Where to begin with this weekend. The logical place to start would be with the fantastic action at WTCS Alghero as Olympic qualification opened and the races to this year’s world titles took their latest twist. Yet there were so many great stories to follow, including a comeback reaping a second straight gold medal, a junior upsetting a stacked senior field, and an athlete that made the most extraordinary return to racing. Find out all that happened in the Monday Morning Mix.
Asia Cup Taizhou
In stifling conditions in China, Hanna Maksimava (BLR) triumphed in a closely fought battle against home star Xinyu Lin (CHN) and the winner of last week’s Lianyungang Asia Cup, Sinem Francisca Tous Servera (TUR). All three emerged in the main pack after Yuan Yuan (CHIN) and Yifan Yang (CHN) had tried their best to break up the field in the 750m swim.
With well over thirty women in the main pack, there was limited scope for anyone to break clear. The action therefore came on the run. Maksimava and Lin were the quickest athletes by far and pushed one another throughout the 5km, the Belarussian’s swift 16:34 split ultimately handing her victory by 11 seconds. Lin settled for silver while Tous rounded out the podium.
The men’s race followed a similar pattern although the margins were even tighter at the finish. A pack of over thirty athletes came together on the bike and with numerous international medallists among their ranks the medals could have gone in any direction. Home talent and Asia Sprint Championships medallist Junjie Fan (CHN) was prominent as was 2024 Oceania Super Sprint champion Jayden Schofield (AUS). Neither, though, were able to remain with the lightning quick tempo on the run.
Instead, Roman Minnev (RUS) led with Mingxi Lu (CHN). Arlan Zhanabay (KAZ) and Jérémy Quindos (UZB) were never far away, as was Yunxiang Ma (CHN), and the leaders bunched together as the finish line drew closer and the prospect of a medal became real. Mineev, however, kept his cool and blasted home on the blue carpet to win ahead of Lu by 3 seconds. His 14:24 5km split was also the best of the day. Zhanabay then held off Quindos to seal 3rd place. View the full results here.
Europe Cup Rzeszów
Fanni Szalai (HUN) put on a clinic to win the latest Europe Cup stop in Poland. This was a second Europe Cup victory of the year for her, going with her earlier success in Monte Gordo, and sits alongside results of 9th and 11th at the Lanzarote and Chengdu World Cups.
As is her norm, the Hungarian athlete was at the front of the swim, exiting in 3rd place. Her efforts over the 750m placed her safely in the lead pack of close to twenty athletes that subsequently formed. Tjasa Vrtacic (SLO), a Team World Triathlon member, used a field-leading bike split (30:29) to make her way to the front. In doing so, she hauled several other contenders forwards, including World Cup medallist Alissa Konig (SUI).
Ultimately, however, it did not matter who else was in the lead pack, for this was Szalai’s show. A 16:37 5km split on a day in which one other athlete broke 17 minutes handed her a commanding victory. Next up will be a home World Cup in Tiszaujvaros and on this form another podium cannot be ruled out.
Konig then out-duelled Spanish youngster Alejandra Seguí Soria in the latter stages of the run to take home the silver medal. For Seguí, the bronze medal was nonetheless satisfying having narrowly missed out with 4th place in Olsztyn a week prior.
Meanwhile, junior athlete Jelle Kaindl (AUT) took down an experienced senior field to claim a maiden international win. Kaindl tailed Eirik Berling Grande (NOR) and his fellow swim leaders before using the speediest T1 of the day to be the first man onto the bike. His early tempo thereafter helped to establish a nine-man lead pack that stayed clear of the field.
The gap never ballooned out and the chasers came into T2 barely half a minute behind. The damage, however, was done. Once again Kaindl showed impeccable skills in T2, although the best time went to his fellow leader Solomon Okafro-Smart (GBR) who won a silver medal in Olsztyn a week earlier.
This week, though, the Brit did not have an answer to Kaindl and Berling Grande’s speed as the pair pulled away. A day-best 15:08 split was enough to see Kaindl past Berling Grande while Okrafo-Smart withstood pressure from Joris Basslé (BEL) to add another medal to his collection. View the full results here.
World Triathlon Development Regional Cup Mamaia
At the site of the old Constanta Europe Cup, the latest Development Regional Cup took place, attracting several men that had won medals at the Europe Junior Cup level and were looking to take the next step in their senior careers. Among them were Alexander Bozhilov (BUL) and Gabriel Barac (CRO), and it was Bozhilov that struck the first blow in the sea swim.
The Bulgarian clocked 9:15 for the 750m, earning a 13 second gap over his closest rival, Croatia’s Filip Vilenica. Barac came into T1 only a few seconds behind Vilenica and a massive turn on the bike saw him drive to the front of the race. Together, the trio of Barac, Vilenica and Bozhilov then put a minute into their chasers.
Throughout it all, Bozhilov stayed composed at the front before unleashing a 15:11 run split to dismantle his Croatian rivals on the run. Finishing 37 seconds after the winner, the silver medal went to Barac, while Vilenica came away with the bronze. With this boost, look for all three to make a dent at the Europe Cup level in the coming months.
