A week after the first Americas Cup race of the year took place in La Guaira, several athletes were back to tackle the second stop of the Americas circuit. In La Habana, Cuba, the field took on the Olympic distance once again. Fortunately, the conditions were not quite as fierce as those seen seven days earlier in Venezuela.
Women’s race
The field remained almost entirely together during the 1500m swim. Ivana Kuriackova led the way in a time of 19:50 but did not earn much of a lead. Leslie Amat Alvarez, carrying the home hopes, was next out as the Cuban athlete clocked 19:51. Roskana Slupek, the winner in La Guaira, was then a further second back.
Former world champion Gwen Jorgensen was also close behind. She recorded a time of 19:58 in the swim.
Of the twenty-two athletes starting, twenty then came together in the main pack on the bike. The likes of Romina Biagioli, Sinem Francisca Francisca Tous Servera and Elizabeth Carr made their presence known at the front of the field. Likewise, Ana Maria Valentina Torres Gomez was in the mix. Throughout it all, though, Jorgensen kept her powder dry.
As the run arrived, attention turned to Jorgensen to see what she would unleash. As was the case during several of her four World Cup wins in 2023, she did not charge out into the opening kilometre but rather took more of a calm approach. That enabled Slupek to hang nearby, while Torres, Tous and Kuriackova were not far away.
Gradually, though, Jorgensen’s class told and she pulled clear over the 10km to win by 11 seconds. She therefore ticked all the boxes in her season opener before her attention turns to WTCS Abu Dhabi.
Slupek claimed the silver medal after another strong performance. After a run of three wins, she now has four medals from her last four races. Torres then held off Kuriackova to seal 3rd place. Notably, the young Mexican athlete earned the first international medal of her career in La Habana.
Men’s race
Aiden Longcroft-Harris got out to a fast start in the swim but slowly the field coalesced around him. While the Canadian athlete led into T1 in a time of 17:48, Darr Smith was only a second behind.
Unlike the women’s race, though, the field did not stay together. A clear split after the eleventh man left the water, which opened up the race.
The leading eleven men then started to extend their advantage over the bike. After his hard work early on, Longcroft-Harris did not finish the bike segment. Two other athletes likewise pulled out in the second discipline. Nevertheless, the remaining eight built up an insurmountable lead.
Fresh off a big bike split in La Guaira, Luis Miguel Velasquez Ramos rode hard. Smith was also a regular face towards the front of the pack. By the time they made it into T2, the leaders had an advantage of over 2 minutes over the chasers. Significantly, the chase included Fleix Duchampt, the winner in La Guaira.
Smith was among the early leaders on the run. He had Michal Oliwa and James Edgar for company but seemed to be in control. Slowly but surely, the front three left the rest of the field behind.
In the final stages, though, Edgar found another gear and pulled away from his rivals. The Irish athlete resisted any attempts at a comeback from the others and took the win by six seconds. Edgar is on quite the run of form. At the end of 2023, he claimed victories at the Asia Cup races in Hong Kong and Xiamen. With his La Habana success, he is now on a three race winning streak.
Smith then came through to take 2nd place while Oliwa held on for 3rd.
View the full results here.
