The first races of the European Junior Cup in Caorle, Italy, took place to determine who made the final of the event. With the race doubling as the only European qualification event for this year’s World Junior Championships, making the final could prove the difference between a country being able to send an athlete to the Championships or not.
A Super Sprint triathlon awaited the athletes in both the heats and the finals. The 300m swim, 9.5km bike and 1.9km run offered just enough to tempt the athletes to really let rip with races taking less than 30 minutes.
Qualification, though, was the name of the game. Four men’s heats and three women’s took place as the athletes sought to earn of the thirty slots in the final. Twenty-eight of the men would earn a spot in the final via their placings in the heats with the last two slots going to the best overall times of those to miss out.
Twenty-seven women would make it into the final automatically through their heat placings. The last three spots were awarded to the remaining fastest three times not already in the final.
Although the sun shone, the water was a little nippy which meant the athletes took on the swim in wetsuits. What followed, though, were some seriously fast races.
Men’s heats
Tomer Shapira led the way in the water in the first men’s heat. He clocked a split of 4:15 over the 300m with Pelayo González Turrez and Gaspard Tharreau the next men out.
On the bike, the field quickly bunched back together although Shapira did not hold on to the main pack and slipped behind. It therefore fell to González and the Portuguese duo Gustavo Do Canto and Rodrigo Pissarra to set the tone. During the bike, however, misfortune struck Tharreau. After positioning himself well, he suffered a bike mechanical which ended his race.
The winner of the French Junior test weekend back in March, Tharreau was an early favourite for the overall win in Caorle. After his bad luck, he will be watching the final from the sidelines.
Tom Hattee and Hector Tolsa García of Spain also put in some strong shifts in the bike. With Fiorenzo Angelini also featuring at the front, a group of six peeled away.
Given that the top-7 seven qualifiers earned automatic qualification to the final, the leading pack looked confident in T2. With no need to push the pace, Hattee, Pissarra, Do Canto, Angelini, González and Tolsa ran together for most of the course. In the final stages, Tolsa edged ahead to take the win in 25:47.
Pissarra was the next to cross the line, 5 seconds behind. Ul Denša of Slovenia was then the 7th man to finish.
In heat 2, Jesús Vela Vela clocked 4:09 to lead the way in the swim. A pack of seven men then escaped on the bike with Gergő Gyula Soós and Lawrence Martindale hitting the front.
With qualification essentially sewn up, the front pack were able to stretch their legs on the run. Vela crossed the line in 1st, 1 second ahead of Patrik Leitner, in 25:29.
No one was able to bridge to the front seven from the chase pack. After dropping a 5km PB of 14:29 last weekend, Solomon Okrafo-Smart of Britain came the closest. His run split of 6:08 was only 4 seconds slower than that of Vela as he finished 8th.
In the third heat, Zalán Hóbor was the quickest swimmer. His time of 4:19 put him 2 seconds ahead of home athlete Miguel Espuna Larramona. Gregor Rasva of Estonia was the third man into T1. And then the lead trio dropped the hammer.
Together, they tore round the bike course and built a gap of over 30 seconds.
For good measure, all three were rapid on the run and consolidated the top-3 positions in comfort. Hóbor took the win with a time of 25:48, missing the mark Tolsa had set in the first heat by 1 second.
Thomas Hansmaennel almost made the breakaway out of T1 but seemed content to sit in the chase along with his compatriot, Adam Fouchal. Along with Julen Andueza Valencia, Kuba Gadja and David Lang of Luxembourg, Hansmaennel was quick through T2 and produced a swift run to seal his spot in the top-7. Fouchal, however, could only manage 8th in the final dash for the line.
In the final men’s heat, the field remained mostly together in the water. Bulgarian athlete Alexander Bozhilov was the fastest man and managed a time of 4:20. A further eight men, though, were within 5 seconds of him.
As a result, a tightly bunched group emerged from T1.
While Bozhilov was dropped on the bike, Antoine L’hôte was fantastic on two wheels and drove the pace. As T2 neared, a lead pack of nine men had consolidated themselves. Jakub Souček was on the cusp of sticking with the group but leaked a couple of seconds too many.
On the run, Andreas Nikolajsen and Eirik Berling Grande looked good as the front pack began to fragment. Nils Serre Gehri and L’hôte stayed tucked into the lead group with a top-7 position safe and looked on as Nikolajsen began to stride clear. In the end Nikolajsen crossed the line in 25:33 and 7 seconds ahead of Berling Grande.
Pietro Giovannini was the last of the main group to cross the line; he did so in 7th place to lock out the final automatic qualifying slot.
With the heats wrapped up, the men’s final tomorrow is delicately poised. Hansmaennel looked like he kept his powder dry throughout his race. Maybe he could not go with the leading trio on the bike in heat 3; maybe he took the mature decision to save his legs. Tomorrow that will be clearer but it would be wise to expect a bigger role for him in the final.
