Alberto Gonzalez Garcia denies Beijing World Cup winner Max Studer in Tongyeong
One benefit of the back-to-back races in the end of season World Cup swing is the opportunity to learn from one event to the next. Alberto Gonzalez Garcia (ESP) clearly learned all the necessary lessons from last week’s Beijing World Cup to this morning upgrade his bronze medal to a win in Tongyeong.
In conditions that made the bike look like an extension of the swim, Gonzalez was part of a nine-man breakaway that consigned Beijing winner Max Studer (SUI) to the chase pack, and riding with a fury ensured the Spaniard did not freeze up as in China. Then, on the 5km run, Gonzalez did not let himself get dragged into a race as was the case last week. Instead, he blasted clear out of T2 and never looked back.
A flying Studer came back at Gonzalez on the run, but the damage was already done as the Spanish athlete claimed a first World Cup win since his gold in Hong Kong in March 2024.
“I went so hard from the beginning,” said Gonzalez. “I was fearless. I just left the bike, put my shoes on and went ahead, no looking back, and I think it’s working well. Today I’m so happy to get the win.”
The race opened as one might expect. Márk Dévay (HUN) was the first athlete out of the water and set about pushing the pace on the opening bike lap to force a breakaway. Of the nine men that followed Dévay, Nicola Azzano (ITA) was the odd man out and fell back into the chase pack some 20 seconds behind.
Gonzalez was at the front at this point alongside breakaway staples such as Chase McQueen (USA), Jules Rethoret (FRA) and Seth Rider (USA). Ben Dijkstra (NED), on his international debut for his new country, also made the front pack.
From there, the race was all about Gonzalez. As puddles became small lakes on the bike, he hit T2 first and deployed a swift changeover to strike out onto the run. Although he knew the Studer-led chase pack was close, in his own words he did not worry. Instead, he opted to attack the first of the two laps as hard as he could and see what happened afterwards.
Studer had the bit between his teeth and led fellow Beijing medallist Xirui Zhang (USA) past the remnants of the lead pack, with Keller Norland (USA) and David Castro Fajardo (ESP) for company.
The Swiss athlete then hit the afterburners as Gonzalez appeared in the distance. However, the gap was too large to overcome over 5km. While Studer out-split Gonzalez by 18 seconds, the Spaniard had enough in reserve to win by 7 seconds.
Rounding out the podium was Norland in a massive performance as the American claimed his first ever World Cup medal. Serial World Cup winner Castro then followed in 4th place while Zhang got the better of Rider to complete the top-5.
