After a sequence of finishing 7th, 5th, 2nd and 1st since making his World Cup debut in Miyazaki one year ago, the only way Nils Serre Gehri (FRA) could maintain his upward momentum was to win on his return to Japan. The challenge was a tall one, but the Frenchman was equal to it as he matched the victory of his fellow World U23 champion Ilona Hadhoum (FRA) from earlier in the day and left with a second consecutive World Cup win.
“I’m super happy with the win,” said Serre. “I think I did a correct race, but I felt during the bike I was not 100%, I think I’m a bit fatigued with all the races from the season. So I just tried to do the best result possible with the shape of the day.”
In a rapid start to the race, Takuto Oshima (JPN) led out of the 750m swim in a time of 8:16. Serre exited 15 seconds down but nonetheless among the first ten athletes into T1. Over a blistering first lap of the bike, Oshima and Serre were among those to settle into the lead pack, with Asian Games winner Takumi Hojo (JPN), Beijing World Cup medallist Xirui Zhang (CHN) and Izan Edo Aguilar of Spain among those also to make the group.
A mammoth effort on the bike from Asuncion World Cup medallist Toby Powers (AUS) brought him and others to the fore too, with the Australian clocking the top bike split of the day in 28:41.
Norway’s Sebastian Wernersen then led the group into T2. A field-best T2 from Serre ensured that the Frenchman would start the run right on Wernersen’s shoulder. As the Norwegian faded, Edo and Zhang emerged as the primary challengers to Serre, with Edo cranking up the tempo until Zhang was finally dropped.
With the finish line around the corner, Serre clamped to Edo’s heels like a limpet. A week prior, he had been in the same position at the Hong Kong World Cup where he used a venomous sprint finish to defeat Callum McClusky (AUS). In a case of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, Serre used the same tactic again.
He rounded Edo at the start of the blue carpet, checked over his shoulder and then gritted his teeth as he hit the afterburners. Edo hit back but could not match Serre’s sizzling finish. He was nonetheless rewarded by the silver medal, equalling his best World Cup finish.
Zhang crossed 9 seconds later. Like Edo, he could celebrate a second career medal on the circuit. Powers then came through to take 4th place ahead of a tight bunch made up of Peter Luftensteiner (AUT), Carter Stuhlmacher (USA), Chase McQueen (USA) and Wernersen.
