Fireworks over 5km as Tiszaujvaros
World Cup returns with a bang, Lehmann and Mansson producing huge finishes to
win the golds on Sunday afternoon in Hungary
Csongor Lehmann continued to tick off
big targets on Sunday as he won his home World Cup in Tiszaujvaros and set a
strong Olympic course with his form building with every race. Victory came
after Sweden's Tilda Mansson had earlier produced a dramatic photo-finish win
against Spain's Noelia Juan to seal her second title at World Cup level.
Women's Report
All the signs were there during the
previous day’s qualifier of the 2023 Tiszaujvaros World Cup, when Sweden’s
Tilda Mansson gritted her teeth and went shoulder-to-shoulder with Anna Godoy
Contreras down the blue carpet even with her place in the finals already safe.
On Sunday afternoon, it was all on
the line as Mansson and Noelia Juan came towards transition for the final time
neck-and-neck after nearly an hour in the scorching Hungary heat, and this time
the Swede’s late surge took her past the Spaniard right at the tape to secure
her second World Cup gold in the most dramatic fashion.
It was a tough one to swallow for
Juan but her delight at a first podium was clear, while Jolien Vermeylen hung
tough for the bronze after a hective two-weeks of racing.
Seregni torpedos into lead
There was little surprise to see
Italy’s Bianca Seregni out front in the 750m swim, more surprising was the fact
the Italian was able to put a full 30 seconds into another dart, Hungary’s
Zsanett Bragmayer.
Behind her Vermeylen was hanging in,
and soon out onto the 20km bike chasing the home favourite while Seregni
enjoyed clear air out ahead.
First the Belgian was hoovered up by
the chasers, then Bragmayer likewise, collectively still some 40 seconds off
Seregni as they merged with the second chasers, driven on by Norway’s Solveig
Lovseth, after three of eight laps.
Norwegian train fired up again
The Norwegian then helped reel Seregni
in as she gave way to the inevitable after soloing for half the bike, and then
Lovseth forged another small break as athletes were shelled off the back unable
to stay the pace.
Lovseth moved again on the final lap
to hit transition first, but it was Bragmayer smoothest into her shoes and out
for the 4-lap 5km run.
Vermeylen clicked into gear and was
soon leading seven athletes snaking through the course in single file, Juan and
Mansson off the back, Lovseth, Angelica Prestia, Bragmayer and Marta Pintanel
Raymundo going well.
Juan vs Mansson down to the wire
The seven stuck together as Mansson
made her way to the front and upped the pace, only Juan and Vermeylen able to
match it, but just as it looked like the Swede was ready to take control, Juan
found a kick and pulled ahead with 200m to go.
There she stayed as she hit the blue
carpet, only for Mansson to come flying up the inside and burst past right at
the tape to take the win by a fraction of a second, Juan the silver and a
tiring Vermeylen safely home in third.
“I just thought I would go as hard as
I can and just try to get rid of the others but they were so strong today,”
said Mansson. “I thought I was second on the sprint but she slowed down a bit
and I thought sprint it! Last year it was the same with Jolien. I tried to stay
with her and then move up and keep the pace. It’s always nervy before the race
but I wanted to do the best swim I could and trust in my body. Solveig is so
strong on the bike and did some good pushes so I knew I had to stay with her!”
“Im so happy, I wanted to win but I’m
so excited,” said Noelia Juan. “I swam well and stayed on the front on the bike
and ran for all I could, I just didn’t see Tilda coming on my left! At the
beginning of the run I felt strong and I wanted to get out ahead.”
“I think it’s my 4th race in 13
days,” said a tired but happy Vermeylen. “I didn’t know what I had left in my
legs today so I went for it one kilometre out today because I didn’t want a
sprint finish! I think it was a hard course to work together on the bike, but
once Seregni was caught we were able to slow it down for the run. Now Hamburg
in five days!”
