As the European Cup season took its first steps into the Olympic distance for 2023, a field brimming with talent lined up in both the men’s and women’s events in Quarteira.
Lisa Tertsch was a late withdrawal a few days prior but that did little to diminish what was already a hotly anticipated event.
Women’s race
Under sunny skies the women ran into the sea and the sea said no. For several athletes, the opening dolphin dives into the water did not quite bring the speed they may have hoped as the waves pushed them back.
In what was a wetsuit swim, from the aerial view it appeared as if the athletes were a series of dark fish being flung to-and-fro by the waves. It was as the athletes rounded the first buoy that the first cracks began to emerge and on the way back to the beach on the first lap the field fractured.
Bianca Seregni and Cassandre Beaugrand led the way and pulled clear at end of the first lap.
However the sea had not finished with its fun. It swept the leaders a couple of metres back just as they thought they had finished. As they then dove into the shallows, the backwash from the beach effectively rendered them stationary. Say what you will about the Atlantic Ocean, it has a sense of humour.
Both Beaugrand and Sergeni were able to navigate the second lap with relative comfort. Thereafter the Frenchwoman made the most of the long run into T1 and gained a few seconds over the field. The Olympic distance has not been Beaugrand’s best distance thus far in her career. On the bike, though, she was in perfect position to rectify that.
In the early stages of the bike, a front group of eleven formed with the likes of Melanie Santos, Jeanne Lehair and Kate Waugh joining Beaugrand and Seregni.
With Audrey Merle and Mathilde Gautier also making the front pack, Beaugrand had considerable French support.
As was the case in Melilla last weekend, Cecilia Santamaria Surroca rode well and looked especially good when the roads went upwards. Similarly Yuko Takahashi pulled some big turns as the lead pack piled time into the chasers.
Much of the chase had lost a minute or more to Beaugrand in the water. On the bike, that deficit was essentially doubled.
With the race to be decided amongst the leaders, Lehair flew through T2. She dashed out onto the run with a small lead but Beaugrand and Merle were quick to pursue her.
With Gautier and Takahashi hanging tough just behind, Beaugrand cruised past Lehair in the first kilometre. Soon after, she had put any question over the race winner to bed.
Meanwhile, the chase arrived without having made any real dent into the lead group. In T2, Miller, Miller and Möller came through in quick succession. Only Alissa Konig, though, would ultimately finish within a minute of the last finisher from the lead group.
Beaugrand had left the entire field behind on her way to her first international win over the Olympic distance. Her eventual winning margin was 49 seconds and for good measure she threw in the fastest run split of the race. She ran 33:42 on a day when only three other women broke under 35 minutes.
Behind Beaugrand, Lehair dropped Merle and seemed to strike ahead. Merle did not concede the position and kept her rival in sight. Lehair looked in great running form, as had been hinted by her showing at the French Cross Country Championships, but Merle was relentless. Gradually, she hacked away at the gap until she returned alongside Lehair.
As the finish line approached, Merle’s indefatigable turnover built a gap and Lehair could not respond. In winning silver, Merle backed up her World Cup win in Tongyeong from October, confirming that she has really turned a corner in recent months. Lehair held on for an impressive bronze ahead of a charging Gautier and Takahashi.
Men’s race
The sea had not yet finished with its fun as the men charged into the waves. As the athletes pushed towards the first buoy, several were nudged in all kinds of directions. For a brief moment one athlete looked like he was about to be swept along the coast to Faro.
Luckily he was able to quickly correct course and latched onto nearby feet, as a number of other athletes did. A large spearhead of men arrived back to the beach and followed one another in quick succession on the run into T1.
Miguel Tiago Silva was the first man onto the bike.
Paul Goergtenthum, the silver medallist from WTCS Hamburg in 2021, managed to put himself ahead of the field alongside Silva. Unfortuntely for Georgenthum, though, Silva seemed quite content to sit on his wheel and a front pack of over a dozen athletes quickly came back together.
In the early stages Brownlee was a constant force at the front, driving the pace. Vetle Bergsvik Thorn was likewise ever-present.
The bike, though, ultimately offered little action and a substantial front group arrived into T2. Valentin Morlec was the first out on run but he was soon closed down. Again, it was Brownlee and Thorn leading the charge.
With Brownlee intent on setting the pace from the front, a number of men dropped off until a pack of seven jostled at his heels.
However as the athletes returned along the promenade the pace slowed and more athletes were able to get back onto the lead group. Once the number swelled to ten Brownlee resumed his place at the front. For much of the first half of the run he looked controlled. Given his experience, it seemed he was in perfect position to close out the race.
And yet, one place behind Brownlee, Georgenthum cruised along. At times he looked like he was running with his gait as flowing as his hair. With Silva and then Thorn lined up behind, the threats lurked on Brownlee’s shoulders.
Silva had a little dig but yet again Brownlee re-asserted control. Something had to give.
That something came in the final stretches as the pace quickened. Joao Pereira and Fabian Meeusen advanced through the lead group as Thorn put in a surge. Simon Westermann and Yanis Seguin also upped the ante and that was when Brownlee’s grip on the group slipped.
Into the finishing straight and it was Georgenthum that fell behind next as Thorn tore towards the line at a furious pace. Pereira reacted but it was Meeusen that seemed to go with Thorn.
The Norwegian, however, would not be denied and he thundered ahead to win over Meeusen by 2 seconds. Pereira followed in 3rd, a mere 3 seconds behind Meeusen. Seguin and Westermann rounded out the top-5 in the climactic sprint.
View the full race results here.