Similarly González kept his race on an even keel.
Will the heat winners have the same edge? Tolsa and Vela should be fairly comfortable but Hóbor and his breakaway companions may have expended just a little too much energy on the bike. On the other hand if they can replicate their bike efforts in the final, they could spring a surprise.
Only two “lucky losers” made the final to make it thirty men starting. Okrafo-Smart and Carol Popa of Romania managed to sneak in courtesy of their 8th and 9th place finishes in heat 2.
Jens Smulders and Fouchal were the unlucky ones to miss out. Their times of 26:13 were only 4 seconds away from Popa’s 26:09.
Women’s heats
The swim was the story of the youngsters in the first women’s heat. That in itself feels almost a little absurd to write given this is a Junior Cup. Nevertheless, two athletes born in 2008 were the fastest in the water. (Feel old yet? We sure do.)
Fanni Szalai was the first to emerge in 4:54. Beata Jansome of Latvia was next out, only 1 second back. Such was their speed, the next best swimmer was 10 seconds down on the pair.
Tabea Huys was the first to lead the chase onto the wheels of Szalai and Jansome. Along with Alice Alessandri and Alejandra Seguí Soria, Huys began to pressure the field. One by one, athletes fell away from the front group until it consisted of twelve of the starting thirty women.
Nine was the magic number as it would take a top-9 finish to automatically qualify for the final. Someone, though, must have forgotten to tell Szalai that she only needed to finished 9th.
She dropped a blistering run split to fly away from the field. With no one even remotely close to her, she crossed the finish line in 28:26 to take the win.
Jansome was the next to finish in 28:51 while Felipa Hermann of Germany took the all-important 9th place.
Heat 2 brimmed with talent. As the athletes took to the start line, a number of potential winners of the event stared out across the waves. The swim was particularly fast and Ilona Hadhoum led the way in 4:46. Sara Crociani was only 1 second behind while Millie Breese, Manon Laporte and Kjara Reckmann were also close by.
Breese was lightning-quick through T1 and stole an early advantage. As Hadhoum and Laporte latched onto her wheel, a small gap to the field opened. With the class that trio possess, the tiny sliver of daylight was all they needed.
They gradually pulled out a healthy lead, gaining 15 seconds over Crociani. Once through T2, Hadhoum nudged ahead although Breese reeled the French woman back. In the end, the two women finished together. Breeses crossed the line in 29:06 and was awarded the win but Hadhoum logged the same time. After their dominance in the first two disciplines, the run appeared fairly serene.
Sara Crociani had a brilliant run to overcome the loss on the bike and overtake Laporte. She even nearly overtook the leaders, but ultimately finished 3rd and only 1 second behind after saving her legs at the end.
Léonie Douche made it three French women in the top-9 by earning 9th. Germany put two women into the final in heat 2 as Reckmanna and Marielle Bouchti qualified.
In the third and final heat, eyes were on Margareta Vrablova to see what she had in store. It was Eve Whitaker of Britain, though, that stole the show.
Whitaker led the way in the water with a 4:46 split, matching Hadhoum’s time from heat 2. Manon Pomme of France was 7 seconds down while Vrablova was next out in 4:54. As Whitaker jumped onto the bike, Pomme and Hasse Fleerackers thundered after her and in what seemed the blink of an eye the leading trio had a gap.
Vrablova sat in the chase pack but none of the field could make a dent against Whitaker, Pomme and Fleerackers. The three ran together and conserved their energy over the 1.9km. Whitaker crossed the line first, 1 second ahead of Fleerackers.
Coming home in 5th was Vrablova. A puff of the cheeks and a wry smile perhaps betrayed her thoughts. She may have saved some energy on the bike but the leading trio looked very strong.
Laura Inez Papp came home in 9th.
As with the men’s field, a number of athletes looked in top shape and the winner could come from anywhere. The obvious talking point from the women’s heats was Fanni Szalai. She was brilliant in both the swim and the run. If she can replicate her efforts tomorrow, the rest of the field will be very nervous.
That being said, several of the second heat qualifiers were faster in the water than Szalai. Moreover Whitaker was quicker in the water in heat 3. In the latter two heats, breakaways of three escaped. The likes of Hadhoum, Breese, Whitaker, Pomme, Fleerackers and Laporte looked awesome on the bike and could pose a problem to the much younger Szalai.
On the run, the likes of Crociani and Vrablova will also have to be given their due course.
The women’s final will have three “lucky losers”. Taking those slots will be Tinkara Stres, Tabea Huys and Gwen Northum. More than anything else, there is one lesson to take from the heats in Caorle: the finals will be bonkers!
View the full results of the heats here and check out the start lists for tomorrow’s finals here.
