The small Estonian town of Lahte hosted a Winter Triathlon European Cup for the first time and a mixture of heavy snow, brilliant sunshine and piercing wind provided a dose of drama to the already challenging course.

A small but competitive field of both men (9) and women (6) took part representing five National Federations. Interestingly, each one was represented on the podium. In the Men’s elite, Italy’s Daniel Antonioli’s fine winter form continued with his second victory of the season. Borghild Løvset (NOR) took the Women’s Elite crown with a fantastic performance.

We would like to mention the unfortunate Latvian athlete, Olegs Andrejevs. Oleg arrived in Lahte in good form but on arriving at the race and preparing for the start he fell on the ice and suffered an upper arm injury. Oleg was taken to hospital and we wish him a speedy recovery.

Men’s Elite Review

Both Antonioli and Norwegian Kristian Monsen made good starts and quickly established a lead over the rest of the field which remained tight together. It was a difficult run in the heavy conditions and the course included some tough gradients.

Monsen and Antonioli came into T1 close together and exited in equally close contention with the Norwegian maintaining his narrow lead at this point. Although the bike course was very good, the heavy snow and strong wind affected the riders and the crucial point of the race saw Monsen take a heavy fall. Whilst the Norwegian recovered and adjusted his gears, Antonioli took advantage and established a significant race-winning lead.

The top three seemed secure as they approached T2 with Antonioli leading from Monsen and local challenger Urmas Utar (EST) in third place. The ski leg passed without incident and the top three remained as so on the podium. It was unfortunate for Monsen, who recorded the fastest run and ski times and will have rued his fall on the bike.

Women’s Elite Review

Borghild Løvset (NOR) made a storming start to the women’s race which set the tone for her performance. An aggressive run allowed her to establish a lead which she maintained for the whole race. Yulia Surikova (RUS) was always comfortable in second place, without being complacent and it was a solid performance from the Russian.

The greatest battle was for that third medal spot between third and fourth place between Kairi Schmidt (EST) and Līga Glāzere (LAT). Kairi held the bronze medal position after the run, but lost ground in T1. Līga made further inroads on the bike course and after T2, Kairi was just ten seconds ahead. The ski leg was the decider, however, and as the sun shone Līga proved too strong in the final segment. She managed to gain over four minutes on Kairi to take the bronze by about that margin.

Overall, this was a tough work-out for the athletes who were pushed hard not only by their rivals but by the elements. For a full list of race results, click here.