In a smaller women’s field, there was further Belarussian success with Sofya Kryvetskaya’s win matching Maksimava’s Taizhou gold. Kryvetskaya did not have the top split in any discipline but rather was among the best in each in what was a marvellous all-round display.
The key move came on the bike as she used the second-best split of the day to ride up to early leaders Mürya Karayel (TUR) and Romania’s Anna Maria Besenyei and Tunde Georgiana Crisan. Sofia Bondarenko (UKR) was another to ride herself within touching distance of the front, while the fastest athlete on the bike, Nika Rimaj (CRO), slowly moved up into a position to strike.
Kryvetskaya and Crisan started the 5km run together and promptly dropped their fellow leaders. Over a tense two-lap course, the pair eyed one another, countering any and all moves. Kryvetskaya, though, had a final surge saved up and managed to charge away to the win late on by 5 seconds. Behind, the battle for bronze was equally tense. Bondarenko found herself in 3rd place on the run but Rimaj was closing fast. The Croatian’s 17:27 5km (like her bike split, the fastest of the day), eventually lifted her past her Ukrainian rival to lock out the podium. View the full results here.
WTCS Alghero
The biggest event on Saturday was unquestionably the third round of this year’s WTCS. The Alghero race produced fireworks last year and this year was no different, if perhaps for different reasons. Gold in the women’s race went to Cassandre Beaugrand (FRA).
In the Olympic champion’s first Series start of the year, she found herself twice adrift of the front, first out of the water and second out of T2. Yet there was no need to worry. Already this year Beaugrand had broken the French 10km road and 5000m track records, and that incredible running pace shone through at the end as she bolted clear of silver medallist Beth Potter (GBR) and bronze medallist Lisa Tertsch (GER).
Over in the men’s race, Vasco Vilaca followed up his maiden WTCS win in Samarkand with another triumph. Crashes, however, were a hallmark of the race as world champion Matt Hauser (AUS), Olympic champion Alex Yee (GBR) and WTCS medallists Henry Graf (GER) and David Cantero del Campo (ESP) were all caught up one way or another in an incident. Throughout all the chaos, Vilaca rode a perfect race on the bike to stay out of trouble.
His challenge on the run was then to find a way past the defending Alghero winner, Miguel Hidalgo (BRA). Hidalgo dictated the pace for the majority of the 10km run and made multiple attempts to drop his Portuguese rival. Vilaca had an answer to everything. Then, on the downhill section of the final lap, he unleashed a sensational burst to secure a statement victory. Hidalgo held on for silver while Ricardo Batista (POR) flew to the bronze in a bunch sprint on the blue carpet. View the full results here.
Asia Cup Osaka Castle
The weekend concluded with another Asia Cup stop, this time in Japan, and it resulted in another win for Dylan McCullough (NZL). Last week, the World Cup winner made his return after a year-and-a-half injury absence, winning the Lianyungang Asia Cup. He showed no signs of fatigue in Osaka.
As was the case in Lianyungang, McCullough was the top swimmer (8:54 for 750m). This time, his efforts set up a four-man breakaway with Kyotaro Yoshikawa (JPN), Jordan Rieck (AUS) and Ryosuke Maeda (JPN) also in the group. The lead quartet blew away the rest of the field, taking the top splits of the 20km bike.
Only Rieck could hold on to McCullough over the 5km run, but he slowly slipped back as McCullough logged a second win in a row. The New Zealander will now have a brief pause from international racing, but we will likely see him back on the World Cup and WTCS circuits soon. Silver in Osaka went to Rieck, his first on the international scene, while junior athlete Caleb Wagener (NZL) vaulted himself into 3rd place with the fastest run of the day (15:08). Wagener certainly left it late as to secure the bronze he beat out Germany’s Jonas Osterholt in a photo finish.
Brea Roderick (NZL) continued the run of Kiwi success with an impressive win in the women’s race. This, though, was a performance that deserved the limelight to itself. After emerging from the water only 4 seconds behind the leader Kanae Takenaka (JPN), Roderick rocketed away on the bike in a daring solo breakaway.
Her eventual 20km bike split of 30:48 was over 50 seconds faster than the next quickest on the course and put her in an envious position at T2. Any questions as to how much her legs had left were soon answered with a rock-solid 5km run that saw her to the gold by 26 seconds.
Mako Hiraizumi (JPN) used the second fastest run of the day (17:34) to crown her efforts with the silver medal. Perhaps the biggest talking point of the weekend, though, came just after.
In her first international start in over three-and-a-half years after a horror bike crash that left her learning to walk again, Australia’s Matilda Offord roared to 3rd place with a superb 16:55 run split. Offord had not been in the Hiraizumi chase pack coming into T2 and at that point simply finishing her comeback race would have been a major success. Offord had other ideas. With a medal in her luggage, she will head to Europe for her next batch of racing and this will be a story to track for the rest of the summer. View the full results here.