One of the most demanding courses on the Junior circuit awaited the athletes lining up to start the European Junior Cup in Tabor.
Falling between the World Junior Championships and the European Junior Championships, the race offered an ideal hit-out for athletes looking to keep up their sharpness. Many got more than they bargained for, though, over the Sprint distance event.
Men’s race
Breakaways were the order of the day which meant one man had to be at the fore. After riding in breaks at the European Junior Cup in Tiszaujvaros and the World Junior Championships in Hamburg, Zalán Hóbor made it three in a row in Tabor.
He was the fastest man in the water and led the field into T1 in a time of 11:41. Giovanni Aruffo of Italy was only 1 second behind but the next man, Severin Schwarz, led a chase group over 10 seconds behind. Further back, the field had splintered under Hóbor’s pressure.
Neither the Hungarian nor Italian athlete let up in the early stages of the bike. They navigated the short, sharp rises skillfully and heaped pressure onto the chasers. A pack including Alexander Bozhilov and Jan Semmler formed behind yet they could not eat into the lead pair’s advantage. Hóbor was simply irrepressible, although the way in which Aruffo hung with him and took his turns was similarly impressive.
By the end of the 20km, Hóbor and Aruffo had extended their lead to the 40 second mark. With a better T2, Hóbor struck out first onto the run and from there he did not look back.
He powered to the gold medal by 30 seconds, claiming a second international win. For his part, Aruffo managed to hold off a charging Bozhilov and Francesco Di Basilico to seal the silver medal.
Although Di Basilico had the quicker 5km split, it was Bozhilov that crossed in 3rd place, 13 seconds behind Aruffo.
Women’s race
The women’s field did not fragment quite as dramatically as the men’s in the swim, but cracks certainly appeared as Sidney Clement pushed the pace.
The Canadian exited the water in a time of 11:04 with Margareta Vrablova the next woman out, 3 seconds back. A group of six women emerged within 10 seconds of Vrablova but only four were able to stay on the wheels of the lead pair. From a little further back, Carlotta Bülck of Germany pushed a big effort on the opening lap of the bike to ride up to the leaders and overcome a 15 second deficit.
Clement had her compatriot Jamie Harker in the lead pack, while Bülck had her fellow national Sarah Walter for company. Antonia Jubb and Linda Hehenwarter completed the pack before it gradually began to distance the chasers. Once the lead crossed the minute threshold, the chase pack were fully out of contention.
Jubb and Vrablova were the quickest through T2 and surged clear on the run. As she has throughout the year in European Junior Cups, Vrablova ignited the jets to zoom ahead of Jubb. With a field-leading run split, the Slovakian flew to yet another victory.
Jubb held on to take the silver medal on her international debut. Meanwhile, Bülck, one of the youngest women in the field, earned the bronze medal in what was also her first international race.
View the full results here.
