The last World Para Triathlon Event (WPE) of the season turned into a duathlon after the swimming segment was scrapped due to the flooded river. That did not throw off home favourite and veteran Yannick Bourseaux, who triumphed in the men’s PT4 race on Sunday (19 June) in Besancon, France. Overall, France took gold in five of nine races.
In a tight race to the finish line, Bourseaux won in (58:27), besting Russian Alexander Yalchik (58:53) and Great Britain’s David Hill (59:35).
Bourseaux and Yalchik were neck-in-neck in the first running segment, but Bourseaux got ahead with about a one minute lead in the biking portion. The bronze for Hill was enough for him to clench his National Federation a spot at the Paralympics.
In the women’s equivalent, Faye McClelland (1:08:32) got her first win of 2016. The world No. 2 from Great Britain was coming off a second-place finish in May’s European Championships. France’s Lemousu Gwladys (1:10:03) finished second, followed by Great Britain’s Kerry Large (1:15:06).
PT1
The Netherlands’ world No. 4, Geert Schipper (56:05) beat the USA’s No. 1 ranked Krige Schabort (56:53) to the tape. This was Schipper’s first WPE win in 2016, having taken second in Strathclyde, Great Britain and in Lisbon, Portugal, for the European Championships. Great Britain’s Joseph Townsend (57:03) finished third.
PT2
European Champion Elise Marc (1:20:18) added another gold medal to France’s collection with her third win of 2016. She finished well ahead of the USA’s No. 1 Hailey Danisewicz (1:25:57), who is still searching for her first win this year. Sweden’s Shahrzad Kiavash (1:32:29) completed the podium.
French teammates Stephane Bahier (1:08:48) and Geoffrey Wersy (1:09:28) took gold and silver, respectively, both followed by Germany’s Stefan Loesler (1:12:26).
PT3
In a two-women race, France’s Manon Genest (1:13:39) had no trouble taking the victory, finishing about nine minutes ahead of Germany’s European Champion Nora Hansel (1:22:49).
Ireland’s Tojo Lazzari (1:06:00) comfortably won the men’s race over Spain’s Joaquin Carrasco (1:08:53), followed by Kyrgyzstan’s Nurbek Toichubaev (1:13:03).
PT5
The women’s race featured a tight battle among Ireland’s Catherine Walsh (1:09:08), the Netherlands’ Joleen Hakkar (1:09:50), and Germany’s Lena Dieter (1:10:25), going one-two-three, respectively.
France’s Arnaud Grandjean (59:09) had a two minute victory over runner-up Italian Manuel Marson (1:01:44). South Africa’s David Jones (1:10:39) followed up with bronze.
Complete results from the 2016 Besancon ITU World Para Triathlon Event can be found on the International Triathlon Union’s (ITU) website.
Next up is the 2016 Rotterdam ITU Para Triathlon World Championships on 23 July in the Netherlands.