Richard Murray wins the 2018 Triathlon World Cup

Richard Murray chased down the leaders to win his second straight Discovery World Cup event in Cape Town on Sunday afternoon. 

Olympic bronze medallist Henri Schoeman was second for the second year in a row, but he had been first out the water after the 750-metre swim leg of this sprint triathlon, 17 seconds ahead of 11th-placed Murray.

And that’s where Murray is always dangerous, attacking the field with a relentless push that normally doesn’t end until the finish line. 

Just 4.5 km into the cycle Murray was in the lead group of 11 including Schoeman. That’s how they finished after the 20km ride, and Murray and Schoeman quickly lost the group in the 5 km run. 

Murray was in his element and he was too strong, even for Schoeman, pushing away to finish with a cushion of 24 seconds. 

Lukas Pertl of Austria was third 10 seconds behind Schoeman. 

In the women’s race, Simone Ackermann — the former East London kid who emigrated with her parents and sister to New Zealand 15 years ago before switching her allegiance back to South Africa — achieved her best World Cup finish to date as she finished fourth behind a powerful trio. 

Britons Vicky Holland, the 2016 Olympic bronze medallist, won in 58min 18sec ahead of her compatriot Non Standford, the 2013 world champion, 34 seconds behind. 

Zsanett Bragmayer of Hungry, with 11 podium finishes in 69 career starts, was third in 59:07 and the South African with a Kiwi accent a further 21 seconds behind. 

“On the bike, three girls in the front were really aggressive and I think that’s what really got us away, so I just tried to hang on and the second half of the ride we started to work well together and [consolidate] our lead. 

“On the run, my goal was sort of to have a good swim and bike for this race, so I wasn’t too worried about the run. Luckily we had a good gap.

“A podium would have been nice, but this early on in the season I’ll take a fourth.”

Ackermann, seventh out of the swim and credited with the second-fastest cycling time, was 10 seconds ahead of fifth-placed Juri Ide of Japan. 

Anel Radford was the second South African home in 14th position and Ackermann’s Commonwealth Games teammate, Gillian Sanders, ended a tame 18th after a swim she’d rather forget after struggling with a technical issue. 

Ackermann says her focus at the Games in Australia in April will be the team relay event, where she and Sanders will team up with Murray and Schoeman. 

“We have such a strong team I think we’d be silly not to aim for a medal there, even a gold … I think we can do something quite special there.”

Ackermann investigated switching back to South Africa some two years ago and impressed with the national federation. 

“I think this is where my allegiances lie, and the South African triathlon federation has got a nice atmosphere and they’re really supportive.”

Asked if the body was more supportive than New Zealand’s, she replied: “I think so. For a lot of people it’s about the funding and stuff, and that’s not as good here, but I feel that they back you here, they want you to do well here. I think that’s important.”​