A busy weekend of racing continued in Maselspoort, South Africa. In the first African Cup race of 2023, the athletes took on the Sprint distance although neither the men’s nor the women’s race had over twenty-five starters. Both fields were therefore marked by small groups on the bike.
Men’s race
Despite the warm water (with temperatures recorded at 23.8ºC), the men swam in wetsuits. That resulted in some solid times being recorded. Ayan Beisenbayev of Kazhakstan led the men as he produced a 9:14 split. Beisenbayev had previously won four Continental Cups in his career and so would be worth keeping an eye on.
Close behind was Tyler Smith of Bermuda. Smith has been a part of the ASICS World Triathlon Team and will be looking to add to his WTCS experience this season. In Maselspoort, he was quick to jump onto Beisenbayev’s wheel out of T1.
A nine man group formed in the early stages of the bike, including Luxembourg duo Bob Haller and Stefan Zachaeus. The group slowly whittled down, though, as Noah Künz and Dan Tomiuchi lost touch with the front pack. By the latter stages of the bike, the leading group had become five strong, with Smith, Haller and Zachaeus setting the pace.
Beisenbayev and James Edgar of Ireland ceded around 20 seconds, but managed to limit their losses into T2.
Haller struck clear early on the run as Beisenbayev and Edgar worked their way through the disintegrating lead group. They passed Dylan Nortje and Zachaues and drew alongside Smith. Although Smith battled, Beisenbayev soon moved on and reeled in Haller.
By the final stages of the run, Beisenbayev could afford to relax as he crossed the line 18 seconds ahead of second place. His 15:35 5km was comfortably the fastest of the day. Haller, meanwhile, managed to hold off a charging Edgar to take 2nd as the Irishman took 3rd.
Women’s race
In a small women’s field, Barbara De Koning of the Netherlands won with ease.
During the swim, she sat on Shanae Williams’ feet as the pair built a lead of almost 15 seconds over the next fastest swimmer, Hannah Newman. While Newman and Tanja Stroschneider managed to bridge to the lead duo to form a front pack of four, they had no answer to De Koning on the run.
De Koning produced a smooth 18:19 to out-run Williams by 24 seconds. Williams, in turn, held off Stroschneider to win silver ahead of the Austrian by 6 seconds.
De Koning’s win in Maselspoort continued a good run of form at the Continental Cup level. Last September she won a silver medal at the European Cup in Alhandra. Two months later, she followed that with a silver medal at the Asia Cup in Aqaba.
Not long after, she finished 10th at the World U23 Championships in Abu Dhabi.
De Koning was originally on the start list for WTCS Abu Dhabi next week but has since withdrawn from the race. One athlete racing in Maselspoort that will be in Abu Dhabi is Stroschneider. The Austrian athlete won her last race of 2022, an African Cup in Kenya, so has picked up in similar form this year.
Her last WTCS appearance saw her not finish in Bermuda so hopefully she will be able to use her African Cup showings as stepping stones to a good result in Abu Dhabi.
View the full results from Maselspoort here.
