QUARTEIRA, PORTUGAL - In the Algarve sunshine on the beachfront of Portuguese town Quarteira, Spain’s Igor Bellido followed in the footsteps of his idol Mario Mola by becoming the World Triathlon Junior World Champion on Saturday afternoon.
It had been a hugely unpredictable
race in which bad luck befell three of the leaders and several falls broke up
the bike field before Bellido flew out of T2 and held firm all the way to the
tape after the impressive Henry Graf (GER) had faltered. Behind him, Portugal’s
Joao Nuno Batista outran the pack to win silver and follow his 2019 World
Champion brother Ricardo onto the prestigious Junior Worlds podium, Britain’s
Dominic Coy battling his way to an excellent bronze.
“The race was so hard, there were a
lot of good athletes out there,” said Bellido, “but many came down on the bike
and we had to be careful to avoid them. I knew I had to go hard straight out of
T2 and that that was where I could win it and that's what I had been training
for. I just want to say thanks to my family and coaches and I cannot wait to
celebrate this with them.”
Conditions were near-perfect for the
1pm beach start, and it was another Brit, Daniel Dixon, who was going well in
the early stages of the 750m one-lap swim. He was joined by Germany’s Graf and
the two were carving their way through clear water with USA’s Andrew
Shellenberger staying in touch as the field strung right out.
Batista was only a few seconds back
out of the water too, but as the powerful Graf put the hammer down straight out
of transition, only Shellenberger and Dixon could keep up. The Dutch duo of
Jesse Cujpers and Mitch Kolkman were just 10 seconds back, Bellido 20 seconds
off the leaders, Coy 40 seconds as the bikers began to try and get organised
for the 20km ride.
For a relatively flat bike course,
things soon took a major turn out front, however. Graf kept hitting the gas on
the small climbs at the end of each lap, and it was on the first that Dixon
pushed a little too hard coming out of the descent and came off at speed.
Shaken but not too badly hurt, the
Brit could get back on but was suddenly 50 seconds off Graf, Shellenberger now
the only man keeping up with him - and comfortable in taking pulls of his own -
as Batista took control of the chase pack along with Norway’s Sebastian
Wernersen, and Swiss Ben Fah 20 seconds behind.
Graf was looking at ease and in total
control, and just as their lead out front was growing, at the end of the second
lap it was Shellenberger who lost traction and slid away in similar fashion to
Dixon to end his challenge.
That left Graf to take the final
6.5km all alone and eventually coast into transition with a 5km run to go and a
massive 35 seconds of daylight behind him. With 23 athletes now all together in
their shoes and hunting him down, the drama was still far from over.
Within 750m of starting the run, it
was clear that the German was struggling to find his legs and he ground to a
near-halt as the Spaniard Bellido was the first to fly past. The likes of Coy,
Batista, Alexandre Montez (POR) and Canada’s Leo Roy were soon able to catch
and pass the unfortunate Graf too, and from that point another very different
race was suddenly on.
In fact, Bellido was in no mood to
relinquish such an opportunity and nobody in the chasers had an answer to his
burst of speed. He had opened up 20 seconds over Batista, Hampus Mansson (SWE)
and Gjalt Panjer (NED) at the halfway mark, and by the time he was back on the
long straight home, the occasional nervous look over the shoulder simply showed
him that there was nobody close enough to prevent the young Spanish talent from
taking the tape and the title with pure delight in Quarteira.
It was indeed the younger Batistsa
brother who, spurred on by the crowds, summoned the family spirit once more to
take the silver with a brilliant run, Coy holding off Kolkman to win the bronze.
Justus Topper (GER) came home in 5th, Panjer in 6th, followed by Miguel
Larramona (ITA), Luca Luberti (SUI), Esteban Basanta Fouz and Andres Prieto
Villar (ESP) rounding out the top ten.
“My brother was World Champion in
Lausanne two years ago and on the last lap of that run was very complicated but
the legs were still there so I am very happy,” said an overwhelmed Joao Batista
after the race.
“I knew I could put a good race
together today but to be honest I didn’t think I could do that,” said Coy. “It
was really tough on the bike and there were some really good guys that went
down so I was just focussed on getting to T2. I knew Joao was a really good
runner and wanted to stay with him when he kicked and I managed to hold on for
bronze.”
For the full results, click here. https://www.triathlon.org/results/result/2021_world_triathlon_junior_championships_quarteira/530440https://www.triathlon.org/results/result/2021_world_triathlon_junior_championships_quarteira/530440?mc_cid=7cf2357fdf&mc_eid=6139649918
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.
MichaelPhelps Teaches Swimming - Most of us can swim, but there’s a difference between dog paddling on vacation and swimming for fitness. If you’re looking to unlock the low-impact, calorie-burning benefits of swimming, check out this course from Michael Phelps on This Skills. The 26-time Olympic gold medalist will cover everything you need to feel confidant and comfortable swimming laps. You’ll learn all the basic strokes, plus wall kicking, diving and other techniques, but you’ll also get a glimpse into the mindset of the most decorated Olympian of all time. Learn more at https://tinyurl.com/v4nmne8h
No comments:
Post a Comment