As the mercury rose and the crowd
grew louder in the midday heat of Brasilia, Miguel Hidalgo could finally
deliver the fans what they craved on Sunday as he dug in to win a brilliant
first gold in his home nation’s capital and the World Triathlon Cup Brasilia
debut.
It had been far from plain sailing
for the 23-year-old, the 1500m swim not going quite to plan and then taking a
tumble out of T1, but he recovered brilliantly, powered through a tough 40km
bike and then hung on through stomach cramps for the three-lap, 10km run,
finally shrugging off Antonio Serrat Seoane to take the gold. Spain’s Serrat
finished with silver ahead of Canadian Charles Paquet for third place and a
first World Cup medal.
“It was an amazing feeling, the
crowds really pushed me on that final lap,” said a thrilled Hidalgo. “I was
struggling with some stomach issues on the second half of the run but still
found the final kick to win my first World Cup. It’s an amazing feeling. I
wasn’t in control at all, and on the final lap I didn’t think I was even going
to podium! I think Antonio dropped off a little bit and I went for it with
1.5km to go. I can’t believe I just did it! Now I just want to enjoy the
podium.”
Earlier in the day, Italy’s Alice
Betto had come off the Juscelino Kubitschek bridge for the last time, pulled
alongside Katie Zaferes and then put the hammer down up the final hill, running
solo to the tape and a first World Cup win.
Zaferes hung on to round off her
return season with silver, Rosa Maria Tapia Vidal (MEX) using the same spot to
test Petra Kurikova (CZE) and ultimately win the battle for bronze.
“It’s amazing, I didn’t expect the
first place,” admitted Betto as her own comeback campaign ended in style. “I
knew Katie was really strong and just kept telling myself to stay focussed to
the end. This is my first ever first place so at the end of this season it’s
really incredible. I felt better at the end of the turn and I knew the uphill
was my best moment. When I started this season, I wanted just to race and enjoy
it, so this feels incredible.”
MEN'S REPORT
Leader chops and changes over 1500m
swim
It was a water start and dolphin
dives through the shallower water as the 47 athletes vied for room and a good
line to the first buoy heading into the growing wind.
It was the Italian Alessio Crociani
then making the most of the tailwind down the long swim straight, Paquet and
Matthew Wright (BAR) tucked in well along with David Castro Fajardo (ESP) and
Alois Knabl (AUT).
Hidalgo then moved to the front at
the final buoy but Crociani emerged first ahead of the Brazilian and Martin
Demuth, while Tjebbe Kaindl and Knabl made it a trio of Austrians out together.
And it was the three of them with
Crociani looking to stay away from the big pack slowly organising itself
behind, but there seemed little appetite to make a 4-deep break stick, and
fourteen riders came back across the bridge together for the first time of the
six laps.
Lead group forced to respond
Sergio Baxter Cabrera was attacking
through the technical sections, the gap to the chasers – including Gaspar
Riveros, Diego Moya, Tyler Smith and Jason West - up to 50s after two laps.
Halfway through the bike that was
down to 30 seconds, but that was the spur for Crociani to make another move.
The break didn’t stick again as nobody went with him, though, and the leaders
rolled into transition for the last time.
Hidalgo finds transition touch
It was a more fluid T2 for Hidalgo
who was out first but quickly shut down by Serrat along with Paquet, Baxter
finding himself isolated after Crisanto Grajales (MEX) pulled ahead of him,
Knabl now 33 seconds off the front and Manoel Messias (BRA) surprisingly unable
to find his usually lethal legs dropping to a minute back.
USA’s returning middle-distance
specialist West was picking his way through the field and closing in on Baxter
along with Michele Sarzilla (ITA), but up front it quickly looked like the
podium three was set.
Hidalgo vs Serrat vs Paquet for
medals
After a long tactical and mental
game, Paquet was first to fade, then Serrat pulled clear and put some decent
time into Hidalgo.
Hidalgo never let him go, though, and
as they reached the final climb the Brazilian was able to fight back. By the
time they were back shoulder-to-shoulder, Serrat had been broken, Hidalgo
digging in to find one last extra gear and enjoy the cheers as he came back
towards transition.
