NATURLANDIA, Andorra - In his second
year competing in the Elite category, Italy’s Franco Pesavento stormed the
field of the inaugural World Triathlon Winter Duathlon Championships to claim
the title, crossing the finish line more than two minutes ahead of Viorel
Palici (ROU) and Hans Christian Tungesvik (NOR). The sunny morning in Andorra
ended up with the athlete representing the Russian Federation Anna Medvedeva claiming
the gold medal, with Norway’s Ine Skejellum crossing the finish line in second
and Maria Luisa Rasina (ROU) in third place.
The run-ski format of the duathlon
may remove the biking element, but the new format -three laps of 1,35km each on
the run, two laps of 3,1km each on skis, and the whole block repeated three
times- meant there were multiple transitions to negotiate and also multiple
opportunitties for spectators to cheer on the athletes every time they passed
through transition: a total of 5 times.
Men’s race
The Elite and U23 men were the ones
opening the day, with temperatures slightly over 6ºC and the sun heating the
slopes of the beautiful mountain resort of Naturlandia, home of the 24th
edition of the World Triathlon Winter Triathlon and Winter Duathlon World
Championships. And it was a young Italian, Franco Pesavento, only 25 years of
age, who decided to go full gas from the gun, taking the lead the second the
athletes touched the snow, making it clear from the beginning that he was going
to be the man to beat.
The first time the athletes headed
the first uphill on the run, he had already a sizeable gap, only Benjamin
Cayroche (FRA) able to follow him. And by the time the athletes had to put on
the skis for the first time, Pesavento was clearly giong solo. With the cross
country ski slope fresh and hard, it was not easy for the chasers to get hold
of the Italian, who was building his confidence and showing great skiing
skills. He knew that he had some strong skiers behind, like the current Winter
Triathlon World Champion Hans Christian Tungesvink, and didn’t want to leave
any chances.
Behind Pesavento, it was a Roumanian,
Viorel Palici, who led the chasers all day long, opening also a significant gap
with the athletes fighting for the third place: Tungesvik and Mikhail Antipin
(RTF). The first one showing his skills on skis on every segment, and the
second one taking the lead every time they passed by transition, with quick and
systematic moves that made him arrive always to transition in fourth place,
leaving in third.
Pesavento executed his race plan to
perfection to cross the finish line with a comfortable lead, stopping the clock
on 1h46min12sec to claim the first ever Winter Duathlon World Championship. “I
am really happy, was not expecting this. I planned this race today as a
training session for the winter triathlon world championships this Saturday, to
get used to the venue and the course, and it played out well. The course is
really hard, and being by myself almost all race didn’t make it easier. I now
need to recover for Saturday”, he said.
Behind him, it was Palici who
finished in the second place, the best result of his career for the veteran
Romanian triathlete, who will also be competing in the winter triathlon race on
Saturday. The thirs place was for the current Winter Triathlon world champion,
Tungesvink, who managed to leave Antipin behind in the last 3km on the skis,
the segmen that also gave him the winter triathlon title last year.
In the U23 category, another
fantastic performance of the Italian squad gave Mattia Tanara the world title,
to add to the winter triathlon U23 crown that he got last year also in Andorra.
he was followed on the finish line by Marin Gautier, from France, and Ian
Pennekamp (NED), who completed the hard circuit in less than two hours.
The Junior Men Winter Duathlon world
title was for the Spaniard Alvaro Lopez Lucia, who competed on the sprint
version of the circuit, half of the distance of the older athletes.
Women’s race
The U23 and Elite women athlete decided
to use the Duathlon World Championships to not only have a feeling of the
course before the Winter Triathlon world champs this Saturday, but also as a
hard trainin session. But the duathlete from the Russian Federation Anna
Medvedeva made it look easy, managing to lead the race from start to finish, to
claim the victory with more than five minutes of a difference with her rivals.
Looking determinated from the start,
she made the icy run on the hilly course of Naturlandia look easy, negociating
every ramp with ease and was all smiles when crossing the finish line all by
herself. Behind her, it was Norway’s Ine Skejellum trying to prove that the
dominance of her country in the winter races last year was not by accident.
Skejellum, a former cross country skier, managed to reduce a bit the gap with
Medvedeva on each ski segment, but it was not enough to be on a position of
fighting for the gold. The Norwegian finished the day claiming the silver
medal, the first of her triathlon career, which put her on a great position to
fight for the podium this Saturday.
The third spot on the podium was a
hard battle between Romania’s Maria Luisa Rasina and Norway’s Julie Meinicke,
with Rasina showing her credentials in the last segment on skis to claim the
bronze medal, the Norwegian being the U23 World Champion.
Another Norwegian claimed the Junior
World title, Victoria Nitteberg, who crossed the finish line ahead of Katja
Krenn (AUT) and Benilde Candial Dolz (ESP).
Results: Elite Men
1.Franco Pesavento ITA 01:46:12
2.Viorel Palici ROU 01:48:21
3.Hans Christian Tungesvik NOR 01:49:19
4.Mikhail Antipin RTF 01:49:43
5.Marek Rauchfuss CZE 01:50:25
Results: Elite Women
1.Anna Medvedeva RTF 02:05:30
2.Ine Skjellum NOR 02:10:03
3.Maria Luisa Rasina ROU 2:14:13
4.Julie Meinicke NOR 02:16:23
5.Lorena Erl GER 02:20:46
Results: U23 Men
1.Mattia Tanara ITA 01:52:30
4.Adam Holomoucky CZE 02:17:31
3.Ian Pennekamp NED 01:59:07
2.Marin Gautier FRA 01:56:44
Results: U23 Women
1.Julie Meinicke NOR 02:16:23
Results: Junior Men
1.Alvaro Lopez Lucia ESP 01:27:53
Results: Junior Women
1.Victoria Nitteberg NOR 01:31:47
2.Katja Krenn AUT 01:47:03
3.Benilde Candial Dolz ESp 02:08:59
ABOUT WORLD TRIATHLON
World Triathlon is the international
governing body for the Olympic and Paralympic sport of triathlon and all
related multisport disciplines around the world, including duathlon, aquathlon,
cross triathlon and winter triathlon. Triathlon made its Olympic debut in
Sydney 2000, with a third medal event, the Mixed Team Relay, added to the
programme at Tokyo 2020, while para triathlon was first added to the Paralympic
programme at Rio 2016. World Triathlon is proudly committed to the development
of the sport worldwide, with inclusion, equality, sustainability and
transparency at our core as we seek to help triathletes at all levels of the
sport to be extraordinary.
www.triathlon.org
No comments:
Post a Comment