Athletics: Brown's chance to test bike skill

Triathlete Cameron Brown takes on world champion Normann Stadler and two-time winner Stefan Holzner on their home turf in the prestigious Ironman Germany tomorrow.

The 33-year-old Brown is hoping to go one better than his two runner-up efforts behind a resurgent Holzner in the ironman rated second in prestige and quality to the world championships in Hawaii.

It will be a key test for Brown, who has a new coach, Brendan Cameron, a former Olympic cyclist and coach of world champion Sarah Ulmer.

Brown also has a new desire to succeed following some indifferent performances last year, including his disappointing 26th placing at Hawaii.

He broke the course record in his fifth straight win at the Bonita Ironman New Zealand in March. Cameron predicts the benefits of his new association with Brown will be better measured later in the year.

Both will be looking for that improvement tomorrow, especially on the bike, where Brown has often given ground to the strong Europeans and been forced to run down sizeable margins in the 42km marathon.

"I'm really happy with my buildup in Switzerland," Brown said. "I've put in some big, big weeks of training on the bike and running.

"Apart from an ear infection this week, which I hope won't affect things, I've felt really good and I've been pleased with the workload and the quality of my training. Now it comes down to race day and putting it all together.

"The Germans are the strongest cyclists in ironman anywhere in the world. I can't afford to be giving them such big margins off the bike.

"I want to be much closer and still have the ability to run well off the bike. That's the key. There's no use putting everything into the bike and then blowing on the run. It's a balancing act."

Holzner, the 1995 and 1996 winner of Ironman New Zealand, had virtually retired in 2002 before being lured back to this race, which he won in 2003 and last year.

- NZPA