Steiner’s New Biathlon Strategy Has Same Result--Souza Wins

Brent Steiner has this uncanny ability to close gaps by as much as 50 seconds in the final five-kilometer run of a biathlon.

The trouble is that he is so new to cycling, and therefore so slow during that middle leg (the event starts with another five-kilometer run), that he is always forced to make up time at the end.

So Steiner had this idea coming into Sunday’s Coors Light Biathlon in Mission Valley. Why not go out hard on the bike and claim the early lead?

So Steiner did just that--only to find it left him without his patented kick at the end.

Although Steiner, 26, pulled out to a 400-yard lead over second-place Kenny Souza at the beginning of the bike leg, he could not maintain the pace and was more than a minute behind at the start of the last run.

Souza, 24, easily won in 1 hour 19 minutes 59 seconds. Steiner, as he has in 10 of 12 biathlons this year, placed second in 1:20:49.

Carol Montgomery of Vancouver won the women’s race in 1:31:43. Colleen Gallagher of Leucadia was second at 1:34:36.

But the men’s race drew most of the attention. Not only did Steiner stir things up by taking such a large lead early in the bike leg, he also created a stir by saying close to the pace truck, leading to allegations of drafting.

Steiner denied that he attempted to draft. But the course was narrow and the driver of the truck hung back close, making it nearly impossible to stay out of its trail all the time.

“I really wasn’t making a conscious effort to stay behind the truck,” Steiner said. “If the truck wasn’t there, I would have taken the same line. I try to be as fair as I can, but I’ve never really led a race like that before, I didn’t know what it was like. It’s not like I was right right on the truck, but the truck does break the air a little bit.”

The truck led Steiner almost all the way through the first of three loops of approximately seven miles each. It wasn’t until after the truck let Steiner go by that Souza was able to make up ground and eventually catch him.

“As soon as the press truck pulled off, I caught him,” Souza said. “So I thought there might have been a little drafting.”

A public relations representative from the race sponsor approached reporters afterward and tried to downplay the talk of drafting, saying that Souza could only gain a minute advantage over the final two loops.

But Souza said he had difficulty stretching the lead because he had to maneuver as he lapped slower competitors.

“It (the three-loop course) is nice for spectators, but it gets a bit congested,” Souza said.

A triathlete who was in the pace truck pointed out that there was probably a small advantage for Steiner but that the problem was remedied quickly.

Souza agreed.

“It was solved right away,” he said. “It’s all in the growth of a sport.”

Souza, who lives in Encinitas, has now won all nine Coors Light Biathlons he has entered this year. With the 35 points awarded to the winner, he also overtook fellow Encinitas resident Joel Thompson (who finished seventh in 1:22:19) for the series points lead. With one biathlon remaining, Souza now has 315 points to Thompson’s 295. The points leader will receive $8,000 after the last race in Phoenix.

Steiner has 288 points.