Anxious faces gazed out across the Binnenalster as the wait for the women’s World Junior Championships continued. Some jumped on the spot, some kept as many layers on as possible, some rehearsed taking their marks. Amid a dazzling array of talent, the size of the occasion was greater than anything seen previously in the Junior ranks this season.
The gold medal dangled ahead of the athletes. All they had to do was seize it.
Once the race finally got under way, it was Tabea Huys that nipped into an early lead in the swim. Fresh off a silver medal at the Tiszaujvaros European Junior Cup, Nora Romina Nádas was able to get onto Huys’ feet. However, neither were quite able to summon a response as a member of the vaunted French team blasted ahead.
In an early surge, Ilona Hadhoum powered clear of the field and established a lead. Although Huys and Nádas pushed the pace, they could not bring her back. Instead, Hadhoum continued to distance herself from the pack. By the end of the swim, she led by a comprehensive 20 seconds.
Such was her advantage, she was through T1 before anyone else even had a chance to get near their bikes.
Behind the French woman, the bulk of the field had stayed together. Huys was the next athlete to arrive in transition with Nádas and Margareta Vrablova for company.
Manon Laporte and Leonie Douche were both able to jump to the front of the chase. Alongside Nádas, Huys and Vrablova, they settled into a pack of five and set after Hadhoum.
The leader, though, was already far up the road and driving a vicious tempo.
From the home German team, Johanna Uherek just missed the chase group after a fast swim. Similarly, Jimena Renata De La Peña Schott found herself 10 seconds behind the chase quintet out of T1. With Hasse Fleerackers for company, De La Peña headed the chase pack and set after the leaders.
Naomi Ruff and Dominga Elena Jacome Espinoza also found their way into the second pack, adding further power.
At the front, Hadhoum’s effort continued but the five chasers were closing. It took almost the entirety of the opening bike lap, but, with Huys setting the pace, the five pursuers were able to catch the leader. At the start of the second lap, Huys then raised the tempo. Nádas, however, was quick to mark her.
Three French women – Hadhoum, Laporte and Douche – sat in front pack, confirming the danger expected of them prior to the race. Yet their moments on the front were fleeting. They could not afford to dally, though, as a pack of seventeen women hovered only 15 seconds back.
In spite of the proximity of the chase, the front group still struggled to cohere. Huys shouldered the majority of the work and gestured for others to come through. The Hungarian, Nádas, duly did; the dynamism Huys desired, though, remained absent.
At the end of the second lap, Huys launched a full-bore attack. Once again, it was Nádas that brought the rest of the leaders back up to her. In the chase group, Hinaka Masuda and Manami Hayashi took a big turn on the front and helped to whittle the deficit down to 14 seconds.
Even with the running speed of the leaders, there were too many talented athletes in the chase for that gap to be safe.
The Australian trio of Rhianna Hepburn, Emma Olson-Keating and Alexandra Field hovered in the group, as did Uherek with her compatriot Kjara Reckmann. Aniek Mars, Jacome and De La Peña likewise bided their time in the group.
In part due to the power of the chase, in another part due to the lack of cooperation at the front, the front group was caught towards the end of the penultimate lap, putting a pack of over twenty women at the front of the race.
Several contenders, such as Ruff, Bethany Cook, Sophie Spencer, Isla Hedley and Alejandra Seguí Soria, were stranded in the next pack on the road. For a second, it seemed as if they might have had an opening as Hayashi crashed on the final corner of third lap. That disrupted the flow of the lead group, but it quickly reformed.
However, jitters spread after Hayashi’s slip and another big crash followed as Nádas was sent flying over her handlebars. Despite the crashes, the lead held firm and the chase pack remained over a minute back.
Intent on testing her rivals, Huys led the way on the straight into T2. However, Hadhoum and Olson-Keating bolted ahead. In a nervous moment, Hadhoum almost fell from her bike as the dismount line approached. Hepburn then dropped her bike upon arriving in T2 which landed directly in the path of Mars.
Hadhoum soon recovered from her scare, though, and struck into an instant lead on the run. Vrablova, Huys and Laporte headed the chase and tried to close her already substantial gap.
Uherek and Jacome moved up into the chase pack but still Hadhoum’s gap stuck. A burst of speed from De La Peña saw her take over the chase and put Vrablova and Jacome on the back foot. At almost the same moment De La Peña hit the front, Hadhoum gave the slightest grimace. Her form did not waver and her cadence remained high. Yet the Mexican athlete was closing.
Only Laporte could live with De La Peña’s pace and Vrablova, Uherek, Jacome and Siyi Zhang battled to find something extra to haul themselves back into the fight for the medals.
As the final lap of the run arrived, Hadhoum held a 10 second gap and Laporte struck ahead of De La Peña. Having already beaten Hadhoum at the French Junior Championships in Gravelines, Laporte could scent the gold. Her injection of pace put De La Peña on the ropes and Uherek lurked only 6 seconds back.
De La Peña came back, though, and surged into virtual second place. The North American Junior champion and winner of the Americas Junior Qualification Event in Punta Cana had proven earlier in the season that she could close out races; she just needed to get within striking distance of the leader.
Hadhoum’s grimaces became more frequent as she gritted her teeth. As De La Peña and Laporte seemed to close, she summoned a final spurt of energy from somewhere and lifted her speed. A pained expression was etched across her face and she almost clipped the barrier as she tried to round a corner as quickly as possible.
Between the winces, though, a smile began to form.
Hadhoum flew down the final straight and at long last the blue carpet arrived. De La Peña dropped Laporte with a huge kick but she could not catch Hadhoum.
Having been the best swimmer, Hadhoum was too fast in the run and crossed the line to become a World Junior champion worthy of the title. After a colossal battle, De La Peña held off Laporte to earn silver while the French woman took bronze.
Uherek was the next to cross the line in 4th and Vrablova then finished well to seal 5th. Jacome followed in 6th place while Douche won a late sprint against Zhang and Hepburn. Fleerackers rounded out the top-10.
You can view the full race results here.
