British
domination in Holten
Great weather (25 degrees and sunshine) plus a great
atmosphere welcomed a very colorful and big field of competitors at the
European Triathlon Cup in Holten (NL). A huge number of supporters decided to
join the event and cheer up both the elite and the numerous age group athletes.
The swim was held in a small river next to the small
town, and the athletes had to swim all the 1500 meters of the course straight
ahead to the transition, which is quite unusual for a triathlon race. The 32
women started 20 minutes prior the men’s field of almost 90 athletes. They
powered hard all the way to the swim exit, where Italian Valentina Filipetto
was first out of the water, getting the 150 € award for the best swim time,
closely followed by Lucie Zelenkova (CZE) and Kathrin Muller from Germany.
The men had to fight hard to get in a good position in
the narrow river, so the athletes who didn’t get into a good position at the
very beginning had to struggle to keep up with the pace of young Aussi Johnny
Rockliff who immediately built up a gap to the rest of the field and powered
hard for the 150 € award. The gap remained stable and so the rest of the field
led by Ivan Risti (ITA) and Anton Storm (RSA) followed him out of the water
with half a minute behind. A huge crowd of spectators didn’t bother to take the
6 K long way out to the swim site and support the athletes loudly.
The bike course was over two laps into the beautiful national
park of Sallandse Heuvelrug and back, quite a hilly course where lots of
breakaway efforts could be expected. The women’s field stayed rather calm on
the 40 K and about 15 athletes got back together into Transition 2: all favorites
among them (Nadia Cortassa, Ricarda Lisk, Evelyn Williamson). The men’s field
was acting quite nervous and lots of breakaway efforts have taken place,
especially in the first lap. However, the leading group including most of the
“big guns” like Andrew Johns, Shane Reed, Brad Kahlefeld, Martin Krnavek and Richey
Cunningham managed to stick together for the first half of the course, but
local hero Raymond Lotz managed to get away from them and to build up a gap of
almost a minute to them. Unfortunate Kiwi Shane Reed lost almost 2 minutes to
the top of the field because of mechanical problems.
Surprisingly, Helen Lawrence from GBR powered
immediately to the front and built up a gap to the group following her: Nadia
Cortassa, Irina Abysova and Mieke Suys. She managed to increase her lead
continuously and even could afford to take the last lap of 2,5 K easily to
cruise to a great victory. Olympian Nadia Cortassa and young Russian Irina
Abysova followed her to claim silver and bronze. Mieke Suys (BEL) got 4th,
Merja Kiviranta (FIN) 5th and Evelyn Williamson 6th.
Dutch fellow Raymond Lotz tried to maintain his big
pace from the bike leg, but a big group of great runners [AJ (Andrew Johns),
Sticksey (Brad Kahlefeld), and Martin Krnavek] chased right after him to close
the gap. They caught the local athlete after two laps and the pace of the
leading group was increasing continuously. Finally, Johnsey managed to get a
small breakaway from Kahlefeld, which was enough for his victory today.
Kahlefeld, the young athlete from Down Under claimed silver, while young
Frenchman Yohann Vincent claimed bronze. Italian Daniel Fontana, Jan Raphael
from Germany and Andriy Glushchenko from Ukraine followed them on the places.
But the great day of ETU triathlon did not finish: about a 1000 (!) age group athletes were racing passionately under the cheers of the spectators in the afternoon, and even some elite athletes came back to the race course to watch them. What a unity: elite athletes and amateurs having fun together, sharing their passion for this wonderful sport!
For more information, please contact:
Gergely Markus
ETU Secretary General
Addr: H-1143, Budapest, Istvanmezei ut 1-3., Hungary
Tel: +36 1 460 6908
Mobile: +36 30 688 2997
Fax: +36 1 460 6909