The crème de la crème of young French triathlon talent gathered in Gravelines at the weekend to compete for the French Junior Championships.
After close-fought races, Manon Laporte and Thomas Hansmaennel came away with the titles.
In the women’s race, Laporte and Ilona Hadhoum set the pace in the water. Both should already be on the plane to Hamburg for this year’s World Junior Championships in light of their performances at the European Junior Cup in Caorle.
In Gravelines, Hadhoum emerged first in 9:19 with Laporte 1 second back. Charline Cornec followed before a gap of 30 seconds took shape. The chase pack were initially led by Manon Pomme and Tiphanie Brun. Over the course of the bike, though, Brun and Leonie Douche were able to ride up to the lead pair.
Meanwhile, a larger chase pack led by Lucile Derrien, Marion Latil and Jeanne Barreau also narrowed the gap but could not quite make the connection. Latil ended up with the joint-fastest bike split of the day. Her time of 34:13 was the same as that of Brun but Latil had lost a little more time to the leaders in the water.
Brun was coming off an impressive showing at Fréjus, however her legs were evidently sapped by her efforts on the bike as she lost touch with the leaders on the run. Cornec also slipped behind in the first half of the run.
Douche managed to hold on for a little longer but the race for gold ultimately became one between Hadhoum and Laporte. However, a penalty against Hadhoum undid much of her good work.
In the end, Laporte was able to take the win in relative comfort. While Hadhoum tried to close her down, she had enough of a lead to not panic. Douche came home in 3rd.
That result should be enough to make Douche the third woman to represent France in Hamburg, although that will be down to the selectors.
The men’s race was an even tighter affair with a photo finish deciding the winner.
Thimeo Havet led the way in the swim in 8:46. The likes of Thomas Hansmaennel, Pablo Isotton and Gaspard Tharreau hung close to Havet, with each clocking at least 8:52 or better. Nils Serre Gehri was a couple of seconds back in 8:55. Those seconds lost ultimately did not count for much as a large pack came together on the bike.
Many of the favourites for the win, then, were closely clustered and bided their time.
Hugo Hatot clocked the fastest bike split in 30:12 to close the 30 second deficit he had conceded in the first discipline. Aside from one or two sniffs for a gap, there was no real way for any athlete to take on the lead group of over thirty men.
With little to separate the men on the bike, it came down to a running race. A large mob of men charged onto the out-and-back course along the rowing lake. One by one, the field slimmed until an elite group remained.
Among the leaders were Serre Gehri and Isotton. Both had realistically locked up their World Junior Championships places at the European Junior Cup in Caorle. Nevertheless, a French title and pride were still on the line.
Hansmaennel was in the thick of the action, as were Hatot and Tharreau. With the pace high, but not unmanageable, the front pack dwindled to eight men, with Hugo Borel, Nathan Simionato and Adam Fouchal also among the leaders.
After the dead turn, the men made their way back to the finish line and Tharreau, Borel and Fouchal began to lose touch. Not long after, Simionato, Isotton and Hatot slipped behind too as Hansmaennel and Serre Gehri upped the ante.
Going toe-to-toe, there was nothing to separate the lead pair. Hansmaennel tried to kick in the closing stages; Serre Gehri kicked harder. Hansmaennel rallied and went again but still he could not break clear.
A blur of furious legs, the pair hurtled into the finish line, crossing at the same time.
Upon review of the photo finish, the win was handed to Hansmaennel. Both men, though, logged the same run split (16:13) and the same total time. After silver medals in Quarteira and Caorle, a win is surely just around the corner for Serre Gehri.
Hansmaennel’s win, meanwhile, when coupled with his strong performances at the French Junior tests as the European Junior Cup in Quarteira, may be enough to see him take the third slot for France in Hamburg.
Simianto held off Isotton to take home the bronze medal.
You can view the full results here.