It was all smiles as he powered to
the tape, Serrat hanging tough for the silver, Paquet the bronze ahead of
Grajales in fourth, Jason West with a fine run into fifth.
“It was a big battle with Hidalgo, I
tried in the last lap on the first hill but he chased me down and I couldn’t go
with him, but I’m happy with the result,” said Serrat. “I tried to get the
group to work together and attack but finally on the last lap we got a little
gap and then I ran well. It’s a difficult course to break away on and it was
difficult to beat Miguel at home. I had a similar sensation in Pontevedra and
im happy for him, it’s very special.”
“I had a really good day to be
honest,” said Charles Paquet. “I impressed myself with the swim and somehow
ended up in the first five I don’t know how, and then the bike was really windy
so we were either really slow or really fast, no one really on it, then just
running as fast as I can and those guys really made me push and I just managed
to keep it going to the end. I felt the heat a lot like everyone, maybe my
getting here early and getting used to the heat was what worked well for me.”
WOMEN'S REPORT
Lopes fires up the crowds
The 1500m swim began with a water
start, and after the first turn at 300m it was a long stretch to the next turn
that caused some problems. Vittoria Lopes strayed off the line, Zaferes first
going with her then straightening, but the Brazilian swim specialist lost some
precious ground.
Nevertheless, Lopes held a sizable
lead by the time she came up the ramp, Valerie Barthelemy out second, Zuzana
Michalikova (SVK) and Kurikova also right there.
Tapia and Italy’s Verena Steinhauser
were soon into it as well, so it wasn’t long before a 10-deep group came
together with the Brazilian, while Romina Biagioli (ARG) and Miriam Casillas
Garcia (ESP) were among those chasing 25 seconds back.
Casillas hauls chasers up
Spain’s number one Casillas was
driving things on with Erica Hawley and Emy Legault, while there was 35 seconds
to the third pack led by Luisa Baptista (BRA) and Lisa Perterer (AUT).
It wasn’t long before Casillas worked
up to and through to the front of the leaders, and some 20 athletes now snaked
together across the bridge for the remainder of the six lap ride, Perter and
Baptista able to make some inroads over the closing stages.
Tapia looks to shake up the run
Tapia and Casillas came into T2
together but it was the Mexican out fastest, Steinhauser giving chase, Betto
and Kuriokova in the middle of the group and Zaferes with work to do as they
got the first of three run laps underway.
With Tapia going off the front, Betto
and Zaferes joined the pack of seven runners with some daylight behind them,
but by lap two the Mexican talent was dropped, Kurikova moving up into third.
Tapia had a lot of work to do at that
stage, but the second long climb was again the moment to claw back ground on
the Czech and move through into third.
Kurikova then attacked again and the
two battles, one for gold, one for bronze and the third podium place, raged
across the final lap.
Betto times it just right
Out front it was Zaferes still in
front before Betto timed her climb attack to perfection to pull clear for gold,
while Tapia did likewise a hundred metres further back, but the day belonged to
Alice Betto as she scored a first gold at the end of a huge comeback season.
Fourth went to Kurikova, with
Casillas edging Elizabeth Bravo (ECU) to fifth in a sprint down the blue
carpet.
“It was very challenging,” said
Zaferes, “I wasn’t in the best head space until the last lap on the bike,
getting out on the run I felt in control and just thought ok, stay with this
feeling and stay present. The swim was interesting, I was on Vittoria’s feet
then made a tactical mistake going straighter, but I was happy with getting out
where I did, so progress made. You couldn’t stay comfortable on the run and I
just had to be ready but I couldn’t respond when the attack came. This year has
been long and has had its challenges, but this makes it all worth it.”
“I was coming here for my first World
Cup medal and I did it,” said a smiling Tapia. “Last year I ran with Petra and
she won that World Cup, so I was glad I made it to the front it showed the work
had all been worth it. I was trying to focus on working off the front at the
bike and that’s something I’ve been working on with my coach.”
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