Saturday saw a hot and hard morning
of sprint-distance triathlon action on the island of Sardinia, where Sandra
Dodet of France was able to keep enough in the tank to pull clear over the
final 2.5km and take the first World Cup gold of 2022 in Arzachena.
She was one of five athletes looking
strong over the early stages of the run after a tough three-lap bike had taken
the legs out of much of the field, but as the contenders slowly dropped away,
it became a sprint between Julie Derron (SUI) and Luisa Baptista (BRA) for the
silver. Ultimately, it was the Swiss who was able to repeat her second place of
12 months ago.
“It was a very hard race,” admitted
Dodet. “I think we did two loops on the bike chasing Mathilde Gautier and after
that we regrouped. She is very strong on the bike, but we did a good job, so we
should be proud. I actually didn’t feel very good on the run but I tried to
stay strong.”
The mercury was creeping towards 30C
as the women lined up for the beach start, Verena Steinhauser wearing the
number one for the non-wetsuit, 750m swim. It was another Italian, Bianca
Seregni, setting the pace through the water at the turn, though, with Zsanett
Bragmayer (HUN), Sophie Alden (GBR) and Emma Jeffcoat (AUS) all right on her
feet.
As they came towards the beach,
Seregni veered off course and fell back into the chasing group, eventually
coming out alongside Mathilde Gautier (FRA) and Annabel Koch (GER).
It was the German who was fastest
through transition and onto the 20km bike, Derron and Baptista some 30 seconds
back as they began the first of three big, twisting climbs.
Alden and Koch were right with
Gauthier before the French began to pull clear, rapidly putting significant
daylight between her and the field by the time she reached the summit. The gap
was over 20 seconds at that stage, the likes of Alberte Kjaer Pedersen (DEN)
almost a minute off the front.
Steinhauser and Miriam Casillas
Garcia were driving the charge to close in on lap two but there was little in
the way of significant change to the leader, while the third pack was beginning
to bridge up.
Once contact with Gautier was finally
made on the final climb, 23 athletes eventually came together, the likes of
Lisa Perterer (AUT), Claire Michel (BEL) and Tamara Gorman (USA) now
well-positioned as the group compacted and headed to T2.
It was Casillas and Steinhauser
shoulder-to-shoulder out of transition and the Spaniard who found her legs
first, easing through the gears to open up a useful early lead. She was looking
comfortable even with the likes of Derron, Dodet and Baptista giving chase,
Steinhauser slowly losing touch as the first lap drew to an end.
Jeanne Lehair (TRI) was suddenly
looking like a strong contender as she eased into fourth place, but from the
opening strides of that second and final lap, it was Dodet suddenly able to ask
the question and nobody seemingly able to reply.
As she pulled clear and Lehair’s
challenge tailed off, it was a straight shootout between the Swiss and
Brazilian for the silver and bronze. Baptista was hanging tough, but after
being out-gunned here 12 months ago for gold, Derron was not to be denied this
time around, timing her final push to edge an almighty charge for the line.
Ten seconds back was Jeanne Lehair,
tantalisingly close to a first World Cup podium, followed by Casillas,
Steinhauser and Koch. Gautier held on for a hard-earned 8th, Claire Michel
(BEL) and Julia Hauser (AUT) rounding out the top 10.
“Before the race I was really unsure
of where my fitness was so I am really pleased to come away with second. In the
run I thought many times that I was getting dropped but I just tried to stay
really strong mentally and fight until the finish because I learned last year
that it’s not over until it’s really over so this way it turned out good for
me.”
“I am very happy with the result. It
was a very hard race not only because of the heat, also the climbs, I am really
happy with the bronze medal today. The Brazilian girls told me it would be hard
but we came really prepared for this. The downhills were pretty fast and the
girls always opened a little gap so I had to come back… it was hard but I am
really happy to execute a good race today.”
Watch the race back on TriathlonLive.tv.
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