Julie
Derron (SUI) and Lasse Priester (GER) wear the number ones as latest chapter of
Paris 2024 qualification story heads to Chengdu World Cup
The fifth
World Cup stop of this Olympic year sees the circuit head to Chengdu, China, on
Monday, where the battles for the medals as well as the points and performances
that could help seal Paris 2024 qualification are on the line.
Starting
out in Napier (NZL) in February before heading to Hong Kong, Lievin (FRA) and
then Wollongong (AUS) last weekend, the World Cup tour now has three stages
left within the qualification period: Chengdu, Huatulco and Samarkand. The heat
is on.
And so it
is to China that we head for an unusual Monday race, and a Chengdu circuit that
first appeared on the schedule a decade ago in 2014. The two-lap, 1.5km swim
transitions into a six-lap 40km bike, each loop with fast, rolling corners and
two leg-busting dead turns, and then it's 4 x 2.5km run laps to the tape. Watch
the action over on TriathlonLive.tv.
MEN'S
PREVIEW
Schomburg
and Priester going all-in
While
Monday racing is something out of the ordinary, this is a course that the two
top-ranked German athletes know well. Number one Lasse Nygaard Priester raced
here in October, finishing 22nd after a poor swim left him too far off the pace
to challenge despite a huge run effort. Jonas Schomburg was among the names to
tackle the course for the first time back in 2014, as well as finishing 17th
six months ago. Both will want to deliver this time around.
Priester’s
World Cup win on a tough Karlovy Vary course back in 2021 remains his best
result to date and one of four career podiums overall, while Schomburg’s first
World Cup medal also came in the Czech hills, with bronze last year. Two
fearless athletes, one place on the Paris 2024 start line the ultimate prize.
Hungarians
on the hunt
Like
Germany, Team Hungary are in a great position to qualify the maximum three men
for Paris. Bence Bicsak finished 7th at Tokyo 2020, was fourth here in 2023,
and is on paper the strong choice, but the 28-year-old has struggled recently
to find race consistency that can allow his undoubted run ability to really
shine. Bicsak’s last podium was bronze at WTCS Abu Dhabi in 2021 against the
best in the world, so he knows he has it in him. This would be a great time to
rediscover that form.
Mark
Devay and Gabor Faldum are the other two Hungarian names in the frame for
Paris. Both race here, both have been in solid form of late, arguably Faldum’s
12th place at the Test Event ahead of all three compatriots the most
eye-catching evidence of his potential.
Tayler
Reid ready to redeem
An
unfortunate equipment penalty saw Tayler Reid (NZL) miss out on a podium in
Woolongong, a moment that could light the fire of a big display here in China.
A medal at his first-time hit out in Chengdu would be the perfect moment to
show Team New Zealand that he is the man to join Hayden Wilde in Paris, and
would certainly boost the chances a full trio of Kiwi men at the Games.
Third in
the Asia Triathlon Championships a week ago, Junjie Fan is the top-ranked of
the home athletes and starting his fifth World Cup. Aoba Yasumatsu continues to
pursue his path to Paris for Japan, and Azerbaijan’s Rostislav Pevtsov chases a
remarkable sixth podium here after one gold, three silver and a bronze to date.
Fresh from E-World Championship silver in London, Britain’s Max Stapley (GBR)
will want to reiterate his Olympic credentials on a continent that has seen
some of his best results at this level, including silver in Yeongdo last
August.
The first
official event of the year for Team World Triathlon, the development squad
helping athletes from nations with fewer resources to reach their Olympic
goals, Chengdu welcomes Tyler Smith (BER) and Vitalii Vorontsov (UKR) onto the
start line, while Badr Siwane of Morocco starts with his Games debut still a
possibility if results go his way.
Further
names to watch looking to covert their recent displays into medal-winning
performances include Denmark’s Emil Holm, Italy’s Michele Sarzilla and Chilean
Gaspar Riveros as this Olympic season gathers some serious momentum.
WOMEN'S
PREVIEW
Derron
ready to push on in 2024
It has
been a strong sequence of results from Switzerland’s Julie Derron that sees her
assume the race number one, reaching back to her last race in China in 2019 and
a career-first gold in Weihai. Back-to-back silvers in Arzachena, a Karlovy
Vary gold, the 2022 European title and bronze in the Mixed Relay World
Championships last year all underline what this powerful 27-year-old is capable
of.
The
exertions of her familiar hauling of chasing bike packs up to the leaders has
taken a toll in the past, but a 7th-fastest 10km run split to finish 8th at
last year’s Championship Finals Pontevdera again suggested big things lie
ahead. The gap to the front pack out of the water could be the difference
between top 10 and top of the podium on Monday morning for the Swiss number
one.
Lin
looking for breakthrough finish
Fourth
here last year remains Xinyu Lin’s - and indeed her country’s - best result of
all time at this level, so China’s Asian Games silver medallist would love to
register a first World Cup podium on home soil to kickstart her Olympic
ambitions. If she can find her stride after an hour in the saddle, Lin could be
ready to secure that historic first World Cup medal for China.
With a
place in Paris looking ever more assured, New Zealand’s Nicole Van Der Kaay
will be seeking more Olympic-distance form after her solid 13th place in
Quarteira last month. The Kiwi has been building back from a major accident
suffered racing Super League last year, but the memory of her first World Cup
win 14 months ago in New Plymouth will be powering her on once more on Monday.
Italians
racing for Paris
Ilaria
Zane and Alice Betto sit at 34th and 48th in the Olympic Rankings heading into
race week, knowing that either sitting inside the top 30 at the end of May
would likely see Italy secure the maximum three quota places in Paris. Zane was
third here last October, while Betto won Brasilia gold the same weekend. This
will be a fascinating encounter between two compatriots who, remarkably,
haven’t crossed the line at the same individual race since 2018. That race? The
Cagliari World Cup. The results? Betto finished 7th, Zane 8th.
The
strongest South American challenge for medals will again come from Ecuador’s
Elizabeth Bravo, while Mexico’s rising star Sofia Rodriguez Moreno, the
Continental bronze medallist in Miami last month behind the Ecuadorian, will
also be looking to feature. Bravo has put together some strong finishes of late
and knows well what it takes to podium at this level.
Elsewhere,
Sweden’s 2022 Junior World Champion Tilda Mansson strode to her third World Cup
victory last weekend. Her best performances to date may have all come at the
sprint distance, but this will be another good test of her mettle over the
Olympic, as the 19-year-old continues to make moves towards an exciting Games
debut at Paris 2024.
Team
World Triathlon gathers
Chengdu
will also be Team World Triathlon’s first official race of 2024. The squad for
athletes from smaller nations is provided precious coaching and travel support
at specific events in their quest to qualify for Paris, and will include the
in-form Erica Hawley of Bermuda, Colombia’s Maria Carolina Velasquez Soto and
Zuzana Michalikova. The Slovakian currently stands just ten places ahead of
compatriot Romana Gajdosova in what could be the race for the New Flag position
in Paris.
Elsewhere
on the start list, Lotte Miller (NOR) returns to the blue carpet for the first
time since October hoping her back injury is behind her, Mansson’s 2021 Junior
World Championship rival Jule Behrens (GER) starts only her third World Cup,
and Aquathlon World Champion Zsanett Kuttor-Bragmayer (HUN) chases her first
World Cup podium since Haeundae 2021.
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