The hometown hero’s destiny looked
written, but Csongor Lehmann still had a huge amount of work to do as the final
twists and turns of a dramatic 2023 Tiszaujvaros World Cup played out on Sunday
afternoon. The local boy, born and raised in Tiszy, was clear with only Sergio
Baxter Cabrera for company after the first few hundred metres of the 5km run,
but the Spaniard was never going to make that gold easy to come by.
The pair became locked in an engrossing
game of cat-and-mouse for four full laps until Lehmann picked his moment to try
his major move and, with the elastic finally broken, he was finally able to
soak up the crowd’s cheers as he hit the blue carpet with gold finally assured.
Baxter crossed for an excellent
silver after a frustrating extended period sidelined through injury, behind it
was another Hungary-Spain showdown, this time won by Alberto Gonzalez Garcia as
he edged out Gabor Faldum to bronze.
Stapley and Devay power physical swim
With just 120m to the first buoy, it
was always going to be a big race to see who could find clear water the
quickest, Britain’s Max Stapley going well before Hungary’s Mark Devay
patiently worked his way to the front.
There was no stringing out like in
the women’s however, and ten seconds separated the top 12 up the ramp and onto
the run into transition, Lehmann, Alessio Crociani (ITA) and Gergely Kiss (HUN)
all on the chase.
They were joined by the likes of Darr
Smith (USA) and Faldum as a front group if 20 slowly merged on the first lap,
Casper Stornes (NOR) finding himself in no-man’s land between them and the
Bence Bicsak-led chasers 30 seconds off the leaders.
20-deep pack pulls clear
Stornes was soon swallowed up as his
chances of catching the front pack faded on lap three, but even with their
collective firepower there was no closing down the gap to the front, up to 40
seconds at the bell.
Lehmann moved his way to the front as
transition neared, but it was a hectic scene as the 20 men racked their bikes and
tried to get away cleanest and set about the four-lap run.
Faldum and Lehmann were slick, Jannik
Schaufler and Baxter right with them, but it was Lehmann who had a date with
destiny and hit the hammer right from the outset, the Spaniard the only one able
to stay the pace.
Tearaway twosome
From there, it was a two-man
showdown, the lead ebbing and flowing as moves were made and answered, Baxter
looking the more composed but Lehmann with the fire in his belly and the crowd
in his ears.
Before the final turn back to the
home straight, Lehmann went once more and this time there was no response, the
Hungarian going flat-out all the way to the line, leaving nothing to chance and
sending the crowds wild as he finally scored the home World Cup win he craved.
As Baxter took silver, he turned to
see Gonzalez outsprinting Faldum to the bronze, Rostislav Pevtsov (AZE) in
fifth.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” said
Csongor Lehmann. “I’ve dreamt about winning a World Cup in my hometown and that
last 100m was so emotional when I knew I had the win. Seeing my friends and the
family watching, I put some pressure on myself but I knew things were working
for me. Sergio was pushing such a hard pace on the run, I knew I had to put a
magic move to drop him and left everything on the course. I started to feel
more comfortable at the start of the third lap and knew I had something in me
and I could play the attack card.”
“That was an amazing race, Csongor
was really strong beginning to end,” said Sergio Baxter. “The heat was tough,
it was full gas from the start of the race, an amazing crowd really pushed us
through. Yesterday was my first ever time in a breakaway so I was new to being
away on the bike, so I tried to make it a hard bike to tire out those legs
around me. It’s been eight months since my last international race in Abu
Dhabi, so I couldn’t aske for much more, I cant believe it to come back in such
a way at such an iconic race.”
“I was just in fourth almost the
whole time, catching Gabor, but I decided to push and got the bronze medal here
in Tiszy so I can’t complain,” said Gonzalez. “This is one of the races I
really enjoy, the city gets behind the sport and it makes us go faster and
faster. It’s been a lot of races recently, and you cant always focus on the
win, I’m improving step by step.”
Full results can be found here. https://triathlon.org/results/result/2023_world_triathlon_cup_tiszaujvaros/582173?mc_cid=4757a41683&mc_eid=6139649918
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