The evening in Birmingham, Alabama,
was one to remember for the French team, who showed again that they are one of
the most powerful nations in Duathlon by claiming gold and silver in the Men’s
individual race of the 2022 World Games Duathlon. Born in 1996, Maxime
Hueber-Moosbrugger was the first one to cross the finish line to get the best
result of his career so far, while his teammate Benjamin Choquert, repeated the
second place he got a month ago at Targu Mures World Championships. The bronze
medal was for Mexico’s Victor Emmanuel Zambrano Gonzalez, whose fast splits in
both runs were enough to get him on his first-ever major Games podium.
The men’s elite race of the
Birmingham World Games Duathlon started with a slight delay and with again hot
and humid conditions, even though the temperatures were not high enough to have
to shorten the race to a sprint distance one. Twenty-nine men were ready for a
flat 10km run along the Railroad park, followed by a 40km bike course again
flat and technical through Birmingham’s most emblematic streets, to finish with
a 5km run that will crown the World Games Duathlon winners. And as soon as the
gun went off, it was clear that the French athletes -Hueber-Moosbrugger,
Choquert and Nathan Guerbeur- and the three Belgian athletes -Angelo
Vandecasteele, Arnaud Dely and Vincent Bierinckx- were in control of the race.
The six of them formed almost
immediately a big pack, with only two other athletes able to follow them:
Mexico’s Zambrano and Moussa Karich, from Bahrein. The leading group was fast
during the first two laps, trying to drop athletes before they got on their
bikes, and by the time the athletes were halfway through the first run, they
already had a gap of more than 30 seconds with the chase group, and over three
minutes with the athletes running in 15th place.
With one lap of the run to go, it was
the youngest athlete, Zambrano, who decided to make his move and test the legs
of the French and Belgian teams, only Choquert able to follow him. When the
Mexican hit transition, Choquert was 5 seconds behind, and the remaining
leading group another 13 seconds further back. Behind them, the group stretched
more and more, with the athletes from hot and humid countries like Morocco
-Nabil Kouzkouz- or UAE -Saud Alzaabi- proving that they know what it is to
compete under such circumstances and managing to stay in the chase group.
It only took the Frenchmen and Belgians
a few kilometers on the bike to catch the Mexican, though, and from that
moment, the group of eight men started a technical and tactical 40km bike ride
to try to save some energy for the final run. With Karich out of the race due
to a mechanical problem, the remaining laps were not complicated for the
leading group until just a few kilometers before hitting the second transition,
Guerbeur tried his luck and tried to break away, opening a few seconds between
him and the last athlete of the leading group, Zambrano.
By the time they all hit the blue
carpet for the second transition, they knew that all would be decided in the
final 5km run. And it was Hueber-Moosbrugger who hit first, leading the
athletes out of transition while Choquert kept his calm despite leaving
transition last, and started to chase right away. Same did Zambrano, who by the
time they were entering the last lap, he had chased all the Belgian athletes
and was running in third place, Hueber-Moosbrugger and Choquert flying in first
and second and impossible to track at that point.
With the finish arch in sight, it was
Hueber-Moosbrugger who crossed the line first, all smiles with the best result
of his career, after the bronze he got in the 2022 World Championships and the
silver in the 2021 World champs. “We came here (the French team) as a team,
willing to work together. We knew that the Belgians had a very strong team as
well, so we tried to work together to win gold and maybe have more Frenchmen on
the podium. With this heat we knew it would be difficult but we have prepared a
lot for this race. I tried my chances and it did pay off. I managed to stay
ahead of my teammate, Benjamin (Choquert), who is very fast in the second run.
I am so happy with my results today”, said the Frenchman.
Silver was for another man that knows
what it is to be on podiums at Duathlon races, Benjamin Choquert. Silver
medallist in Targu Mures 2022, three-times winner of the European Duathlon
Championships and world champion in 2019, he was pleased with the silver. “I
tried to save some legs during the bike course and I started the last run a bit
behind the leaders so I had to chase and go hard and fast at the begining of
the second run, and by the time I got everyone else Maxime was just too far
ahead. But I am extremely happy for him and for the French team and how we
performed today”, he explained.
Bronze medal was for Zambrano, whose
best result before was a bronze medal at the 2021 U23 Duathlon World
Championships. “The race was extremely hard because of the heat, I had cramps
and thought I would not be able to make it, but I did, I am just so happy with
my result today”, said Zambrano.
The three Belgians, Vandecasteele,
Dely and Bierinckx, crossed the finish line in fourth, 5th and 6th place in
that order, with the third Frenchman, Guerbeur, finishing in the 7th place and
Australia’s Samuel Mileham closing the top 8.
Results: Elite Men
1. Maxime
Hueber-Moosbrugger FRA 01:47:57
2. Benjamin
Choquert FRa 01:48:20
3. Victor
Emmanuel Zambrano Gonzalez MEX 01:48:56
4. Angelo
Vandecasteele BEL 01:49:04
5. Arnaud
Dely BEL 01:49:32
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
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