Olympic silver medalist and home-country favorite Bevan Docherty of New Zealand won the overall men’s race title in 1 hour, 54 minutes, 29 seconds. Docherty’s Kiwi teammate Kris Gemmell was second in 1:54:32 and Denmark’s Rasmus Henning was third in 1:54:34. Kemper finished just 5 seconds behind Henning in 1:54:39.

The race came down to a fierce battle on the run and although Kemper (Longwood, Fla.) won one of the run primes, he could not hold off the surging pack. The top four finishers all ran the final 10k in less than 31 minutes.

However, most important for Kemper was holding off Australia’s Brad Kahlefeldt – who finished fifth – and Great Britain’s Tim Don – who was seventh – both of whom had a shot at taking Kemper’s No. 1 ranking.

Kemper’s U.S. teammate Andy Potts (Princeton, N.J.), who finished the swim in second place, placed eighth. Matt Reed (Boulder, Colo.), a former resident of New Zealand who now races for the United States, was 12th and Mark Fretta (Portland, Ore.) placed 16th.

The U.S. women also had a strong day with five out of six team members finishing in the top 20, led by Laura Bennett (North Palm Beach, Fla.) in fifth and Becky Lavelle (Cupertino, Calif.) in sixth. Sarah Haskins (St. Louis, Mo.) placed 10th, Barb Lindquist in 14th and Susan Williams in 18th.

The women’s podium was not a surprise as Portugal’s Vanessa Fernandes claimed her seventh World Cup victory in a row in a dominating time of 2:04:51. Australia’s Annabel Luxford was second in 2:06:04 and Aussie Emma Snowsill was third in 2:06:22.

The ITU World Cup series is set to open next year on March 10 in Aqaba, Jordan.

ITU World Cup Results

Nov. 13, 2005; New Plymouth, New Zealand

1.5k swim; 40k bike; 10k run

Men

1. Bevan Docherty (New Zealand) 1:54:29; 2. Kris Gemmell (New Zealand) 1:54:31; 3. Rasmus Henning (Denmark) 1:54:34; 4. Hunter Kemper (Longwood, Fla.) 1:54:39; 5. Brad Kahlefeldt (Australia) 1:54:54; 6. Courtney Atkinson (Australia) 1:54:58; 7. Tim Don (Great Britain) 1:54:59; 8. Andy Potts (Princeton, N.J.) 1:55:01; 9. Volodymyr Polikarpenko (Ukraine) 1:55:33; 10. Greg Bennett (Australia) 1:55:36

Other U.S. Finishers

12. Matt Reed (Boulder, Colo.); 16. Mark Fretta (Portland, Ore.); 22. Joe Umphenour (Bellevue, Wash.); 27. Derek Kite (Malibu, Calif.)

Women

1. Vanessa Fernandes (Portugal) 2:04:51; 2. Annabel Luxford (Australia) 2:06:03; 3. Emma Snowsill (Australia) 2:06:11; 4. Anja Dittmer (Germany) 2:06:53; 5. Laura Bennett (North Palm Beach, Fla.) 2:08:02; 6. Becky Lavelle (Cupertino, Calif.) 2:08:04; 7. Vendula Frintova (Czech Republic) 2:08:27; 8. Julie Swail (Irvine, Calif.) 2:08:42; 9. Michelle Dillon (Great Britain) 2:08:52; 10. Sarah Haskins (St. Louis, Mo.) 2:09:02

Other U.S. Finishers

14. Barb Lindquist (Alta, Wyo.); 18. Susan Williams (Littleton, Colo.)