The qualifiers had been switched to
duathlon because of heavy rain, the heat had been ramping up for two days, and
the action never stopped for a rollercoaster of a men’s WTCS Montreal
elimination event on Saturday afternoon as the crowds lined the Grand Quai for
the final action of the day.
After two races had whittled the
field down to a final 10 starters, it was to be Alex Yee who managed to peak at
just the right time, pulling clear from Hayden Wilde as the blue carpet came
into view to punch the tape, the New Zealander recovering from a chain mishap
on the bike to take silver, Leo Bergere with another strong podium display in
third.
“That one meant a lot,” admitted a
fired up Yee. “After a crash you can lose a bit of belief and the last two
weeks have been hard but I came in here more fired up than ever. That may have
played against me the first few races but after the last race I only just made it
through and I just wanted to strip it back and enjoy it. Another great race
with some great guys, it means a lot. I found my flow at the end. I’d been
struggling through the rounds and my run has almost been a weakness but that
last 100m I felt amazing and the crowd roaring me on was amazing.”
The Japanese duo of Takumi Hojo and
Kenji Nener were fastest through the water in the opening swim of race one, the
now-familiar sights of Miguel Hidalgo (BRA) and Diego Moya (CHI) right there
too and the crowd roaring on Tyler Mislawchuk as they came up the hill to
transition.
Sadly for the Canadian, the exertions
of Huatulco the previous weekend and an accident in the run-up to the race had
taken a toll, and it was to be Charles Paquet who was able to hang tough and
make the cut for race two in the 20th position, Jacob Birtwhistle just missing
out in the race to the line along with the Huatulco World Cup winner Genis
Grau.
Twenty men took the line for a tense
race two, Hidalgo, Nener and Luis again leading the way out of the water, Wilde
and Yee with some work to do 15 and 20 seconds back. The pace proved just too
hot on the run for the likes of Richard Murray (NED) and Tayler Reid (NZL) as
they missed out, Jawad Abdelmoula (MAR) looking in good rhythm on his first WTCS
outing.
Having looked fresh on the bike along
with teammate Manoel Messias, Miguel Hidalgo was also dropped from the ten over
the final lap of the run and as the top nine reached the final comfortably, a
huge sprint between Marten Van Riel and Brandon Copeland (AUS) saw the Belgian
just edge tenth place and the route through to the final
The ultimate race saw Vincent Luis
lining up with the air of a man who was ready to deliver something he had been
holding in reserve and spearheading a trio of Frenchmen out of the water
alongside Le Corre and Bergere.
Van Riel, Abdelmoula and Yee were
together just behind, Geens and Messias giving chase on the long run to the
bikes. Wilde and Geens used that to run right back into contention, Yee and
Luis both with good transitions, Geens and Messias the two off the back trying
to bridge up, Silva out of touch of them.
Bergere looked to put on the pace
along with Van Riel but Geens and Messias had managed to bridge, the question
remaining just how much it had taken out of their legs.
Then the unthinkable happened,
Wilde’s chain coming loose and he dropped off, but didn’t dismount, almost
catching his finger but finally getting it back on and then digging deep to
reach back to the group.
The group didn’t press too hard and
after a lap he was back in, nine athletes together into T2, Joao Silva off the
back.
Le Corre was off first but stumbled
with the bike and six athletes pulled clear, Messias hanging tough with the
trio of French men, Wilde and Yee. Then Wilde rolled the dice and pulled away
until it was only Yee hanging on.
The duo were shoulder to shoulder
until they re-entered the grandstands, the crowd roaring them on as they
battled towards the blue carpet, only for Yee to find the kick he had been
searching for all weekend, and at just the right time, roaring at the tape.
Wilde crossed for what looked an unlikely second, Bergere with bronze ahead of
Geens, a career-best fifth for Messias followed by Luis and Le Corre,
Abdelmoula a brilliant 8th place on WTCS debut and Van Riel and Silva rounding
out the ten.
“I was so gutted (about the chain),”
said Wilde. “Coming into the third round I felt really good but I had to bridge
the gap again. I thought should I get off or keep going. I almost got my finger
caught but that. I know I don’t have the kick against those boys, so I just
tried to hook it from the outset.”
“I must say I like the atmosphere
here in Montreal and I also like that type of format, there is no room for
mistakes,” said Bergere. “I burnt myself too early in the race to hope for a
better spot, but still I am happy for it. My goal this year is to win the
Series but I know it will be really tough with the two guys sitting next to me,
I think for now they are stronger, so I need to be smarter and work on my weakness.”
Results: Elite Men
1. Alex
Yee GBR 00:21:55
2. Hayden
Wilde NZL 00:21:58
3. Léo
Bergere FRA 00:21:59
4. Jelle
Geens BEL 00:22:02
5. Manoel
Messias BRA 00:22:05
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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