It wasn’t quite in the script, but
there was still an almighty story to be told in London as Cassandre Beaugrand
of France blew away the field to win Arena Games Triathlon gold on Saturday.
The Brits received a loud welcome from the packed Olympic Aquatics Centre but
couldn’t get close after the debutant’s stunning second-stage effort, Munich
winner Beth Potter having to settle for the silver and Jessica Learmonth the
bronze.
Learmonth and Potter had both won
their morning heats comfortably, though Beaugrand looked in the flow too to
finish her’s in second. There would be no room for any let up across the three
afternoon stages in pursuit of the gold, though, and it was the French star who
didn’t make a single mistake all day.
Swimming into an early lead, she was
soon caught and passed by Potter and Learmonth on the bike. Learmonth then lost
ground with a poor transition, and it was Beaugrand who showed incredible
prowess on the run to fly to a 2m45s first kilometre and take the first stage
in a fashion usually reserved for her nearest opponent.
Georgia Taylor-Brown had struggled to
keep pace with that trio, Audrey Merle and Sian Rainsley battling for fifth as
Petra Kurikova, Kate Waugh, Anabel Knoll and Zsanett Bragmayer drifted out of
contention.
Taylor-Brown was able to make up some
ground on her teammates over the opening run of the reversed stage two, but
Beaugrand was still simply pulling away from everyone, clearly mastering the
curved treadmill and finding the rhythm to again earn daylight out front - over
14 seconds of it to Potter by the time she headed to the bike.
Learmonth and Taylor-Brown were
closing in on Potter across the virtual Crit City ride and back into the pool
it was Learmonth closing in on second place trying to reduce the pursuit-start
deficit.
As a result, Beaugrand then took a
17-second advantage into the final stage, and there was simply no catching her
across the three disciplines. Only 5 seconds separated Potter, Learmonth and
Taylor-Brown heading back into the pool, but the order never really looked like
shuffling as those gaps between them grew. It was Cassandre Beaugrand who took
the win in grand style, extending the gap over Beth Potter in second, Jess
Learmonth with bronze.
The silver, to go with her Munich
gold, puts Potter in pole position to become the first ever triathlon Esport
world champion going into the decisive final race in Singapore, but Beaugrand’s
display will undoubtedly have shifted the Arena Games sands. There’s just two
weeks to wait until that historic prize is awarded.
Full results can be found here. https://triathlon.org/results/result/2022_arena_games_triathlon_series_london_powered_by_zwift?mc_cid=ddd3c305be&mc_eid=6139649918
Results: Elite Women
1.Cassandre BeaugrandFRA 00:36:14
2.Beth PotterGBR 00:36:47
3.Jessica LearmonthGBR 00:36:57
4.Georgia Taylor-brownGBR 00:37:24
5.Audrey MerleFRA 00:37:48
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.
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