France dominant in Caorle with eight medals claimed
Caorle hosted the Europe Triathlon Cup and Junior Cup competition for the sixth time in Porto Santa Margherita, welcoming more than 300 athletes across the weekend. Over 200 juniors competed in Friday afternoon’s semifinals, gaining valuable international racing experience, with many taking part in a Junior Cup event for the first time.
Friday set the tone for the weekend.
The opening day focused on qualification as Junior Men and Women battled for one of 30 spots available in Saturday’s finals. Four semifinals were held for the men and three for the women across the Super Sprint format of a 300m swim, 9.7km bike and 1.9km run, creating fast and aggressive racing throughout the day. Athletes also had the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the course while fighting for the top seven places in the men’s semifinals and top ten in the women’s.
France started strongly, securing 10 spots in the men’s final, while hosts Italy followed closely with seven qualifiers.
In the women’s competition, Italy led the way with 10 athletes progressing to the final, while France qualified six athletes and Switzerland and Hungary both secured four spots.
Saturday’s finals
It was a quick turnaround from Friday evening’s semifinals into Saturday morning’s finals, with the Junior Women’s race getting underway at 10am.
France claimed the first medals of the day as Anouk Rigaud produced a commanding performance on the bike and run to take victory by 30 seconds ahead of compatriot Lea Reviglio. Rigaud improved significantly on her semifinal performance, lowering her Friday time of 28:29 to 26:12 in the final to secure her sixth international victory and ninth career podium.
Israel’s Amit Ben Adiva completed the podium, finishing just ahead of Hungary’s Jázmin Kropkó, who had won her semifinal on Friday.
In the Junior Men’s race, Leni Remer-Mancini added a fourth international gold medal to his collection in a race decided on the run. Remer-Mancini exited T2 ahead of fellow French athlete Jules Chabanel before extending his advantage with the fastest run split over the 1.9km course.
Hungary secured a place on the podium through Dániel Németh’s bronze medal performance, while Guillaume Bohnert finished fourth, narrowly missing out on an all-French podium.
French depth shines with Morlec leading podium sweep
The men’s race saw Hungary take the early initiative with Zalán Hóbor leading the way out of the 750m swim in 10:53, the fastest non-French swim split of the day and a reflection of the demanding nature of the course. Fellow Hungarian Lehel Hóbor followed closely behind alongside a strong French contingent led by Pablo Isotton.
As the race developed, the field split into two distinct groups with a large lead pack establishing control at the front. Among those present were World U23 Championships medallist Baptiste Passemard and World Cup medallist Valentin Morlec, underlining the depth of the French team. Behind, WTCS medallist Paul Georgenthum and Martin Hubner remained within striking distance heading into the run.
The race was ultimately decided over the 5km run as Morlec and Isotton dictated the pace early on. Georgenthum and Hubner continued to close the gap, but Morlec’s race-leading 15:05 run split proved decisive as he secured victory by seven seconds. Isotton held on for silver while Hubner’s late charge earned bronze, ensuring another strong French result.
Grasset continues winning form with another victory
The women’s race saw another dominant display from France as 2024 World Junior Champion Ambre Grasset backed up her recent victory in Torremolinos with an impressive performance against a highly experienced field.
Grasset added another international win to her growing collection, finishing ahead of World Cup medallists Cathia Schär and Roksana Slupek.
The early stages of the race belonged to current World Junior Champion Léa Houart, who produced the fastest swim split of the day. Houart clocked 9:23 to open a nine-second advantage over the field, with third place already more than 25 seconds behind.
On the bike, Slupek led the chase while Schär and Grasset were forced to recover significant time after the swim. Both produced some of the strongest bike splits of the race to bridge back into contention before the run.
The battle for the podium unfolded over the 5km run, with the leading trio quickly separating themselves from the rest of the field. Schär posted the fastest run split of the day in 17:13, narrowly ahead of Slupek’s 17:15, while Grasset remained in contention throughout with a 17:16 split of her own.
In the closing stages, Grasset’s finishing speed proved decisive as the French athlete surged clear to secure victory by three seconds. Schär claimed silver while Slupek marked her return to international racing following last summer’s WTCS Hamburg crash with an encouraging bronze medal performance.
Junior Mixed Relay
The first Junior Mixed Relay of the season saw the host nation Italy secure gold in front of a home crowd, with Switzerland taking silver and Israel claiming a historic bronze medal, the nation’s first ever podium in a Junior Mixed Relay event.
Italy’s second team also crossed the line in a medal position, but competition regulations meant only one team per nation could officially stand on the podium.
It was a confident and composed performance from the Italian squad, who closed out the weekend by celebrating relay victory on home soil.
Full resuts from the Junior and Elite races can be found here:
Coverage of the Elite and Junior Finals can be viewed here.
Images: Jon Cornish/Europe Triathlon