Alongside the European Cup that was won by Alissa Konig and Alessio Crociani, Caorle played host to a European Junior Cup event. Taking place under a multi-round Super Sprint format, the field was cut down by heats on Friday before the finals took place on Saturday.
The distances covered were a 300m swim, 9.45km bike and 1.9km run and the medals were decided by seconds.
Men’s race
Gregor Rasva was the top swimmer in the men’s final and clocked 3:22 in the first discipline. His efforts managed to stretch the thirty-man field although it did not quite break the race apart as he may have hoped.
Roy Baron and Naël Gumy were right behind Rasva on the way into T1. Moreover, Nils Serre Gehri, the 2023 World Junior Championships silver medallist, was with the leaders.
An initial pack of six men came together on the bike but it grew with every few hundred metres. Eventually, a pack containing Tristan Douche, Carol Popa and Lorenzo Pelliciardi rode up to the leaders and almost the entire field came together. Achille Besson of France and Jens Smolders of Belgium were well-placed at the front of the pack. Before the bike could be neutralised, though, two athletes sprung into life.
Antoine L’hôte (13:33) and Eirik Berling Grande (13:35) logged the two best bike splits of the final and managed to gain 20 seconds over the main group. When they arrived into T2, their challenge was to hold on as best they could.
Douche, the 2023 European Youth champion, and Serre Gehri were among those to set the early pace on the run. Alongside Popa, Besson and Pelliciardi, they passed L’hôte and Berling Grande and moved into the lead. A watchful final kilometre then followed as the line drew ever closer.
In the end, Pelliciardi had the best finish and took the win by 1 second. The Italian athlete won the European Junior Cup in Bled last year over the same Super Sprint format and so clearly enjoys the shorter event. Douche took the silver medal after he finished 1 second ahead of Popa, who in turn denied Serre Gehri the bronze by 3 seconds. With a run split of 5:43, Popa was also the fastest runner of the final.
Women’s race
The French team took control of the women’s final early on. Lisa Lecompte led the swim in a time of 3:41 while Manon Laporte (3:43) and Léa Houart (3:44) were close behind.
A pack of nine women ultimately rode clear at the front with the three French athletes at the heart of it. Martina McDowell of Italy made the pack and went on to log the top bike split in 15:16. The Belgian duo of Lotte Minnebo and Mit Wittemans made it into the lead pack as did Beate Jansone, Liis Katpen and Dora Pusztai.
As the reigning World Junior Championships bronze medallist and recent winner of the French Junior tests, Laporte seemed to be the favourite heading into T2. Once onto the run, she showed why.
Clocking 6:36 for the 1.9km, Laporte was the fastest woman in the third discipline by 10 seconds and cruised to the win. Houart was the next best runner and took the silver medal while Lecompte completed a French sweep of the podium in 3rd place.
View the full results here.
