World Triathlon

The 16th edition of the Alanya Triathlon ITU Premium European Cup Triathlon welcomed the athletes all over Europe and all over the world with rain. This climate is very unusual for this region at this time of the year. Due to the extreme weather conditions, the swim course was changed to a 2 laps course in the harbor from the traditional open water swim.

After the junior events, where Natalia Shlyakhenko and Denis Vasiliev (both from Russia) won the event, the elite men lined up on the start line. 70 athletes were ready to dive into the 26C degree sea. Dmitriy Nosarev was the first out of the water with the French Laurent Vidal on his heel. On the early kilometers of the bike, there was a small lead group in the front. The second and third chase group was working hard and it became a big group over 30 athletes in the front by the end of the 4th lap. In the last lap of the bike Frederik van Lierde made a successful breakaway attempt and entered the transition first. The peloton came a few seconds behind and the best runners have eaten the lead of van Lierde very soon. Dmitriy Gaag was the fastest after the transition but the three other athletes could go with him including former Olympic bronze medallist, Sven Riederer, Laurent Vidal and the young Russian athlete, Ioulian Malishev. Riederer made his move in the last lap on the uphill section. The other could still reply to this, but 500 meters before the finish he made his second attempt and it was successful. Gaag came second and Vidal finished third.

The women race started during the mens race making a lot of action for the spectators cheering for the athletes. Silvia Gemignani from Italy was the first out of the water followed by Jessica Harrison and Lucie Zelenkova. They formed a group immediately on the bike helping each other, but they were not fast enough to keep the rest of the filed in a distance. The chase group caught them in the third lap and from that on, they all rode together till the transition. The two French athletes, Peon and Harrison and Olga Zausailova broke away on the run running together till 500 meters to the finish. At that point Harrison dropped from the leaders. The sprint finish was very exciting at the end and Zausailova was the faster in the last 100 meters and claimed the gold medal. Peon got the silver and Harrison finished in third position.

Click here for full results!