For over fifteen years, Holten has been a regular fixture on the European Junior Cup circuit. Among the standout versions of recent times, in 2015 Gustav Iden beat Alex Yee to the gold while Taylor Knibb triumphed over a podium containing Sandra Dodet and Kate Waugh. An array of prominent faces have therefore passed through the streets of Holten on their way to the top.
As Junior races go, it is one with plenty of tradition to call upon.
At this year’s iteration, a fairly small women’s field lined up to tackle the Sprint distance. In total, only nineteen women started as several names opted to keep their powder dry with the World Junior Championships barely two weeks away. However, over fifty men took part in the men’s race which made for a crowded start to the swim.
Women’s race
There was a distinct Oceania flavour to the women’s field in Holten as the World Junior Championships rosters for Australia and New Zealand started. Included among them were Hannah Prosser (New Zealand), the Oceania Junior champion, and Rhianna Hepburn (Australia), the silver medallist from the Oceania Junior Championships.
Rather than another showdown between Hepburn and Prosser transpiring, another athlete took on the Australian.
Aniek Mars of the Netherlands came into Holten in good form having won a silver medal at the recent European Junior Cup in Olsztyn. With home support, she kicked into a new level to push Hepburn all the way to the line.
Although the likes of Lotte Minnebo, Alexandra Field and Emma Olson-Keating had good starts to the race, they ultimately did not have the firepower to compete with Hepburn and Mars.
One thing that perhaps distorted the event was the fact that the women took on a shortened course. Whereas the men took on 20km over the bike (consisting of a 4.5km ride from T1, two 6km laps and then a 3.5km section to T2), the women only rode 14km having dropped one of the two bike laps.
The result was that Holten saw a rare instance in which the women’s finishing times were quicker than those of the men’s (due to the shortened distance).
Notwithstanding the short bike, Hepburn and Mars were a cut above their rivals. Over the run, Hepburn pushed the pace early but Mars stuck with her. Even as daylight appeared between the two she rallied to pull the Australian back a little.
In the end, though, Hepburn had another gear and cruised away to win by 10 seconds over Mars. A gold and silver medal represented ideal preparation for both ahead of their ventures in Hamburg.
Further behind, Sonja De Koning and Minnebo separated themselves from the rest of the field to contest the bronze medal. De Koning (the younger sister of Dutch WTCS athlete Barbara De Koning), ultimately had the better kick and sealed a first international medal since winning bronze at the European Youth Championships in 2021.
Men’s race
In a similar manner to the Australian Junior Championships, Jack Crome went ballistic in the swim. He led the way in a time of 8:59 and stretched the field to breaking point.
Right on Crome’s feet was the Estonian, Gregor Rasva, while the duo of Thomas Feldmann and Benjamin Airey were also close. With the field stretched, Severin Schwarz and Maximilian Krüger were the final men able to get within 10 seconds of Crome. However, Crome pushed even harder on the early stage of the bike.
As Schwarz and Krüger slipped back, a four man breakaway of Crome, Rasva, Airey and Feldmann formed.
Further back, the likes of Simon Freisiner and Finnley Oliver had enjoyed solid swims, losing only 10 seconds to Airey and 16 to Crome. Nevertheless they missed the front break and suddenly found themselves over 40 seconds behind. A pack of eleven formed to take up the chase but a huge effort by the leaders extended the gap to over a minute.
Schwarz rode at the head of the chase a lot with Freisinger also pulling several turns. The third pack on the road then bridged to the chase; with the merging of the packs almost thirty men were hunting down the lead quartet. However, the leaders did not sacrifice an inch.
In a fantastic ride, they arrived in T2 with their lead still over a minute.
Rasva slipped back a little out of transition and lost ground to his rivals. He soon caught Feldmann but Crome and Airey had already established a slight advantage.
Meanwhile, Lukas Lanzinger and Mitchell Blackbourn took up the chase of the leaders but after a lap of the run they still trailed by over a minute.
At the front, Crome timed his kick perfectly to break away from Airey and seal the win, the first of his international career. With displays like this, he will be a clear breakaway threat and perhaps even medal contender in Hamburg.
Airey came home 6 seconds later to seal the silver medal, which was also the first of his career, and Rasva overcame Feldmann to claim the bronze.
With the fastest run split in the field, Lanzinger almost closed the gap with a heroic last lap, but ultimately fell short.
You can view the full race results here.
