With a fantastic final sprint, Laura
Lindemann mastered the sizzling super-sprint format of the World Triathlon
Indoor Cup Lievin, outsprinting in the last meters Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR)
and Gwen Jorgensen (USA) on an epic battle in the blue carpet.
The World Triathlon Indoor Cup in
Lievin delivered a spectacle that will be hard to forget, with almost 3.000
espectators cheering on the stands, thrilled with the format that makes its
debut on the World Cup circuit: 12 athletes line up on each race -6 heats for
the men, 4 for the women- followed by three semi-finals for each gender and
then the B final and A finals-. A 150m swim - 6 lengths of the pool with two
athletes to a lane - is followed by a 15-lap, 3km bike and out onto the 5-lap,
1km run, with heats and repechage to decide the 36 athletes into three
semi-finals per gender, the top four of each semi-final progressing into the
final, the next four on the finish line of each semi-final into a B-final.
The stage was set for an exhilarating
competition as 38 women lined up for the four Heats, all vying for a spot in
the finals. With the top six from each Heat advancing, the pressure was on for
athletes to deliver their best performances. Despite the intense competition,
all the leading contenders navigated their heats successfully, except for Vicky
Holland, the Rio 2016 bronze medalist, who faced disqualification for not
serving a penalty during her Heat, that she in fact had won.
Leonie Periault, Laura Lindemann,
Jessica Fullagar, and Audrey Merle secured their places in the Finals from the
first semi-final, while Jolien Vermeylen, Lena Meissner, Georgia Taylor-Brown,
and Zuzana Michalickova advanced from the second semi-final. The final
semi-final saw Swiss athletes Nora Gmur and Cathia Schar dominate, with Gwen
Jorgensen and Robin Dreijling earning their spots in the ultimate showdown.
As the finals commenced, Zuzana
Michalickova once again demonstrated her prowess in the water, leading the
field after the swimming leg. The athletes went through transition in one large
pack and on the bike segment, a tight-knit group tackled 15 fast laps, with
Jorgensen strategically conserving energy at the rear. Periault and Cathia
Schar set a brisk pace, closely pursued by Taylor-Brown and Lindemann.
The tension mounted as the
competitors hit the final transition, with Periault emerging as the frontrunner
on the run, trailed closely by Michalickova, Lindemann, Vermeylen, and
Taylor-Brown, while Jorgensen fought to close the gap. In a breathtaking
climax, Lindemann summoned a burst of speed in the last lap, leaving her rivals
trailing in her wake. Taylor-Brown managed to hold off Jorgensen, securing
second place as the American claimed bronze. Periault, buoyed by local support,
crossed the finish line in fourth, with Lena Meissner rounding out the top
five.
“It was really hard, I think it was
one of the toughest races I have ever done I think. I tried to follow and have
some energy for the last metres but it really was all out from the beginning”,
said Lindemann after claiming the victory.
“I am really happy with today, I
don’t feel super run fit at the moment but I am getting there and it was really
exciting today”, explained Taylor-Brown, who tried to save a bit of energy for
the last leg, but was not really able to do it. “That was the idea (to save
legs) but when you’re here and the atmosphere, you get carried away and I went
harder than I wanted to in the heats and semis. The heats were a shock and it
really hurt my throat because it’s such a dry air in here but everyone was the
same but the Finals were really hard because it was busier and more compact on
the bike and the run was super fast.”
“I came out here and I really wanted
to treat this like my Abu Dhabi as the race was cancelled. I obviously came
here to win but I got outdone by Laura (Lindemann) and Georgia (Taylor-Brown)
and it was a really fun atmosphere, there are just so many people here in the
crowd and it makes it really exciting, I’d like to see more of this format. It
was really special,” said Jorgensen.
Results: Final Women
1. Laura
Lindemann GER 00:10:19
2. Georgia
Taylor-Brown GBR 00:10:19
3. Gwen
Jorgensen USA 00:10:19
4. Leonie
Periault FRA 00:10:20
5. Lena
Meißner GER 00:10:25
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