Reigning world and Paralympic champion Dave Ellis (GBR) was the headline act in Alhandra and duly bossed the PTVI event, recording the top split in each of the swim, bike and run. After a shock silver medal at the Europe Championships back in June, Ellis has now won three straight international races and is clicking into gear nicely ahead of the Pontevedra World Para Championships.
His latest win also saw him celebrate a 50th career victory and gold medal number 51 could be only weeks away. Ellis’ 5km run split of 15:22 in Alhandra will certainly have his rivals on notice.
Meanwhile, Filipe Marques (POR) earned a first international win in two years over in the PTS5 class. As it happens, Marques’ previous victory came in Alhandra in 2024. Already a World Para Series and Europe Championships medallist this season, Marques took the lead in the water (10:24 for 750m) and maintained his lead for the rest of the race.
Unlike Ellis, he came under a major challenge as Americas champion Ruiter Antonio Goncalves Silva (BRA) closed most of the gap on the bike before losing 21 seconds on the run to finish in 2nd by 31 seconds. In the ever-competitive PTS5 class, expect both to take a run at the World Championships podium this month.
Ellis’ compatriot Ryan Taylor (GBR), last year’s silver medallist at the World Championships, came through a real test in the PTS3 class to win by 14 seconds. A field-best 30:57 split on the bike put the Brit into T2 first, but Italy’s Luca Panciroli gained 19 seconds in transition and gave Taylor a real fight throughout the 5km.
Fathi Zwouhki (TUN), the African champion in the PTWC class, survived an even closer scare as he won by 13 seconds over France’s Julien Viot. A massive run split from the Tunisian reversed a deficit of over 50 seconds to seal the win. Finally, Spanish talents Lionel Morales and Nils Ruidavets Victory did their Pontevedra prep no harm as they took comfortable wins in the PTS2 and PTS4 classes, respectively.
On the women’s side, Italy’s 2023 world champion Francesca Tarantello returned to winning ways with a commanding victory in Alhandra. With her next duel with defending world champion Susana Rodriguez (ESP) to come, the 12-minute winning margin as enjoyed here is unlikely to be on the cards in Pontevedra. That being said, Tarantello won her world title in Pontevedra and is clearly in the kind of form that could see history repeat itself.
Erica Da Rosa Rodrigues (BRA) is in a similar position. The Brazilian athlete claimed a first international win of the season after a string of World Para Series silver medals. In each of the Yokohama, Montreal and Hamburg stops, however, she came up against the irrepressible force that is world champion Grace Norman (USA). At this point in time, beating Norman is a Para triathlon challenge comparable to beating Cassandre Beaugrand (FRA) in the WTCS. Da Rosa will therefore need everything to go right in Pontevedra, just as it did in Alhandra as she took the top splits in all three disciplines.
There were two American wins in Alhandra as Kassandra Case (USA) and Danielle Cummings (USA) came out on top in the PTS3 and PTS5 classes, respectively. The final gold of the weekend was claimed by Venezuela’s Emma Juaisca Rodriguez Rodriguez in the PTS2 event.