Bad memories can quickly become demons if not expunged in time.
For two of the favourites for this year’s world title, Abu Dhabi held harsh memories from a mere three months ago. Both Alex Yee and Hayden Wilde had astonishing seasons last year but tripped at the last and saw Leo Bergere win the world title. Back at the same venue, they had a chance to put that right.
Morgan Pearson was a pre-race hopeful that did not start but otherwise the men dove into the pristine waters of Yas Bay and set about their task.
For much of the swim, Vincent Luis and Dorian Coninx led the way. An early hint of the French strategy? Or perhaps just a display of their swimming talents.
Márk Dévay was with the French pair and together the trio pushed a stern pace. By the end of the swim, the field had been strung out, although not fully broken.
Yee emerged in 31st, while Bergere popped up soon after in 33rd. Wilde, however, was 43 seconds down in 57th.
A front group of Luis, Coninx, Alessio Crociani, Henri Schoeman, David Castro Fajardo, Devay and Jamie Riddle pushed clear. Riddle’s exuberance seemed to have gotten ahead of him, though, as he was slapped with a 10 second penalty for leaving his equipment out of his box in T1, although this was later rescinded.
Wilde ended up as the last man on the road, 10 second behind Gustav Iden. By the end of the first lap, he was over a minute down on Iden. In turn, Iden was almost half a minute down on the next man ahead.
A thirteen man lead group formed at the end of lap one. 7 seconds behind was a chase pack including Yee and Bergere. Once a forty man group came together at the end of the second lap, it seemed a running race was on the cards. At that point, Yee looked the best positioned to take advantage.
However, far from conforming to that pattern, Bergere launched an attack with Riddle. Roberto Sanchez Mantecon bridged. Then Miguel Hidalgo did too.
With less than two laps to go, that strong front quartet dropped the hammer on the field. Their 13 second lead was slowly whittled down to 6 seconds, but still they held on.
Kyle Smith, the silver medallist at the Oceania Cup in Wanaka two weeks ago, put in a shift to bridge and make it five men.
Before the last lap, Sarzilla, Zachaeus and Vilaca also jumped across the gap to make the lead group eight strong. Notably, Zachaeus raced at the African Cup in Maselspoort last weekend, finishing 5th.
As the chase continued to push, the lead fell to 5 seconds, then to 4. Finally, the gap was closed.
Bergere, though, really asserted himself upon the race. The field may have come back together but the message to his rivals had been sent. At this point in time, Bergere might just be the most tactically astute racer in the world of triathlon.
At the back of the field, Wilde continued, admirably refusing to throw in the towel, as a lead group of 50 men arrived into T2.
Jelle Geens was the first man off the bike but Brandon Copeland flew out of T2 first and took the lead. Channelling his inner Jonas Schomburg, Copeland tried to sprint clear but was promptly caught.
As the pack moved past Copeland, no moves came in the first lap. Sanchez Mantecon and Luis set the pace and, gradually, men fell off the back.
By the end of the lap, Yee and Manoel Messias hit the front with Tyler Mislawchuk and Vasco Vilaca for company. Mislawchuk, though, had a 10 second penalty to serve on the last lap.
As the quartet pulled clear, the pace began to ramp up even higher. Further back, Luis pushed ahead from the chase, leaving Bergere.
Mislawchuk fell off the pace before he could serve his penalty, leaving a lead trio to fight for the medals. It was then at a slight rise, at the same point that Beth Potter attacked in the women’s race, Yee struck.
In the blink of an eye, he was clear, leaving Messias and Vilaca to fight for the remaining medals.
Yee looked fantastic. His style has long been known to be smooth and fluid but he looked in exceptional condition. Having kept his powder dry throughout the race, he played his cards perfectly. In doing so, he broke the tape at the finish and banished any lingering memory of his heartache from November.
As Yee charged ahead, Vilaca jumped clear of Messias to earn a second silver at the world level. In turn, Messias added a bronze to his previous medal from WTCS Cagliari. Both men actually ran identical 14:32 run splits, a mere 6 seconds slower than Yee.
A French trio were the next to arrive home. Luis took 4th, while Coninx and Bergere finished 5th and 6th, respectively.
While Yee had stolen a march on his rivals, there was nothing for Bergere to be overly concerned with. His run on flat Sprint courses has never been his strength and his attack on the bike signalled the dangers he poses, even to big packs.
Yee won the day, but the bigger game was afoot.
View the full results here.
