WTCS victories are supposed to look a little more difficult than that.
From the moment she dove into the Binnenalster in the qualifier to the second she crossed the line to seal her triumph in the final, Cassandre Beaugrand hardly looked out of breath. The three rounds of the final ultimately amounted to little more than a procession as the field struggled to find an answer to the French star.
To open the first round, Laura Lindemann shot out into a lead in the swim. Not only had the German star won all four of her WTCS medals in Hamburg, she had the most top-10 finishes of any woman in the city (with seven). History was therefore on Lindemann’s side as she powered through the 300m.
Yet there was Beaugrand, easing alongside the German and taking the lead. Zsanett Bragmayer also hit the front while Beth Potter was the fourth woman out of the water in a very promising swim.
As Lindemann settled into a lead, one of her compatriots came unstuck in T1. Lisa Tertsch had to stop and re-buckle her helmet on her way out of transition. Having touched her bike with an unclipped helmet, she was hit with a 10 second penalty.
After a storming run to qualify via the repechage, Gwen Jorgensen was the last woman out of the water.
The secret weapon in the rear group, though, was Solveig Løvseth. Although the lead group of eighteen held a 19 seconds advantage at the end of the first of the three bike laps, Løvseth was there to winnow it down. The Norwegian embraced the task head-on and soon brought the gap down to 15 seconds.
Selina Klamt fell away from the front pack, cutting its number to eighteen, and she was soon caught by the Løvseth pack. By the time the packs arrived in T2, the deficit stood at 13 seconds.
Zsanett Bragmayer charged out of transition while Beaugrand jogged to the front. Lindemann looked the smoothest of the French woman’s challengers as a group containing Marlene Gomez-Göggel, Katie Zaferes, Kirsten Kasper, Potter and Jolien Vermeylen assembled behind.
With a place in the top-20 being the only thing that mattered, there was no panic at the finish. Intent on giving the home fans something to cheer, Lindemann led a German 1-2 ahead of Gomez-Göggel.
Those that missed the final included Ainsley Thorpe, Løvseth, Tertsch, Emma Jackson, Lizeth Rueda Santos, Nora Gmür, Natalie Van Coevorden, Julia Hauser, Selina Klamt and Jorgensen.
After their respite of nearly an hour, twenty women returned for the second round of the final.
Beaugrand was, once again, the best swimmer although this time Rappaport and Bragmayer were the ones to dart ahead of her at the end. Taylor Spivey enjoyed a good swim while Lindemann, Potter and Kasper comfortably made their way into transition.
With no one enjoying any real advantage on the bike, a pack of eighteen came together. Cathia Schär and Alberte Kjaer Pedersen struggled off the back but Schär made it back to the lead group after a stirring effort. Pedersen, however, was not so fortunate and completed the course alone.
Gomez-Göggel, Lindemann and Lena Meißner controlled the bike and luxuriated in the warmth of the German support. Just behind the Germans, Spivey, Beaugrand and Potter sat safely.
Katie Zaferes had enjoyed a smooth ride throughout the competition as she arrived into T2. In one cruel swoop, her fortunes turned as she fell over bike. She scrambled to get back to her feet however her rivals had already stolen a march on her.
Unsurprisingly, it was Beaugrand that led the way, this time from Lindemann.
In a fantastic showing, Annika Koch was the next women on the road while Nicole Van Der Kaay raced through the ranks to join her. Further bad luck then struck another athlete as Sophie Linn was forced to slow to a hobble.
For a few moments, Beaugrand began to pull away. A quick glance behind revealed her lead and she quickly slowed to let the field catch up. If she was running away from her rivals by accident, whatever she had left in store for the final round promised to be exceptional.
Behind Beaugrand, the finish was a little scrappier and several big names narrowly missed out on making the final round. Among them were Jeanne Lehair, Kirsten Kasper, Bragmayer, Rachel Klamer, Verena Steinhauser, Meißner, Anabel Knoll, Linn, Zaferes and Pedersen.
Between the penultimate and final rounds, the women were able to catch the finale of the men’s competition. As they watched an inspired tactical move from Hayden Wilde seal a stunning victory, perhaps several turned their thoughts to what strategies they could bring to bear against Beaugrand.
The time for tactics, though, had long since passed.
Once again, Beaugrand was at the front of the swim. Lindemann joined her and the pair cruised into T1. After fast transitions, Spivey, Koch and Summer Rappaport made it to the front and a pack of five briefly looked like they would escape. Yet the break did not stick and a group of eight returned together.
That soon became nine as Van Der Kaay made contact. However, Schär had lost a lot of time in the water.
As the lead group mowed through the 7.5km, Schär took on the bike alone. In the first lap she was 16 seconds down but in a gargantuan effort she caught the leaders.
Ten women therefore arrived in T2 and, not content at simply catching the group, it was Schär that led the way onto the run.
Potter and Beaugrand instantly passed the Swiss athlete and the pair established a lead over the field. Before long, Beaugrand floated away from Potter and the Scot could not quite muster a response.
Van Der Kaay fought with Lindemann for the bronze on the first lap. Hamburg, though, is Lindemann’s turf and she soon carved ahead. Pushed on by the crowds, Koch and Gomez-Göggel then moved ahead of the New Zealand athlete to lock out the top-5 behind Beaugrand and Potter.
At the front of the race, Beaugrand had no need to look back and check on the squabbles behind. Such was her control, her expression hardly shifted. There was no sign of pain, nor any real sign of excitement. It was all just so easy.
Beaugrand therefore crossed the line 10 seconds ahead of Potter and, five years after taking her maiden WTCS win in the city, her victory was an exercise in utter serenity.
In finishing 2nd, Potter claimed a third medal of the season and burnished her credentials for this year’s world title.
Lindemann then led Koch and Gomez-Göggel home to earn the bronze medal and yet another visit to the Hamburg podium. While her form hitherto in 2023 has not been at its previous heights, Lindemann in Hamburg is simply a different force altogether.
Nicole Van Der Kaay then took 6th place in her best WTCS showing since medalling in Hamburg in 2021. Spivey followed in 7th while Schär crossed in 8th after taking on the final the hard way. It was certainly one way to achieve her first-ever WTCS top-10 and she showed enormous mental strength to fight her way back.
Jolien Vermeylen and Summer Rappaport then rounded out the top-10.
There was no shortage of worthy opponents, then, in the race for the gold. When all was said and done, though, none could lay a finger on Cassandre Beaugrand.
You can view the full results here.
