Triathletes here, triathletes there, triathletes everywhere. Such is the way of the modern elite triathlon calendar.
While there were Continental Cups taking place in Africa and Asia at the weekend, a number of athletes opted for alternative racing opportunities.
Mario Mola
After his recent medal at the European Duathlon Championships, Mola was racing again at the Triathlon de Portocolom in Mallorca.
The three time world champion took on an irregular set of distances as he raced over a 500m swim, 50km bike and a 5km run in a “55.5” format. The distances proved perfect for him, though, as he swept to victory by almost 8 minutes.
Mola kicked things off with a swim of 6:51. On the bike, he clocked a time of 1:23:52 and then he cruised a 16:55 run to seal the win.
In his recent WTCS races in Abu Dhabi, Bermuda and Cagliari, Mola has not made the impact of old. With a couple of DNFs, he has been feeling his way back to top form. With each race, though, he appears to be getting sharper. When the next batch of Sprint distance WTCS races roll around in June and July, classically Mola’s better distance, he will likely be back into full fighting shape and ready to unleash some big performances.
As an aside, renowned former German WTCS athlete Rebecca Robisch raced in the women’s “111” race (1km swim, 100km bike, 10km run) in Portocolom. She came home with the bronze medal.
Matthew Mcelroy
Across the Atlantic Ocean, Matthew Mcelroy joined Leo Bergere in racing at 70.3 Oceanside.
In only his second foray into the middle distance, Mcelroy finished 6th. Over the 1.9km swim, 90km bike and 21.1 km run, McElroy produced splits of 22:42, 2:13:33 and 1:11:23.
For much of the bike he was with the leaders and went on to run within a minute of race winner Bergere’s split.
Perhaps the most prominent aspect of Mcelroy’s case, though, came away from the race course. In an Instagram post after the event, he shared that his father had spent two weeks in the emergency room only two months earlier. At Oceanside, his father was healthy and able to watch Mcelroy race.
It was a pertinent reminder that the athletes have lives and complications beyond the sport. To balance such personal difficulty with training and elite racing is no walk in the park.
After enjoying back to back top-10 WTCS finishes in his past two appearances, look for Mcelroy to make further dents at the upcoming WTCS events.
Emil Holm
Everyone’s favourite Danish male triathlete was also at it again. Having already taken on a couple of road races and Continental Cups this year, this time Emil Holm took on a duathlon.
After his recent medal at the African Cup in Swakopmund, Holm took on distances of a 5km run, 24km bike and another 5km run at the Islev Duathlon.
Unsurprisingly, Holm went on to take the win. With run splits of 15:22 and 15:46 bookending a bike of 51:46, it was clear he was in fine form.
When he makes his first WTCS start of 2023, expect Holm to be raring to go after all the racing he has undertaken.
