Four French men lined up in the final of the Lievin World Cup with the thunderous home support ringing in their ears. Aurelien Jem had impressed in his semi-final earlier in the evening while Antoine Duval started having won a European Cup last autumn. Leo Fernandez, the 2022 European Junior champion, brought a touch of youth the the home finalists. And then there was the hero.
The biggest cheer of the evening had been reserved for Vincent Luis as he walked out to the final. A winner of the Lievin European Cup (over the same indoor format) in 2022, the double world champion was the initial favourite to claim the World Cup win and little from his heat and semi-final performances indicated that he would have any problems in the final.
Threats abounded among the remaining eight starters in the final, but the French team seemed set to deliver.
Just as hewas in his semi-final, Mitch Kolkman was the top swimmer. He touched the wall in the region of 1:28 for the 150m (25m) swim (although his official time was 1:35 after the run from the pool was taken into account). Right with Kolkman was Vetle Bergsvik Thorn.
A World Cup medallist in 2022 and 2023, Thorn was hunting a maiden World Cup victory. Having impressed in the 2023 Bundesliga series over similar shortened formats, he looked to be the primary danger to the French hopes.
The Dutch and Norwegian pair carried a slender lead onto the 3km bike but then they split. Thorn opted to drop back and ride with the pack. In his qualifier, he had miscounted on the fifteen lap 3km course and ridden an extra lap. In doing so, he almost cost his shot at making the semi-final. His decision to settle may have therefore had as much to do with taking extra precaution against the same mistake as it did with saving his legs.
Kolkman, the World U23 Championships medallist, looked rather lonely on the bike as a result. Csongor Lehmann charged at the head of the pack and soon brought Kolkman back into the group. Meanwhile, Thorn’s teammate, Casper Stornes, languished adrift at back. Stornes’ position looked somewhat risky but the lesson of the women’s race, in which Gwen Jorgensen converted the same position to a bronze medal, showed it was not too problematic.
Over the second half of the bike, Tim Hellwig took over at front as all twelve finalists came together. Thorn and Hellwig then rode abreast into T2 as the finale loomed.
It was the youngster Fernández, though, that flew into the early lead on the run. Hellwig bounded after him with Thorn in pursuit. Having been quiet throughout, Luis lurked a couple of seconds back.
Over the middle of the 1000m run, Stornes rattled through the field from the rear while Fernandez began to pay for his bright start. Hellwig assumed the lead with the Norwegian duo of Thorn and Stornes on his feet. Luis, too, shifted ahead of Fernandez and zeroed in on his rivals.
As the bell rang for the last lap, Hellwig gritted his teeth as the lactate began to bite at his legs. Just as Fernandez had, it was now the WTCS gold medallist’s turn to slip back. That was when Thorn launched his final attack.
Luis was the only man initially able to go with Thorn but even his best efforts were not enough to close the gap. Thorn was able to check over his shoulder at the lunging French star before wagging his finger over the finish line. Stornes then crossed in 3rd behind Luis to earn his first ever World Cup medal. Lehmann then pipped Hellwig to 4th place.
While it was not quite the outcome the crowd had hoped for, the drama of the finish and electric atmosphere was more than enough to make up for Luis’ defeat.
You can view the full results here.
