Category: Analysis

Swim As is so often the case, Márk Dévay was the fastest swimmer at the Valencia World Cup. The Hungarian athlete clocked a 17:18 split for the 1500m. Right on his feet was Connor Bentley. The World U23 champion split 17:19 in the water which enabled him and Dévay to initially escape on the bike. Kevin Tarek Viñuela Gonzalez looked to have joined them with his split of 17:21 however an early mechanical thwarted his hopes of escaping in a breakaway. After a short wait, Fabian Meeusen and Adrian Martinez…

Swim The women’s race at the Weihai World Cup was all about Bianca Seregni and her dominance began in the water. Over the 1500m swim, she clocked a time of 19:20. The next fastest athlete was Bailee Brown of Hong Kong in 19:43. Seregni thus had a comprehensive lead as she made her way through transition and onto the bike. Wen Wei followed in a time of 19:44 while Anna Godoy Contreras and Yifan Yang each recorded splits of 19:46. The bronze medallist Ilaria Zane stopped the clock at 19:48…

One of the most important aspects of the Paris Olympic Test Event was the opportunity to test the course ahead of next year’s Olympic Games. While WTCS points were on the line, as was an early chance to secure Olympic qualification for some, racing the course and getting a feel for it was the primary objective for most. Given the purpose of the Test Event was to test the course, in this article we will dive into some of the details that emerged. The field will break up in the…

Swim The Paris Test Event proved a double-edged sword for Vincent Luis. On his first race back since suffering a stress reaction in his hip in May, Luis clocked the fastest swim of the men’s field. His time of 18:12 helped to stretch the pack and looked like it might create a breakaway. Later in the race however, he suffered calf pain during the run and did not finish. That pain would prove to be a soleus tear and a further injury absence is now on the cards. Márk Dévay…

What can be expected at the Paris Olympic Test Event? In the below cheat sheets, we look at the average performances of the athletes starting over the course of this year and last year to determine a base line for each. We look at the average time behind the fastest swimmer as well as the average position out of the water to give an indication of how close an athlete has been to making the front pack at recent races. We then include the same information on the run. When…

Swim The World U23 silver medallist, Gergely Kiss, produced the best split of the final at the European Championships in Balikesir, clocking 3:01 for the 270m. Kiss did not, however, log the quickest split of the weekend. That honour went to Alessio Crociani in the first semi-final as he hit a time of 2:59. Nicola Azzano was the second fastest man in the water in the final with a 3:03. Esteban Basanta Fouz and Jan Diener then followed with a 3:04 split. Crociani was 6 seconds slower than his sem-final…

Swim In the Junior men’s final, Zalán Hóbor led the way in a time of 3:02. The Hungarian arrived in Balikesir on the back of wins at the European Junior Cups in Tiszaujvaros and Tabor. He had also been a part of the breakaway at the World Junior Championships in Hamburg. His strategy was therefore clear from the start as he tried to pressure the rest of the field. Pietro Giovannini was the next man out in 3:04. In the second Junior men’s semi-final, Hóbor and Giovannini had each clocked…

Swim The swim was a key component in setting up the men’s race in Yeongdo as only seven men dipped under 9 minutes for the 750m. Max Stapley led the way into T1, along with Aiden Longcroft-Harris, in a time of 8:55. Trent Thorpe, Daniel Dixon and Kyotaro Yoshikawa followed in 8:57 while Takumi Hojo and Valentin Wernz were the other men under 9 minutes in 8:58 and 8:59, respectively. Stefan Zachaeus was the next man out in 9:03. Along with a couple of others, he was able to make…