Under perfect blue skies, Simon Jørn Hansen (DEN) and Merle Brunnée (GER) soared to victory at the World Triathlon Powerman Middle Distance Duathlon World Championships. Both athletes were tested by stern challenges from their rivals, but came through to win by comfortable margins. For Jørn Hansen, this was win number three from his past three appearances in Alsdorf. Meanwhile, Brunnée added the Middle Distance Duathlon world title to her Long Distance Duathlon crowns.
Elite men
Jørn Hansen took the pace out hard on the first lap of 2.5km, breaking up the field into a select lead group. By the midpoint of the opening 10km run, the pack had slimmed further to six men, although there was still plenty of distance to go and the gaps to the chase packs behind remained surmountable.
Rick Paffen (NED) led Thomas Cremers (NED) into T1 before the latter moved into the lead on the bike. Jørn then struck ahead but could not shake his fellow leaders as a cat-and-mouse game on two wheels began.
Ondrej Kubo (SVK) was the next to hit the front on the bike. His surge reshaped the front of the field as only Jørn Hansen and Jonathan Wayaffe (BEL) could stay with him. This leading trio pushed their gap to half a minute and then beyond as they looked to sew up the medals during the 60km bike.
Once through T2, Jørn Hansen was the first onto the run and appeared the fresher of the leaders. Looks can sometimes be deceiving, but not in this case. Over the first of the four run laps he built a decisive lead over Kubo and Wayaffe. Indeed, across the final 10km run he never came under any meaningful pressure and crossed the line in 1st place.
Silver went to Kubo in a repeat of the Alsdorf finishing order from 2024. Wayaffe then followed to take home the bronze medal.
Elite women
Ahead of the women’s race, the world title had seemed to be Brunnée’s to lose. She had the experience, credentials and was seeded as the top athlete. Virtually from the off, however, she was put on the back foot. Madlen Kappeler (GER) and Rachel Brown (GBR) had to do something to shake up the race and struck hard in the opening 10km run. At the 5km mark, they led Brunnée by 42 seconds. It was a bold strategy to say the least but their advantage only grew over the subsequent 5km.
Friedel Cuypers (BEL), making her first elite international start, moved up to head of chasing pack alongside Brunnée. Further up the road, Brown had the slightly better transition of the leaders. In T1 the instruction shouted to her was to push. And she did just that.
With a huge opening effort on the bike, she jumped into a more concrete lead. Kappeler lost touch and, all the way back in T1, Brunnée was on the ropes. Yet Brunnée did not panic and built into the bike, first passing Kappeler before pulling Brown into her sights. Setting a relentless tempo, the reigning Long Distance Duathlon world champion showcased her power on the bike and, suddenly, led by 37 seconds.
Despite the best efforts of Brown and Kappeler, they had no answer to this fightback. The gold medal became a formality thereafter with Brunnée navigating the remainder of the bike and the second 10km run without a hitch. After finishing 2nd in Alsdorf last year, this was a sweet victory for Brunnée. Brown likewise improved on her 2024 showing in Alsdorf, rising from 6th to 2nd today. Kappeler then held on for the bronze medal, her first as an elite athlete on the international scene.