First Olympic distance race? No problem for Reese Vannerson. The young American was at the crest of a wave of star turns from up-and-coming triathlon talent over the weekend as he struck gold at the Chengdu World Cup. Elsewhere, there was a maiden senior international win for one of Italy’s brightest hopes, a national podium sweep in Caorle, and a head-turning victory by one of Team World Triathlon’s latest recruits. Find out all you need to catch up on in this week’s Monday Morning Mix.
Chengdu World Cup
The headline act of the weekend was Reese Vannerson (USA) claiming his first World Cup victory. The World Junior Championships silver medallist had already fired a warning shot with his 5th place finish at the Napier World Cup and a pair of Americas Cup wins, but in Chengdu he went a step further as he recorded the biggest win of his career so far.
The race came down to the run after Márk Dévay (HUN) had tried to engineer a breakaway similar to the one that lifted him to 4th place in Chengdu last year. It was not to be this time round as the field was wise to his antics. A pack containing Vannerson, Shachar Sagiv (ISR), Brandon Copeland (AUS) and more jostled throughout the 10km run but it was Vannerson that had the final surge to take the win, mere metres ahead of Sagiv and Copeland. Be sure to watch the dramatic finale back on TriathlonLive if you could not catch it live.
The women’s gold went to Valentina Riasova (AIN). Back racing internationally after serving a two year ban, Riasova was part of a three-woman battle on the run alongside World Cup winner Sandra Dodet (FRA) and Roksana Slupek (POL), the latter of whom made the podium in Chengdu a year prior. Dodet looked the best through the opening half of the 10km run, but Riasova struck on lap 3 and did not look back. Slupek fought her way to silver while Dodet slipped into the clutches of the chase group, with Sara Guerrero Manso (ESP) snatching the bronze medal at the last. View the full results here.
Africa Cup Tipaza
In Algeria, Tjasa Vrtacic (SLO) emerged victorious at the sprint distance Africa Cup by 28 seconds. Vrtacic had led the swim with Liis Kapten (EST) before being joined by Finja Schierl (GER) at the front on the bike. The lead trio rode together to make it to T2 with a handy lead over the rest of the field.
Vrtacic then sealed her win with the best run of the day. She will be part of Team World Triathlon delegation in Samarkand and will head to Uzbekistan in some of the best form of her young career. Kapten held on to take 2nd place while Chiara Lobba (ITA) ran through to nab the bronze.
Over in the men’s race, Lorenzo Pelliciardi (ITA) prevailed in a four-man sprint finish to earn 1st place. In contrast to the women’s event, the men’s field largely remained together in the opening movements of the race. Francesco Di Basilico (ITA) was prominent at the front throughout but it became clear that a running race was on the cards.
Over the 5km run, the pack of contenders gradually thinned until Pelliciardi, Di Basilico, Jasper Ortfeld (GER) and Adrien Deharre (BEL) remained with only a sprint finish left to decide matters. Despite being the youngest of the quartet, Pelliciardi was not cowed and pipped Di Basilico by a solitary second to secure a first senior international win. Ortfeld then rounded out the podium, edging out Deharre by a second. View the full results here.
Europe Junior Cup Caorle
France dominated the junior women’s final of the multi-round super sprint format from start to finish. Indeed, the team claimed the top four positions with a gap of over 30 seconds to 5th place.
World Junior champion Ambre Grasset, Lea Houart, Lisa Lecompte and Anouk Rigaud served notice of their intent to bulldoze the final in the 300m swim, clocking between 4:56 and 5:00 when only two other women were under 5:05. From there, the French quartet broke away from the field in clinical fashion on the bike.
Having been crowned the best junior triathlete in the world at the end of 2024, Grasset would have been favoured before the race to take the win. Yet it was Rigaud, the 2024 European Youth champion, that blasted away on the run to win by 8 seconds. Houart, the bronze medallist at last year’s World Junior Championships, then took silver with Grasset crossing in 3rd place ahead of 2024 European Junior Championships bronze medallist Lecompte.
There was further French success in the men’s event in Caorle as Martin Hubner took gold ahead of teammate Tristan Douche. Jens Smoulders (BEL) was the sole non-French medallist in 3rd place. Notably, he was the only non-French athlete in the men’s top-6, such was the team’s depth. Unlike the women’s event, the field stayed together until the run and it took a dramatic final showdown between the three medallists to determine the gold.
Based on the results in Caorle, even qualifying for the French team at this year’s World Junior Championships in Wollongong will be quite an achievement in and of itself. View the full results here.
World Triathlon Development Regional Cup Encarnacion
Finally, Flavia Andrea Castro Chavez (BOL) won the latest Development Cup event of the season, beating out Zoe Alfaro (PER). Castro was the oldest of a young field (albeit born only in 2003) and managed to quell the resistance of her younger rivals. Bianca Maria Eva Gomez (ARG) then crossed in 3rd place. As it happens, all three medallists improved upon the 4th place finishes each had previously earned at their last Development Cup outings in 2024, winning senior medals at this level for the first time.
Bautista Arbizu (ARG) notched another Development Cup victory in the men’s race, prevailing over Mijael Alejandro Rojas Huananco (BOL) and Aaron Jesus Hernandez Morales (VEN). Arbizu, last year’s Argentinian champion over the sprint distance, was a cut above his rivals but one of the big talking points was Hernandez. Born in 2009, the Venezuelan was one of the youngest athletes starting at what was his first senior international race. To come away with the bronze medal was therefore a highly impressive turn. View the full results here.