Beth Potter delivered another golden
day for Great Britain this Saturday at the 2023 Groupe Coplay World Triathlon
Championship Series Montreal, claiming a significant victory for Team GB, whose
women’s have won all the Series races so far this season. The Brit managed to
outsprint in the final meters Frenchwoman Leonie Periault, back in form after a
disappointing start of the year, while the bronze medal was for USA’s Summer
Rappaport, able to display a great run after a great bike course.
The sun was shining bright the whole
week in Montreal, but by the time the 55 female athletes were lining up on the
Old Port pontoon in Montreal, rain drops were falling, bringing a completely
different scenario for everyone. But the race started to unfold actually 48
hours before the start, when Taylor Knibb (USA) was late to the athlete’s
briefing as she decided to race on the USA Cycling Time-Trial National
Championships on Thursday morning -where she finished 4th, just two seconds off
the podium-, meaning that she would have to serve a 10 seconds penalty on T1. The
information spread out through the whole field quickly, and while the American
had a clear race plan on her mind, the rest of the athletes were trying to
seize the opportunity to open a break that would minimise Knibb’s chances of
breaking away on the bike.
But let’s move forward to the
heartbeat that marked the start of the WTCS Montreal race. The Brit squad -
Georgia Taylor-Brown, Sophie Coldwell and Kate Waugh decided to take position
on the right side of the pontoon, while Taylor Spivey, Taylor Knibb and Summer
Rappaport went to the left. Right in the middle of the field, Katie Zaferes
(USA), who got in the race at the last minute from the wait list.
And it was Brasil’s Vittoria Lopes
the one who got first out of the 750 swim point-to-point, but with Knibb right
behind her, and on the long run to the first transition, the American just went
full gas, her swimsuit on her waist, looking anxiously behind her and trying to
get some seconds that will allow her to stay with the front group despite the
penalty.
Knibb made it to her bike on the
lead, and froze for 10 seconds while behind her Rappaport, Coldwell, Zaferes,
Waugh, Rosa Maria Tapia Vidal (MEX) and Taylor-Brown were trying to get
organised in the first meters of the bike, but the penalty was not long enough
for Knibb to loose that group. She managed to catch the group at the end, and
it clearly looked like the 20km bike ride will be a large pack carefully
managing the turns to avoid crashes.
And so it was for the first two laps,
but on lap three Knibb just moved to the front, started pushing without looking
back and only Rappaport was able to follow her. The duo open a small gap of
just a few seconds, but behind them the group was too big to get organised, and
they just used that to their advantage, keeping a lead that extended at some
point to almost 15 seconds.
The leading duo made it to the second
transition together, with Rappaport displaying a fast transition and starting
the run on the lead, Knibb a few meters behind, and only three seconds back Zsanett
Bragmayer (HUN) and a group of fast runners that included Leonie Periault
(FRA), Katie Zaferes, Beth Potter (GBR), Jeanne Lehair (LUX), Georgia
Taylor-Brown and Cathia Schar (SUI).
Lehair, an incredible talented
runner, quickly took the lead of the small group and went on the chase of
Rappaport, and took Periault and Potter with her to chase first Knibb and then
join Rappaport on the lead of the race. She might have gone too early, though,
and with 2 kilometers to go the Luxemburg medal hopeful faded a little bit, to
leave Rappaport, potter and Periault on the lead. Behind them, Zaferes,
Taylor-Brown and Knibb were trying to stay ahead of Spivey and Bragmayer,
taking turns to push the pace as fast as they could, but not hard enough to
catch the leaders.
With the leading trio running
shoulder to shoulder, it was Potter who decided to give it a last push and
sprinted right when they were heading to the blue carpet, all smiles to claim
her second victory of the season and her career, one that continues with the
full Team GB gold strike this season so far. “I didn’t have a great swim today
but I just made sure I stayed cool and calm and worked hard on the first two
laps of the bike and got back on. I wasn’t actually sure where she (Taylor
Knibb) was and I was thinking if she’s in front of me, I am in trouble. She was
in front of me and I still managed to get there so that’s a big confidence
boost,” said the Brit after her victory.
Second on the sprint finish was
Leonie Periault, a great result for the French woman after a rather
disappointing start of the season. “I am just very happy for my race. The last
month has been really difficult for me. To take the second today, it’s amazing.
I am very happy. Now my focus is the Paris Test Event,” she explained.
Bronze on the day was Rappaport, also
extremely happy with her overall race this Saturday. “I am thrilled. It’s been
a really difficult couple of years, I thought about quitting probably more days
than not but I think everybody likes seeing someone who is consistent, but I
think sport is more about having the struggles and standing back up and keeping
on fighting. I think that’s why most athletes do it and I am not going to quit
on myself because of hard times.I was pretty proud of myself today. I switched
training groups, I am training now with Ian O’Brien now and Taylor (Knibb) is
one of my training partners. I have been working really hard in training so it
was really good to put it together. I was surprised when it was just the two of
us and I thought, I know what I’ve got to do. I am very happy I didn’t quit and
hopefully I will be back even more now,” she said.
Fourth today was Jeanne Lehair, the
current European Champion, one step closer to the podium today and one of the
more consistent athletes in the last months, after her 5th place in Cagliari
and 4th in Montreal, while Katie Zaferes claimed the fifth place, one that
means a lot to the American on her return to the top of the field after her
maternity.
Taylor Knibb, Georgia Taylor-Brown,
Zsanett Bragmayer and Taylor Spivey followed on the finish line, with
Colombia’s Maria Carolina Velasquez Soto rounding the top 10, a career best for
the young South American athlete.
Results: Elite Women
1.Beth Potter GBR00:58:10
2.Leonie Periault FRA00:58:12
3.Summer Rappaport USA00:58:19
4.Jeanne Lehair LUX00:58:28
5.Katie Zaferes USA00:58:33
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