Pokhara is renowned for being the gateway into the Himalayan trail the Annapurna Circuit. For the athletes lining up on Lake Phewa, they hoped it would also be a source of points and a gateway into greater things for the year.
At over 800m above sea level, altitude would be a factor although the athletes would only have to contend with the Sprint distance.
A little more mercifully, the mountains in the distance were more for show rather than something for those racing to summit.
Men’s race
Aleksandr Kurishov of Uzbekistan led the way in the water, clocking a split of 8:58. Kyotaro Yoshikawa was on his feet, only a second behind, with the Luxembourg duo of Stefan Zachaeus and Bob Haller next out.
After his recent swimming and cross country exploits in his native Luxembourg, Haller would be one to watch.
Both Haller and Zachaeus were fast through T1 and undercut the gains made by Kurishov and Yoshikawa in the swim. With Kurt Wesley and Peter Rojtas joining them, a front pack of six formed on the bike and rode clear of the field.
Wesley, though, was the first man to be lost from the front pack. Not long after, Rojtas was also dropped. As the leaders completed the final of their five laps they did so as a quartet.
With nothing to separate them in T2, the leaders strode out onto the run together. Yet for the first lap, there was nothing between them. Across the second lap, a couple of stolen glances betrayed what was going on in the group’s minds; someone had to miss out on the podium. Both Zachaeus and Haller, though, looked smooth as they ran.
The race ultimately came down to the closing kilometre. Haller summoned the sprint to power ahead and hold off the reaction of Kurishov and Zachaeus.
Amidst the heightened pace, Yoshikawa slipped behind. No one could overhaul Haller, though, as he stormed to his first win of the season.
Kurisvhov held off Zachaeus to win the silver medal.
Women’s race
For much of the women’s race, it looked as if the story would be about one woman.
Minori Ikeno had a great swim and only her compatriot Yuka Sato could get within 30 seconds of her (Sato was 8 seconds behind). Ikeno, though, was not content to stop there. She charged ahead on her own on the bike and stretched her lead.
Further behind, the trio of Chisato Nakajima, Margareta Bicanova and Antoanela Manac bridged across to Sato to form a chase pack of four women. However, in spite of their best efforts, they could not hack away at Ikeno’s advantage.
Once onto the run, Ikeno showed an early hint of fatigue. Nevertheless, she did not ease in her push for the finish line. Similarly, as the chase pack arrived into T2, Manac and Sato showed similar looks having been forced to chase hard.
Over the first lap of the run, it was Bicanova that pulled ahead of the chase and began to hunt down Ikeno. From early on it was apparent Bicanova was the faster runner. The question was whether she would have enough road left to make the catch.
In the end, she made the catch with time to spare and pulled ahead to win by 27 seconds. After her brave solo effort, Ikeno earned the silver medal. Nakajima came home in 3rd.
View the full results here.
