Two weeks after a crash that took her out of WTCS Yokohama, Olympic and World Champion Cassandre Beaugrand was once again showing the world her mettle, the French star producing another golden win at the first ever WTCS Alghero on Saturday.
Chasing hard on the second lap of the swim to not lose touch of leaders Bianca Seregni and Olivia Mathias, Beaugrand was able to bridge the gap to the lead bike group with the help of a returning Maya Kingma, and then put over two and a half minutes into the likes of Beth Potter and Lisa Tertsch in the chase pack.
With that sizeable margin to her biggest rivals, Beaugrand then wasted no time opening up a lead onto the 10km run, stretching decisively clear of the field. Seregni, lifted by the crowds, soared into second ahead of Mathias, and that was how the top three stayed, two outstanding debut Series podiums for the Italian and the Brit.
'I'm very emotional, this morning I didn't think I was going to be able to race,' admitted Beaugrand. 'I called my coach and asked her if it was worth it. I could only train for two days in the last 2 weeks, I was coming back from the crash (in Yokohama) and then I got a virus, so I was in bed a few days. But this morning I thought “I love what I do, I will give it a chance”, so today means the world to me.
I remembered my swim in Torremolinos, so on that second lap I told myself 'come on, Cass, you’ve done this so many times. You need to prove that you deserve what you got last year.'
Lisa Tertsch (6th in Alghero) remains Series leader ahead of Jeanne Lehair (7th) and Rosa Maria Tapia (13th), Beaugrand's first 1,000 points of her title defence put her into 12th place after three races. The best three scores from seven Series races plus those won at the Championship Finals will decide the 2025 world champion.
The beach start was switched to a water-start after conditions on the sand changed overnight, Beth Potter the only one of the top-10 yellow caps not to occupy a spot on the left of the line up as Tertsch and co hit the left.
It was Bianca Seregni and Olivia Mathias soon stretching things out ahead, though, the returning duo of Maya Kingma and Summer Rappaport also making waves as they began to create a gap to the main bunch.
With Beaugrand followed out by Potter and Tertsch 15 seconds off the front at the halfway point, the Olympic Champion had to push on hard on lap two to keep the leaders in sight.
That effort, plus a slick transition, saw her hold onto Kingma out of transition as the front five of Mathias, Rappaport, Seregni, Emma Jeffcoat and Therese Feuersinger sped clear.
The gap was suddenly 30 seconds to the chasers as Beaugrand and Kingma hauled in the front five, catching on and then helping shell Rappaport as the pace was on.
Rappaport fell back to the chasers and they could not get organised, the likes of Jeanne Lehair, Leonie Periault and Annika Koch looking to stem the drift but the pack largely unresponsive, a flat tyre taking Gwen Jorgensen out of contention.
With each of the nine passing laps, the gap grew wider, all the way out to 150 seconds by the time transition came into sight again.
Another brilliant Mathias transition and she was away first but Beaugrand was soon on her and then past, out into familiar territory leading a Series race even if in unlikely circumstances without her usual rivals alongside.
Behind, Seregni was into second and clear of Mathias, Kingma unable to stay in touch for the medals while Periault went through the gears to score the fastest 10km time of 34m10s and haul her way into fifth ahead of Tertsch. Lehair, Potter, Jolien Vermeylen and Feuersinger rounding out the top ten.
Bianca Seregni:
'I don't have words. This is a great victory for me, my first WTCS podium. I'm so proud and so happy. Today I really put the mind on focusing on the three disciplines and I could put all three together. and to do this at home makes it even more special. I was trying to put my eyes on Cassandre but I was really suffering, she was just too strong. So I focused on keeping my pace and stay calm.
Olivia Mathias:
'This feels amazing, I cant believe it. Its been a really tough last year, but I just kept believing and working hard, so Im so happy that I finally managed to be on the podium at a WTCS. I was super nervous before, this morning I was throwing up, but I just focused on staying calm. I am grateful that the start was changed cause I was so far back on the rankings that I would have been on the bad side of the beach. I was nervous about my swim, but I managed to get it and be in the breakaway. I could see (on the bike) that the gap was growing and growing, but on the run is so hard when you are by yourself, and then Cass (Beaugrand) was flying.
Full results click here
