On Saturday afternoon in a raucous
London Aquatic Centre, Germany’s Justus Nieschlag quietly tightened his grip
over not just a second Arena Games Triathlon gauntlet, but quite possibly the
first ever world title in this remarkable, hi-tech hybrid format.
There were plenty of talking points
pre-race, including local hero Alex Yee looking to bounce back from
disappointment in Munich, the star of that show Aurelien Raphael not reaching
the final and the breakout name from a fortnight ago Max Stapley looking to
deliver a second successive medal.
And it was the Australian who took
the race by the throat in the first of three stages, powering through the 200m
pool swim to emerge first but only just ahead of Nicolo Strada of Italy and
Japan’s Takumi Hojo.
Yee and Nieschlag were both five
seconds back at that early stage, fighting their way back into contention as
Strada seized the moment and pulled clear from Stapley to get out front with
some daylight behind and with drafting turned off on Zwift, it was a TT effort
to the dismount.
Yee, Stapley, Hojo and Nieschlag were
shoulder-to-shoulder through the tight transition and onto the treadmills, the
Brit soon hitting the pace to overhaul the Italian, establish himself out front
and send the crowd wild.
It was just three seconds he stayed
ahead of Nieschlag, however, Strada and Stapley both 11 seconds back but
disaster for the Australian right at the horn of the reversed second stage as
he went too early on the treadmill and bagged a five second penalty.
Disaster, too, for Yee, because he
was visibly tiring as the German was absolutely flying and put four seconds
into the Brit, Maxime Hueber-moosbrugger of France going well too with Strada
staying in contention on the bike.
The German had given everything in
the pool to give himself a healthy lead but it looked to have taken a toll as
he stumbled back to the next start. How much that was for show was debatable
though as he quickly gathered himself for the final round of action.
Nieschlag took a 16-seconds advantage
into that final stage and as he dived in, Yee gritted his teeth to give chase,
Nicolo Strada a surely unassailable 37 seconds off the front, Stapley 45
seconds off the German already starting his second length.
Yee was slick in transition trying to
claw back what had grown to a 25second deficit but it was Strada looking good,
leaving the Brit to focus on the silver. Hueber Moosbrugger couldn’t close in
on the medals, and it was Strada hanging tough ahead of him in third.
There was simply no stopping Justus
Nieschlag from water to Zwift bike to treadmill run, he found his pace quickly
and hit the watts, eventually taking the win to set up a huge Singapore
throwdown for the first Esport triathlon world title in two weeks’ time. Alex
Yee took the silver, Strada the bronze.
The full results can be found here .
https://triathlon.org/results/result/2022_arena_games_triathlon_series_london_powered_by_zwift/555807?mc_cid=25060ea106&mc_eid=6139649918
Results: Elite Men
1.Justus Nieschlag GER 00:33:43
2.Alex Yee GBR 00:34:12
3.Nicolò Strada ITA 00:34:36
4.Maxime Hueber-moosbrugger FRA 00:34:44
5.Simon Henseleit GER 00:34:52
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.
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