After the drama of the European Cup in Alanya, many of the same athletes remained in Turkey a week later to take on the European Cup in Yenisehir.
In piping hot conditions, the racing took place over the Sprint distance. In both the men’s and women’s events, the race came down to a late fight for gold and the both silver medallists can count themselves extremely unlucky to have been denied the wins.
Men’s race
At the final European Cup race of 2023, the men’s race was a battle from the word go. Marcus Dey of Britain attacked the swim with real vigour and put the field under a lot of pressure. Recent European Cup winners, Antoine Duval and Louis Vitiello (in Ceuta and Alanya, respectively) did not have bad swims yet found themselves with a notable deficit.
Clocking 8:47 for the 750m, Dey exited with a 2 seconds gap over Tom Lerno. In turn, Lerno led Jan Diener by another 2 seconds.
Having done all the work in the water, Dey needed a fast T1 to make the break stick. Not requiring a second invitation, the Brit was near-flawless through T1 and was the first onto the bike. Lerno and Diener followed a couple of seconds back and soon made it onto Dey’s wheel.
A speedy start to the bike by Ben Fäh also helped him make up the few seconds he had lost to Dey, putting four men at the front. And then there was nothing.
Perhaps shaken by the early intensity, no one else in the field could quite come to terms with the leaders.
Duval had fared the best of the early favourites and barely lost 10 seconds to Dey in the water. Yet on the bike his attempts to cling on to the leaders were like trying to hold an oiled rope. No matter what he did, they slipped further and further away.
Vitiello, Nathan Grayel and Samuele Angelini, the Italian champion, soon appeared beside Duval as the chase pack swelled. Maybe their numbers grew too quickly for still the pack was powerless against the lead quartet.
What the leaders lacked in manpower they made up for with effort and soon they led by over 20 seconds.
Ayan Beisenbayev, Gjalt Panjer, Jonas Osterholt, Sebastian Pascal and more lent their weight to the fracturing chase groups. All had enjoyed good seasons. None of them could make a dent into the lead though. Even the presence of the Italian Tokyo Olympian Delian Stateff did not help reduce the gap.
By the time the front four made it to T2, they had the best part of 40 seconds to play with. The challenge now was to hold on.
After admirable work, Fäh fell behind. Dey, Lerno and Diener still pushed on with the gold medal in sight. Further behind, though, the chasers had fizzled into life.
Angelini and Vitiello hared out of transition, as did Eric Diener and Pascal. For the first of the two run laps, they chipped away at the gap.
However, even with two kilometres to go, the leaders seemed secure. Dey strained as he tried to find another gear and strike for the line his advantage had slimmed considerably.
With a kilometre to go, the chasers were all but upon the leaders. Lerno and (Jan) Diener each stole a nervous glance over their shoulders at the onrushing Vitiello, Angelini, (Eric) Diener and Pascal. Having won the sprint finish in Alanya, the race had suddenly swung in Vitiello’s favour.
On Dey pushed but the catch seemed inevitable. Both Angelini and Vitiello launched their final kicks to get past the Brit, yet he held firm. It took a massive push from Angelini at the last to finally break through. And this time Dey had no answer.
Taking the win by 2 seconds, Angelini made it over the line, with Dey next over to claim the silver medal. The Italian athlete had run 14:58 for the 5km to the Brit’s 15:49 and was one of only two splits under 15 minutes (the other went to Pascal).
Vitiello crossed 2 seconds later to seal the bronze after out-gunning Lerno, Pascal and the Dieners. Amid all the drama, one thing was for sure. After a long, long season, the men in Yenisehir had saved one of the best races for last.
Women’s race
Having earned a first ever international win in Alanya, Julia Bröcker arrived in Yenisehir in high spirits. As was the case for Vitiello, though, she found herself put on the back foot by a swim-driven breakaway.
Lea Marchal and Sophie Alden were brilliant in the water. Clocking 9:22 and 9:25, respectively, they opened up a lead of 20 seconds to the chasers.
With only two athletes at the front, it looked as if Marchal and Alden might have struggled to stay clear for the entire 20km on the bike. Nevertheless, the lead pair soon made a mockery of any such concerns. Over the three laps, they worked well together and defended their lead staunchly.
Myral Greco and Finja Schierl initially led the chasers. The pack was soon joined by Franka Rust, Annabel Morton and Bröcker. Rust had enjoyed the best swim of the three yet was hit with a penalty in T1, costing her valuable time.
The French duo of Appoline Foltz and Celia Merle also worked hard on the front in the chase group. However Marchal and Alden maintained their lead at over 15 seconds for the duration of the bike.
As a result, when they made it into T2, they had established the same cat and mouse dynamic as the men’s race.
Marchal’s efforts soon proved too taxing and she fell back on the run. Left alone at the front, Alden tried to pace her 5km, keeping as much energy as possible in reserve while holding off the charging chase pack.
Morton and Rust proved too strong, though. They eventually caught and passed the Brit. Bröcker also overtook Alden, knocking her off the virtual podium, but could not quite had with the lead pair.
Having enjoyed the early advantage on the run, Rust looked confident. Over the second half of the 5km, though, it was Morton that began to appear the stronger of the two.
No matter what Rust tried, she could not shake the Brit and she soon came under pressure. Then, in the final stages, Morton broke free.
Rust could not match her surge and Morton ran away to earn the gold medal by 4 seconds. Although she could be happy with the silver medal, Rust may have been left wondering what could have been but for her penalty.
Bröcker then held on to win the bronze medal and cap a successful stint in Turkey.
You can view the full results here.
