At a home Americas Cup race in Ixtapa, the Mexican team did not disappoint the fans that lined the streets. The stars of the team put their best feet forwards over the Sprint distance and the only question would be whether anyone would be able to deny Mexico a clean sweep of both podiums.
Men’s race
The swim was a close-fought affair as Aiden Longcroft-Harris battled with Jesus Gildardo Espiritu and Mitsuho Mochizuki for leadership of the race. On their feet were a string of men including Irving Perez, Crisanto Grajales and Jorge Alarcon Familiar.
After losing a little time in the first discipline, Erik Yamir Ramos Croda and Rodrigo Gonzalez picked up the pace on the bike to bridge to the lead group. Mathis Beaulieu, fresh off his win at the Punta Cana Junior Qualification Event, managed to go with them and rode into the front pack.
The fervour of the swim and opening kilometres of the bike cooled a little as the lead group became fifteen-strong. Longcroft-Harris and Beaulieu pushed hard while Andrew Shellenberger and Clayton Hutchins were the only other athletes not from Mexico in the front pack.
Over the course of the 20km, the strength of Rodriguez and Grajales showed as they marshalled the pack. Neither, though, could quite break down the lead pack.
Rodriguez used all of his experience to zip through T2. Ramos also had a fast transition but Rodriguez made sure to burst out onto the run in search of a gap.
Grajales and Perez charged after him, as did Beaulieu and Alarcon. Within the first few hundred metres, a front group of six briefly formed, with Hutchins close to also joining. The pace, however, continued to rise.
Perez and Grajales tried to burn off Beaulieu; would it be impolite to point out that both are old enough to be Beaulieu’s father? Beaulieu, however, did not wilt and went with them. Alarcon and Ramos were also with the leaders but Rodriguez had began to slip behind.
Not long after his early efforts, Perez was passed by Alarcon and had to focus his attention on the onrushing Ramos.
The fans urged Grajales on as the the lead narrowed to a two-man race between him and Beaulieu. The Canadian ran at the very tops of his toes, straining to find another gear, but the Mexican was equal to him.
And then, with the finish line in sight, Grajales turned on the jets. He struck ahead into a slight lead. Beaulieu fought to respond but it was in vain as Grajales crossed the line, 3 seconds clear.
Alarcon came home in 3rd place.
Women’s race
Desirae Ridenour and Liberty Ricca went hard in the swim, with both pushing a ferocious pace that burned off much of the pack. Sophia Howell and Mercedes Romero Orozco were able to keep them within 15 seconds of the lead pair but the rest of the field were on the back foot
Cecilia Perez and Amber Schlebusch led the chase and managed to limit the damage to just under 20 seconds. The young Americans Naomi Ruff and Faith Dasso manged to hold onto Perez and Schlebusch to put themselves amid the chase pack.
Meanwhile, some of the dangers in the field, like Cecilia Sayuri Ramirez Alavez, Luisa Daniela Baca Vargas and Anahi Alvarez Corral lost contact entirely.
Baca won the Americas Cup in Lima less than a month ago but did not have the legs early in the bike. She could only look on as Ramirez rode away to bridge to the pack ahead. Once she made it to the chase pack, she sat on Perez’s wheel.
Shortly into the bike, the lead duo of Ridenour and Ricca were absorbed by the chasers. Ricca, however, was soon spat out of the back of the lead pack to create an eight woman front pack.
Both Ridenour and Romero pulled turns to keep the tempo high. By contrast, the chasers could not quite get completely organised and the pack containing Baca, Alvarez, Ricca and Ruff lost over a minute.
Amid the jockeying in the late stages of the bike, Perez remained calm. She had a smooth T2 and emerged on the heels of Ridenour and Schlebusch. She took a minute to collect herself and take stock of those around her. Then, she made her move.
The rest of the lead group were powerless to stop Perez from running clear. Sofia Rodriguez Moreno was the only one able to stay close but even she conceded time. As the mercury rose above 30 degrees Celsius, Schlebusch looked a little less comfortable. She had Ridenour pushing to close the gap to her, but the South African athlete still had a virtual medal in her hands.
Alvarez, however, was coming. After storming through T2, she flew from behind and began her hunt.
Perez continued to extend her lead over and cruised to the win. Following her win in Salinas, she now has two victories from two races and is rising into some of her top form at the perfect time ahead of the Huatulco World Cup.
Having passed Schlebusch, Alvarez was not done. From 3rd place she kept accelerating. Rodriguez still held a gap, albeit one that looked smaller and smaller with each of Alvarez’s strides.
In the final stages, Alvarez managed to catch her compatriot and took silver by 7 seconds. Rodriguez had to settle for a well-earned bronze medal, matching her result from the Americas Cup in Sarasota in March.
Unsurprisingly, Alvarez came away with the fastest run split of the day. Her 16:49 was a full minute faster than Perez who logged the next best split with 17:49.
With a lockout of the women’s podium and two male medallists, it was a day to celebrate for team Mexico.
View the full results here.
