The European season may be ending, but the race at the European Cup in Alanya played to a similar tune as that seen earlier in the year. Back in March, at the European Cup in Melilla, the French men’s team locked out the podium. Seven months later, they were up to the same antics in Alanya.
For many of the athletes starting it had been a long year and there were some tired bodies lining the beach. While the sea temperature exceeded 26 degrees (Celsius), the athletes nonetheless brought their own kind of heat to the Sprint distance event. Any fatigue could wait for the off-season as Alanya saw a series of superb performances.
Men’s race
To all intents and purposes, Alanya may have been a French domestic race.
As the finish line came into view, any of four men – three of which were representing France and the other being an athlete in the process of changing his nationality away from France – could have won. Of the top-7 finishers, six either raced for France or did so at the start of the season. The race was therefore a complete assertion of national depth.
The dramatic finish, however, very nearly never came together.
Marucs Dey of Britain produced a marvellous swim to take the lead. He clocked 9:02 for the 750m. Tom Lerno, another French athlete although not one that made the top-7, followed in 9:03.
After the pressure applied by Dey told, the field was stretched. However, Pietro Giovannini, Baptiste Massot and Gjalt Panjer were among those to have made it close to the front and pushed the pace to create a clear lead pack.
The front pack grew as Antoine Duval, Eric Diener and Samuele Angelini added their might. Each had reason to be confident of a high finish. Duval had won the European Cup in Ceuta a week prior. Diener of Germany finished 4th at the World U23 Championships less than a year prior and had the ability to log a high finish. Meanwhile, Angelini came into the race as the Italian champion.
Even more threats to the front lurked further behind.
Louis Vitiello, the winner back in Melilla, was initially stranded in the chase pack. After a brilliant French Grand Prix season, he needed a big result to bolster his chances of racing in the World Cup circuit in 2024. In addition, Nathan Grayel and Sebastian Pascal had lost further time.
Grayel was in the same boat as Vitiello; indeed, the pair are teammates in the French Grand Prix and both were integral to their team’s championship title. His fellow chaser, Pascal, wore independent colours having commenced his switch of nationality from France to Romania.
After a mammoth effort from the various chasers, the packs came back together. As the run began, there were threats for the gold all around.
Vitiello and Grayel tried to push the pace early on yet Pascal, Diener and Duval equal to their efforts. Guillaume Hay and Boris Pierre (both racing for France) were also in mix, as was Juan Gonzalez Garcia of Spain.
At frantic speeds, there was little to separate the leaders and the race came down to its nail-biting conclusion.
Vitiello, Grayel, Duval and Pascal all bounded to the line. With only a hundred metres to go Vitiello and Grayel found an extra gear. The pair were only separated by a photo finish and it was Grayel that took the gold.
Vitiello had to settle for silver while Duval rounded out the podium.
Women’s race
Although the women’s race did not quite share the same dramatic finish as the men’s event, it nonetheless saw some great racing as Julia Bröcker of Germany claimed her first ever international win.
However, Bröcker was pushed all the way and her win almost did not materialise.
Tilly Anema of Britain led the swim in a time of 9:41. She had Lea Marchal and Sophie Alden for company but thereafter a prominent gap formed.
The Hungarian Junior athlete Nora Romina Nádas led the chase group along with Ellie White some 20 seconds behind Anema. As much as the lead trio tried to stay clear, the field came back together on the bike.
That brought Bröcker back into the race after she fell behind in the water. The young German logged the joint-second fastest bike split of the field in 29:51.
Meanwhile, Beatrice Mallozzi, the winner of the recent European Cup in Ceuta, lost a little more time in the water and was unable to catch the pack on the bike. Although she later dropped a searing run split, she missed the key moment.
The pack navigated the streets of Alanya without too much difficulty and soon made it into T2.
Both Alden and Appoline Foltz were in contention in the opening stage of the run. Bröcker and Anema soon took over affairs. Anema was the older athlete of the two leaders and had just finished 6th at the World U23 Championships. Yet Bröcker did not relent and pulled away.
Anema pressured her the whole way but the young German held on to take a first international victory. Anema came through in 2nd place to earn her first international medal of 2023.
Rebecca Beti of Switzerland took the bronze medal.
You can view the full results here.
