If you’re going to kill the king, you can’t afford to miss your chance when it presents itself. Five men held such an opportunity in their hands at today’s Tiszaujvaros World Cup as they came into T1 with a 13 second lead over Csongor Lehmann (HUN). The door had been forced open, and the breakaway in the women’s race earlier in the afternoon had shown just how dangerous such moments could be. However, Lehmann slammed the door shut with a textbook T1 and rapid first bike lap. Then, safely in the breakaway, the King of Tiszy unfurled a magnificent display in gruelling conditions to make it six wins in a row at home.
Mark Dévay (HUN) was the man that engineered the early challenge to Lehmann as last year’s bronze medallist led the 750m swim in 8:16. Tom Lerno (FRA), a semi-final winner yesterday, followed, with Zalán Hóbor (HUN), Jules Rethoret (FRA) and Chase McQueen (USA) in close pursuit.
Lehmann was on the ropes but did not panic. With a smart transition he managed to turn things around and rode with Spain’s Pelayo Gonzalez Turrez to bridge to the front. By the end of the first bike lap of eight, the seven leaders had a 19 second advantage over their chasers. At halfway, that had grown to 32 seconds.
Sterling work from Nathan Grayel (FRA) in particular helped the chase pack stem the flow of seconds. Coming into T2, the gap was nonetheless 42 seconds following another push from Lehmann, Rethoret and McQueen. The lead could have been non-existent, though, for all Lehmann needed, such was the way he glided away on the first lap of the run.
Lerno held 2nd place at the end of the first run lap, with Dévay on his hip pushing for another medal. At no point, however, did Lehmann look like he was going to relinquish his lead. He carried the unerring certainty of a man that has not lost here this decade and it would have been understandable if no one believed they could dethrone him.
Yet Lerno hung in like a limpet, making Lehmann work for every single second. His perseverance in the heat would be rewarded with a maiden World Cup medal, a prize also earned by Gonzalez who found a way past Dévay on the third lap to take 3rd. Rethoret then completed the top-5 behind Dévay.
When all was said and done, though, it was Lehmann holding six fingers up to the sky as he sauntered over the line to the acclaim of the town. Afterwards he acknowledged that this was his hardest victory, something he also felt he said every year, with his training being geared towards July’s WTCS stops, the oppressive heat, and the late finish to Saturday’s semi-finals all coming into play. He admitted he would have even been satisfied with a top-5 finish. But this is Lehmann and Tiszaujvaros. And the King is not done yet.