On Saturday, Taizhou played host to an Olympic distance Asia Cup race. Of perhaps greater importance, it was also the birthday of Jumpei Furuya. The stage was therefore set for the Japanese athlete to hand himself the ideal gift.
However, a strong field lied in wait, primed to rain on his parade.
Men’s race
The men got off to a fast start in the swim and at first several blobs of athletes formed. Over the course of the 1500m, though, Zhao Tan of China cruised to the front and took control. In the end, Tan clocked a split of 17:24.
Close behind were the Japanese duo Furuya and Kyotaro Yoshikawa. Yoskikawa was the closer to the two to Tan and in T1 he slipped past his Chinese counterpart. Then he got to work.
There is something truly fearless to the way Yoshikawa races. An early charge on the bike saw him jump clear of the field. The only athlete able to get near him was Furuya.
Towards the end of 2022 Furuya made several statements on the bike in the WTCS and his cycling was at full strength in Taizhou. He drew alongside his compatriot and set about constructing a lead.
After losing the best part of 50 seconds in the water, the likes of Kye Wilde and Felix Duchampt bridged to Tan. It was soon apparent, though, that any pursuit of Yoshikawa and Furuya would be hopeless. The pair hammered around the course, adding chunks of time to their advantage with seemingly every kilometre.
By the time the 40km were up, the damage was severe. Furuya and Yoshikawa led by well over 2 minutes.
Any hope for a close finish was promptly squashed in the opening kilometre of the run. Furuya pulled away with ease and went on to split 32:09 to Yoshikawa’s 33:57. Although he missed the 31 minute mark he wanted, Furuya nonetheless found the perfect way to celebrate his birthday.
Such was the gap they had built, Yoshikawa was also able to run through untroubled for silver.
The race for bronze, however, was still on.
Duchampt and Junjie Fan pulled clear of the chase pack once on foot. In the final stages, Duchampt had too much speed for Fan and took 3rd on the back of the fastest run of the day (31:24).
Women’s race
Yuan Yuan and Wen Wei of China built a massive lead in the swim. By the time they made their way to T1, they led by over 50 seconds from Siyi Zhang and Yuka Sato.
After hard work on the bike, the main pack was able to catch Yuan and Wei, with Zsófia Kovács and Anqi Huang pushing some high watts to lead the way. Towards the end of the 40km, though, someone darted off the front.
Rather than let the field roll through to T2, Alanis Siffert of Switzerland seized the day and tried to power ahead. Siffert only made her international debut at the Asia Cup in Dexing earlier in the year so it was a courageous move to attack. By the time she arrived in T1, she had a half minute lead.
Her efforts soon caught up with her, though, as the field began to close. Sato and Huang were quick to move up behind her and ate away at her margin. Before long, both had passed Siffert.
Meiyi Lu of China also had a good run and slotted onto Sato’s hip. Yet as the run wore on, Huang’s strength began to show. Gradually, Sato and Lu fell away, leaving Huang to stride to victory. That marked a second win of the season for her after her triumph in Dexing last month.
In the final sprint, Sato was able to hold off Lu to seal the silver medal.
View the full results here.
