Cassandre
Beaugrand (FRA) was back to her imperious best on Saturday morning in Sardinia,
finding yet another decisive gear down the home straight to see off her last
challenger Lisa Tertsch (GER) after a colossal finale to the 10km run.
It had
been too tight to call as the run boiled down to that duo, Emma Lombardi (FRA)
and Beth Potter (GBR), the defending world champion looking in command until
the final 500m when Beaugrand dug in for one last push.
It was a
first Series gold at the Olympic distance and at the perfect time two months
out from a huge home Games, Tertsch settling for silver, Potter holding on for
the bronze.
The 1500m
ocean swim was not an easy one in Cagliari. The 60 women toeing the start line
faced a wetsuit swim on choppy water that proved to be challenging even for the
greater swimmers of the pack. Maya Kingma (NED), Bianca Seregni (ITA) and Beth
Potter (GBR) where the first ones hitting the sand to quickly turn around the
bouys and get back again in the water for the second lap, but with a relatively
big group right at their feet.
A group
that had indeed almost all the big names on it, including Cassandra Beaugrand
(FRA), Taylor Spivey (USA), Flora Dufy (BER), Emma Lombardi (FRA) o Taylor
Knibb (USA), just to name a few, all of them hitting transition less than 10
seconds behind the leader.
Kate
Waugh (GBR) was the last athlete to make contact with the lead group of 14
athletes and they jumped on their bikes knowing that they would have to work
hard to avoid the chase group, that included strong bikers like Sophie Coldwell
(GBR), Lisa Terstch (GER) or Katie Zaferes (USA). For Coldwell and Zaferes
making contact with the lead group was key, knowing that the eyes of the
selectors that will be naming each countries’s team for the Paris Olympics were
in Cagliari taking notes.
A small
group of six motivated athletes is probably the best scenario when it comes to
a chase group, and before the end of the second lap -out of ten-, the lead
group became a massive train of 24 athletes that would then rode together until
the end of the 40km bike ride.
With a
flat bike course like the one in Cagliari, it was just a matter of negotiating
carefully the multiple corners, avoid trouble and try to sabe as much legs as
possible for the final 10k. That was the mission for Zaferes, Laura Lindemann
(GER) or Potter most of the time, while ahead of the lead group, Knibb tried
unsuccessfully to break the train apart. On the bell lap, the leaders had more
than three minutes over the chase group, led by a desperate Leonie Periault
(FRA), Alberte Kjær Pedersen (NED) and Lotte Miller (NOR).
Periault,
who was wearing the number one after her stunning victory on the opening WTCS
of the season two weeks ago in Yokohama, had an average swim and couldn’t make
up ground with the group.
Up front,
the large pack of 24 women hit the second transition together, and it was Emma
Lombardi who was first on her running shoes, but with a group of ten women in
less than 8 seconds behind her. Lombardi decided to push hard from the gun. She
was quickly followed by her compatriot Beaugrand, and Beth Potter, but quickly
the other three British joined the party, with Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR),
Sophie Coldwell and Kate Waugh knowing that a podium in Cagliari would mean
almost automatically a ticket to the Paris 2024 Olympics. Also in the lead
group was Jeanne Lehair (LUX), while behind the leading six Katie Zaferes
fighted to remain in touch, knowing also that a top 5 result would write her
name on bold letters on the notebooks of the selectors for Team USA.
Half-way
through the run, the group of six leading was joined by Lisa Tertscht, who
looked fresh and calm, while behind them the group started to stretch, with
Knibb, Kate Waugh, Zaferes, Duffy, Spivey and Verena Steinhauser (ITA) not able
to keep on with the pace of the leaders.
On the
bell lap, the leading six became only four, dropping Taylor-Brown and Coldwell,
to face the last kilometer looking at each other trying to decide when to do
the last push. And it was Beaugrand the one going for it with the finish line
on sight, managing to open a few meters with Terstcht, that will end up
crossing the finish line in second place, while Potter grabbed the last spot of
the podium. A disappointed Lombardi crossed the finish line in fourth,
obviously not enough for her but enough to make her the new World Triathlon
Championship Series leader, while Lehair rounded the top five.
This was
the first-ever victory for Beaugrand on a standard distance WTCS, one that
feels even better only two and a half months before the Olympics in Paris this
summer. “I kept telling myself ‘you can not lose this race, you have to keep
fighting´, and I did. I haven’t been able to run much in the last two weeks,
but I decided to go for it today, I didn’t want to wait until the end so I just
pushed and it worked. I didn’t want to lose a sprint again, so I am very happy
today”, she explained.
“I was
fighting until the end, but I am very happy. I know how people races, I observe
them, we were all watching each other… it was fun”, said Lisa. “I already
qualified for the Olympics last year, so this year is just preparing for it,
but I am very happy with how preparations are going”.
“I went
for the win today and got third, but I am happy”, said Potter. “My goal is end
of July to be on top form, but I am confident of where I am now. I had a bad
cold a couple of weeks ago but I feel OK now”.
On the
British battle for the Olympic team, Taylor-Brown was the second Brit to cross
the finish line in sixth place, on what she hopes that could be enough to prove
to the selectors that she deserves one of the golden tickets to the Games,
while Sophie Coldwell finished in seventh place. On the other side, Waugh was
the fourth Brit on the finish line today, and her 10th place might not be
enough to make the Olympic selection.
Team USA
also was following closely their athletes, and it was Knibb the first American
on the finish line, in 11th place, with Zaferes right behind her, a 12th place
that felt great for the double Olympic medalist. Spivey, one of the most
consistent American athletes so far, managed to finish in 15th place, while
Kirsten Kasper did not have the legs today, and could only finish in 21st
place, after her brilliant 5th place in WTCS Yokohama.
The
current Olympic champion, Flora Duffy, crossed the finish line in 8th place,
with a negative split in the last 5km, and Nina Eim finished in 9th place.
Results:
Elite Women
1.Cassandre
Beaugrand FRA01:47:25
2.Lisa
Tertsch GER01:47:28
3.Beth
Potter GBR01:47:31
4.Emma
Lombardi FRA01:47:32
5.Jeanne
Lehair LUX01:47:51
