This weekend has been a huge success for triathlon in Europe. Olimp, Romania, saw participation for all categories before the Balkan Championships. Athletes of all ages and speeds came to the seaside resort and were treated just like the Elite. At the other end of Europe, with a similar schedule of racing for all, the Dutch Federation hosted a great programme of events for schools, Age-Group athletes and for the Elite.
Weert came alive this weekend with triathletes from all over the Netherlands and from further afield heading to the races. A full programme of activities were scheduled with the climax being the ETU Triathlon European Cup. Points won here would be very important for the athletes. The ETU Rankings have a special focus; with many eyes looking towards Rio, ETU Executive Board has agreed to increase the overall prize-money that will be paid out to the winners at the final race, due to be held in Alanya. So, if you are racing for points, book your trip to one of the oldest races on the ETU Calendar and collect your winnings.
Our races in Europe are popular. We have visitors from way outside Europe who use the busy calendar to fine-tune their racing skills before WTS and ITU World Cup events. With Stockholm just around the corner we will see many of these athletes travelling north now to settle in for the pre-race preparations in Sweden.
It was the women who raced first but there was a delay as a storm blew through the venue. The Technical Delegate, in conjunction with the LOC and the medical services made the wise decision to hold back the start just long enough to allow the menacing clouds to pass over.
It was Maya Kingma NLD who led the swim. Consistently fast in the water she led some very experienced athletes into T1.
As Kingma, Jenny Manners GBR, Alessia Orla ITA, Sandra Dodet FRA and Valentina Zapatrina RUS sped into transition it looked like there could be a good chance for a break away as they had a lead of almost 30 seconds over the chase pack.
Behind them the larger pack was working hard. Léonie Périault FRA who had made the podium in Quarteira this year, was working well but had a lot of distance to make up. Her powerful riding was enough to help the chase pack bridge the gap and ensure that the run would be exciting. The only risk was that this now grouped together some powerful runners. Elena Danilova RUS and Michelle Flipo FRA have both shown recent good form on the run but who, with a partisan home crowd, would be able to beat the Dutch women?
As the run unfolded it was in fact the early kick from Périault and Flipo that took them ahead of the Russian and as the kilometres were eaten up it was Périault who showed the stronger level of fitness and determination.
Flipo just couldn’t hold it together and Danilova clipped her lead to snatch the silver with an impressive run. Flipo crossed to take bronze and her first podium since the Karlovy Vary bronze in 2014.
After the race we heard only from Danilova. It is always nice to hear from the athletes as it gives a great insight to the race itself. “I came to this race wearing number 1. It gave me first choice at the swim but the swim did not work out for me. However I'm not that upset because on the bike, we caught up with the first group. On the run it was the French girls who immediately set a good pace, but I could dig in and hold to the end, even though I lost a bit of pace towards the finish. In general I am happy with the result and I hope this is not the last podium this year.”
The Men’s Race was also a non-wetsuit swim.
This time it was not a Dutch athlete who led but instead a very powerful Andrey Bryukhankov RUS. He was only a couple of paces ahead of fellow Russian, Vladimir Turbaevskiy.
Behind them a rush of athletes followed them along the carpet and into T1. The slight advantage created by the determined swimming of the two Russians enabled some 12 athletes to gain an advantage on the chasing athletes. Quick transitions without any mistakes saw them set off for the 40k bike with the chance of creating space between them and the following pack. All it needed was some coordination within the group to get the machine rolling. With Iestyn Harrett and Doug Roberts GBR we saw a Welsh / Scottish powerhouse at work.
Tom Richard FRA was tucked in there too and could see the benefit of working together within this leading group.
He ensured that the pressure was maintained throughout the 40k.
Norway’s Eirik Ravnan reminded us of the powerful cycling that is coming out of that nation by leading the athletes into T2.
Now was not the time for error and with a wide transition open to the athletes thanks to some great logistics from the LOC, they were through and out onto the run in under a minute.
Richard was now flying and overtaking athletes as each lap passed.
He had done enough to create a huge lead over a Roberts who had himself pushed the pace enough to see some very experienced athletes just fade away. Keeping the Dutch supporters excited and all the while they were wishing for a top place, it was Menno Koolhaas who had injected just enough pace on the bike and whose second transition was just that bit faster to deny Turbaevskiy a medal.
After the race Richard was delighted, “Well, I had a good swim and that was enough to get me into the lead group on the bike. It was a good pace out there and we were able to increase our lead on the chase pack. Once out on the run I decided to kick on the third lap and that enabled me to escape from the others and to get my first ever victory in Europe!”
For Roberts, it was pure delight, “I'm just over the moon to finally put a full race together. This result has been a long time coming and it's nice to finally get a race where everything feels good and where I was able to give it my all. The support I got from some of my family who were watching out here was amazing. It’s so good to have that personal cheer as you race. My coach has worked with me and focussed on what I guess you could call, “self-belief”. After today I think it's finally clicked. Added to that I reckon we have a great group of motivated guys who I train with up in Stirling, Scotland and we are all really starting to break through! Delighted!”
For Koolhaas, “At last! My first ETU podium. After 3 standard distance races including the Dutch title I now have an ETU podium. What a great way to top it all off here in Weert. This bronze is great – makes me want more! I’ll rest for a couple of days but then it’s off to Stockholm for the WTS race. Big thanks to the organisation here in Weert and to the supporters. I will not forget this race.”
The final word goes North and to Eirik Ravnan who was “adopted” by the Dutch and who shows the great spirit of this wonderful sport, “Super excited to get a 15th place in my first European Cup finish! Even got some fans after the race and it was great to have some of my Dutch family cheering for me at the race!”
Well done Weert. Not only did you host a great ETU European Cup but you successfully combined it with a series of other events over the weekend; each one encouraging participation, each one bringing more people to the sport and giving them a quality event that made them feel safe, made them feel part of the sport and which ultimately can do nothing but benefit the development of triathlon in the Netherlands.
Big thanks to Trimax for their photos. Their album takes us inside the event. Don’t forget to check out their website.
Roger Stienen, Race director Stadstriathlon Weert, has provided the following links to some photos that show off the event.
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