Izvorani, Romania, played host to the first European Junior Cup since the start lists for the World Junior Championships were revealed. Several athletes starting thus used the event as preparation for the big race in Hamburg.
Rather than the customary Sprint distance, a Super Sprint race awaited them, offering an ideal chance to hone their speed. The distances to cover were a 400m swim, 11km bike and a 2.5km run.
Over such short distances, the medals came down to the finest of margins.
Women’s race
Lana Gavrilović attacked the swim from the start and asserted herself at the front of the race. With a high turnover, she kept her pace up throughout and offered precious little respite to her rivals. It was therefore no surprise to see her first into T1.
Martina Mcdowell of Italy was 2 seconds back, with Carla Martínez González of Spain the next woman out of the water.
After a rapid transition, it was Martínez that emerged first out of T1. With a silver medal from the Melilla European Junior Cup to her name from earlier in the season, she had to be watched carefully by the field.
After good work in the opening stages of the bike, Cassilda Carvalho of Portugal pulled alongside Martínez to share the lead. Shortly after, Teresa Vizio, Gavrilović and Mcdowell pushed hard to create a front group of five. For a brief moment, it seemed as if the lead quintet had successfully shut the door on the rest of the field.
After losing almost 20 seconds in the swim, Alejandra Seguí Soria dropped a huge first lap on the bike. With Romanian athlete Amalia Maria Singuran for company, she bridged to the leaders. Singuran’s showing was particularly impressive given her age. Born in 2007, she was one of the youngest athletes in the field.
Before long, the hard work of Seguí and Singuran paid off as they caught the leaders. The subsequent front group of seven then completed the bike course together.
Almost instantly, the run became a contest between the two Spanish athletes, Martínez and Seguí. Seguí had sealed the only Spanish slot for the upcoming World Junior Championships in Hamburg, however Martínez had already beaten her in Melilla.
Mcdowell gave the best chase of the remnants of the lead group but even she conceded 20 seconds. With one long lap of 2.5km, the leaders had to pick their moment to strike.
Martínez tried to put in a surge but Seguí was equal to it. With her rival’s move covered, Seguí made one of her own. This time, the attack stuck. Seguí stole a small lead and managed to hold on to it until the finish, winning by 4 seconds.
Her gold represented a first international win of her career and should prove a welcome confidence boost ahead of her next race in Hamburg.
Meanwhile, Martínez and Mcdowell held on to seal the silver and bronze medals, respectively.
Men’s race
In a similar vein to the women’s race, the Spanish men made Izvorani entirely about them. All three of Spain’s representatives in Hamburg were slated to start (Pelayo González Turrez, Hector Tolsa García and Jesús Vela Vela) while a fourth athlete, Julen Andueza Valencia, made sure to get in on the action.
Tin Rebic of Croatia led the swim with a strong 4:49. Right behind, though, was González. He was the second man into T1, only 3 seconds behind Rebic. Once onto the bike, González took control of the race and began to set a tough pace.
Having seen the damage González had caused on the bike at previous races this season, Tolsa and Vela were quick to jump onto his wheel. The likes of Carol Popa and Alexander Bozhilov also made sure to do everything to keep González in check. With what seemed like the entire field watching him, González was forced to sit up and conserve his energy in the group.
The front group grew considerably as several man made up for time lost in the water. The Spaniards, though, had already turned their attention to the run.
Vela and González flew through T2, with Tolsa and Andueza close behind. However, Bozhilov was determined to spoil their party, as was Michele Marco Viscoso.
Around the midpoint of the run, González pulled ahead with Tolsa and Bozhilov as Vela and Viscoso began to falter. Over such a short run, any seconds lost would prove fatal to their medal hopes.
Into the final kilometre, then, it was a three-horse race between Bozhilov, Tolsa and González. Whereas the former seemed at their limit, the latter looked alarmingly comfortable. So it proved as González unleashed a final burst to separate himself from his rivals.
In doing so, he earned the win by 4 seconds, adding the Izvorani gold to his win in Melilla.
Tolsa and Bozhilov, however, could only be separated with a photo finish. In the end, the Spanish athlete managed to cross the line a hair-width ahead of his Bulgarian rival. Bozhilov could nevertheless celebrate a first international triathlon medal. Having also logged the fastest run split of the day (beating González’s time by 1 second), he can also carry great confidence into his upcoming races.
View the full results here.
