Second last year in a sprint finish with Vicky Holland, Emma Pallant left nothing to chance at the 2014 Leukaemia & Lymphoma Blenheim Palace Triathlon yesterday, quickly making up for a slow second transition and running away to a clear victory over two-time Olympian Kate Roberts.

Third place went to the still Junior Sophie Coldwell, who achieved her second Blenheim 'Senior' podium, while a close fourth behind was a familiar face who probably surprised a few people, multiple Ironman winner Lucy Gossage. The 'Duracell Bunny' had no thoughts or intention of racing at Blenheim at all until three days before the race, when after looking at the start list your Editor emailed her saying "how about racing Blenheim, I think you could do really well..!".

Check of the finish line video from the race below, along with post-race comments from Emma Pallant and second placed Kate Roberts.

Elite Women - Blenheim Palace Triathlon 2014

Pallant said: “I was so chuffed with today, mainly because the swim was good. I think the venue here, and especially the crowds, are fantastic and definitely help towards getting good times. It's also nice to have the scenery, it really feels like you're out and about in a park- I even love the uphill run out of swim. The win here will definitely give me a boost for the rest of the season, you can't beat a race like this for getting a great experience.”

Kate Roberts crossed the line in second place with a 1hr 7mins 33secs finish time and said: “It's been a really lovely day out. The swim was really rough and so I just tried to keep my head above water. It was also a challenging bike leg, making sure I was staying in the front pack and focusing on the race and trying to hold my own pace, but I'm really happy with my result.”

Roberts said “It's been a really lovely day out. The swim was really rough and so I just tried to keep my head above water. It was also a challenging bike leg, making sure I was staying in the front pack and focusing on the race and trying to hold my own pace, but I'm really happy with my result.”

Following shortly behind Kate Roberts was Sophie Coldwell, who won in the Junior Elite wave but performed so well that her time qualified her as top three for the senior elites also.  Coldwell completed the swim, bike, run in 1:07:44.