It was an epic day for Great
Britain’s Alex Yee, after he managed to overcome the cramps on his leg to claim
the victory at the 2022 World Triathlon Championship Series Cagliari. The
double Olympic medallist proved how much things have changed for him on his
return to the Italian beach resort five years after the horrendous bike crash
he had in this same place in 2017. The second place on the day was for another
astonishing comeback: Jonathan Brownlee, proving once more that he is one to
beat when it comes to working hard on the bike. The bronze medal was for a
debutant on the Series podiums: Brazilian Manoel Messias.
The men’s race presented a completely
different scenario tan the women’s just a few hours before, with the wind
picking up some speed and a strong current that made the right side of the
beach look like the best spot to be chosen. The luckiest ones with the higher
numbers on the day chose those positions on the far right, while the ones like
Jonathan Brownlee (GBR), Mario Mola (ESP) or Richard Varga (SVK) ended up on
the far left, forced to swim against the current for the first meters.
And considerable waves making the
entry to the water not an easy one, it was Australia’s Matthew Hauser who
delivered a masterclass of dolphin diving both on the way in and out of the
water, with Dorian Coninx (FRA), Pierre Le Corre (FRA), Kenji Nener (JPN) and
Jonas Schomburg (GER) following him up to the beach and on the wavy sea for the
second lap.
Behind them, Alex Yee (GBR), Jelle
Geens (BEL) and Mario Mola were struggling on the back positions, trying to
fund the rhythm and not loose contact with the leaders, but their efforts were
not very productive. At the end of the 1500m swim, Yee was 32 seconds down from
the leaders, Mark Devay (HUN), Matt Hauser and Dorian Coninx, while Geens had
lost 47 seconds and Mola almost one minute.
Hauser and Devay were the first
mounting their bikes and off they went by themselves, trying to break away from
the large pack behind them that had some really horse power on their legs:
Brownlee, Coninx, Leo Bergere (FRA), Tom Richard (FRA), Manoel Messias (BRA),
David Castro Fajardo (ESP) or Chase MacQueen (USA) taking turns to chase them.
With such a large pack, Yee
understood soon enough that not all hope was lost, and he organized a chase
group that in six laps managed to contact with the leaders, with Yee, Bence
Bicsak (HUN) and Antonio Serrat (ESP) taking turns on the effort. Meanwhile, it
was Japanese Jumpei Furuya who decided to give it a go with three laps to go
and try to breakaway. Without hesitation, Brownlee followed him not even
looking back, and the two of them produced a masterclass of how to break away
from a large pack.
Before the large pack even realized
it, Brownlee was already 30 seconds ahead when they had to put their running
shoes on, half a minute that proved to be decisive for him.
Jonny left T2 with half a minute over
Matt Hauser, David Castro Fajardo and Alex Yee, who quickly changed to chase
mood and left behind Hauser, Bergere and Castro Fajardo to go on the chase of
his teammate.
Half way through the 10km run, Alex
passed Brownlee and it all looked under control for him, but when he was
leading solo, he started to struggle, cramps on his leg forcing him to stop. He
managed to continue, though, and kept the pain under control until he ccrossed
the finish line in tears in what indeed was a really emotional win for him, his
mum and granddad also in tears near the finish line.
“I had bad cramps, I was in so much
pain. I just had to hang onto whatever I could. I was just thinking about this
place and how much it means to me,” he said. “We had to work so hard on the
bike to get to the front, for me that was full gas and it’s really hot today.
Maybe I need to go back and learn something today. I am over the moon and to do
it here is just a fairytale, thanks to the people of Cagliari,” explained Yee.
Brownlee managed to keep the second
place on what it looked like a gold medal for him, after the disappointment of
the crash in Leeds that took him out of the start list for the Commonwealth
Games. “I think what I was most proud of today was that I committed to a race,
got stuck in and dictated the race rather than just being a passenger. I felt confident
on the bike the whole way through. It’s taken my months to get my confidence
back. I was actually really enjoying it. My breakaway companion (Jumpei Furuya)
was strong on the bike,” said Brownlee, who stayed in the finish line waiting
for Furuya to finish and congratulate him.
“I knew I had to pace the run. I knew
they would go out fast and I would try and build into it. I can’t remember the
last time I was on a WTCS podium, in Edmonton 2019. It’s nice to be back and
nice to know I am not past it just yet,” he said.
The fight for the bronce medal was an
epic one, with Leo Bergere, Castro Fajardo, Lasse Luhrs and Manoel Messias
taking turns on the lead, and the Brazilian finally bringing it home, getting
the first ever medal at the Series for his country. “This is my first time on
the podium in a WTCS, I am very happy, I am super happy,” he said after
crossing the finish line.
Fourth place was for Luhrs, while
Spaniard Castro Fajardo finished on a brilliant fifth place, best result of his
career on the WTCS circuit.
The Maurice Lacroix World Triathlon
Championship Series Rankings Leader is still Hayden Wilde (NZL), not racing
this weekend in Cagliari, but Alex Yee’s hopes for the title are still on
point, currently ranked fourth (3000 points, three victories in three races)
with one more race to go before the Series finale in Abu Dhabi.
Results: Elite Men
1. Alex Yee GBR 01:40:19
2. Jonathan Brownlee Gbr 01:40:26
3. Manoel Messias BRA 01:40:29
4. Lasse Lührs GER 01:40:31
5. David Castro Fajardo ESP 01:40:36
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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