a 15-second penalty for dismounting his bike past the dismount line.Moulais penalty opened the door for Diemunsch, who seized the opportunity and sprinted home in 57 minutes and 15 seconds. Impressively for Diemunsch, the win came in just his second World Cup start though he has enjoyed success on the European Triathlon Union tour.Grajales came across the line seven seconds later to claim silver, the second World Cup podium of his career. Despite the penalty, Moulai was able to hang on for the bronze.