Ethiopia’s Sahlesilassie Bekele wins Bronze Label road race

Ethiopia’s Nigussie Sahlesilassie Bekele won the World Athletics Bronze Label road race in Florence, Italy, on Sunday.

His winning time of 2:10:14 was just four seconds shy of the PB he set earlier this year.

A six-man group formed by Kenyans Kipkemoi Kiprono, Jackson Rutto Kemboi, Peter Kirui Cheruiyot, 2014 Florence winner Asbel Kipsang and EthiopiansBekele and Azmeraw Gereme Mengistu took the early lead, going through 10km in 30:15, 15km in 45:24, halfway in 1:04:28 and 30km in 1:32:00.

Bekele stepped up the pace and broke away from Mengistu, going through the 35km mark in 1:47:18 with a lead of 24 seconds. Kipsang was further back in third place.

Bekele crossed the finish line in 2:10:14, missing his career-best by just four seconds. It was his third consecutive 2:10 clocking of the year, having set PBs of 2:10:46 in Wuxi in March and 2:10:10 when winning in Stockholm in June.

“After 30km I tried to step up the pace,” said the winner. “I saw that my rivals were not able to keep up with my pace. I held on until the end.”

In partnership with ANA and Sports Leo