It is always easier to see the pattern once it has revealed itself. Until recently, Simon Henseleit had been enjoying a trajectory that indicated he had something special in store at the World U23 Championships in Pontevedra.
He had made his World Cup debut in the same venue a year prior and entered the race with the best WTCS finish of the field, a 14th place earned in Hamburg in July. With a pair of European Cup wins earlier in the year as well as strong showings in the Bundesliga and at the European Games, Henseleit looked ready to produce something special.
However, he broke his toe at the Paris Test Event in August which threw a spanner in the works. Among a deep field brimming with talent, the pattern remained somewhat hidden.
Indeed, at the start of the race, several of Henseleit’s rivals made the bigger splash.
Mitsuho Mochizuki got out to a fast start in the swim but it was Alessio Crociani, a World Cup medallist, that took the lead through the first of the two laps. A hat-less Jamie Riddle followed, with Mochizuki in tow.
On the second lap, Crociani found another gear and created a notable gap to the rest of the field. Riddle managed to close it slightly. The Italian athlete nonetheless exited with an advantage of 4 seconds.
Out of T1, a group of seventeen athletes formed at the front. Henseleit and his teammates Jonas Osterholt and Henry Graf made the front, as did defending World U23 medallists Gergely Kiss and Hamish Reilly.
Before long, Graf and Henseleit had taken control of proceedings. Along with Jonathan Oakley, they seemed to have generated a small lead. The leaders, though, soon caught them.
Over the first few laps on the bike, the front pack swelled to twenty-six. It would soon lose a man but of greater pertinence was the loss of momentum.
The chase pack containing threats like David Cantero del Campo and Yanis Seguin lagged over a minute and a half down. With little need to push the pace, the final few laps of the bike took on a more processional character.
Even if Seguin and Cantero had been eliminated as threats, several strong candidates remained at the front. One such man was Baptiste Passemard who was first through T2.
Henseleit and Graf were instantly with him while Oscar Dart moved up the field. Having won two Asia Cup races earlier in the year, Dart had shown his ability to close out races and thus posed a serious threat. Meanwhile, as Graf slipped back, Esteban Basanta Fouz gave the home support something to cheer as he joined the leaders.
At the end of the first lap, Dart fell away from the front. However, the greater shock was news that Basanta had been disqualified. Towards the end of the bike, he had not followed the course, although he had a case to argue that he had no choice if he was to avoid a crash. As Passemard slipped back, Henseleit and Basanta were left at the front.
Either the German athlete would win or that man that had been disqualified would.
Basanta’s disqualification was promptly protested. It’s impact, though, soon became a little more muted. At the end of the second lap, Henseleit attacked. In one swift move, he put Basanta to the sword and essentially put the gold medal around his own shoulders.
Over the third lap, Passemard and Kolkman passed Basanta to leave the unfortunate young Spanish athlete off the provisional podium anyway.
With a lap to go, Passemard lurked 11 seconds behind Henseleit. Such was Henseleit’s form, there was no real chance that he would surrender his lead. He cruised to victory, throwing his name in with German U23 champions like Laura Lindemann and Sophia Saller, in emphatic fashion.
In hindsight, it all made perfect sense. At no point did Henseleit look remotely troubled in the race and his win was an exercise of complete control. After a breakthrough year, he can sign of as a world champion and even greater things will likely await in the not too distant future.
Passemard sealed the silver medal with a powerful final lap while Kolkman held off Basanta to earn an impressive bronze medal. The Dutch athlete had been a linchpin of several Mixed Team Relays over the summer. His individual success was therefore overdue.
The disqualified Basanta followed in 4th place ahead of Panagiotis Bitados and Daniel Dixon. Crociani took 6th place once the disqualification took effect, beating Riddle to line as he had in the water. John Reed then crossed in 8th ahead of Nicolo Strada and last year’s runner-up Kiss.
You can view the full results here.
