Alongside the final European Cup of the season, Yenisehir, Turkey, played host to the final European Junior Cup of 2023. Although the fields were fairly small in the Junior event – with seventeen women and thirty men starting – there was nonetheless plenty of talent on display.
Multiple European Junior Cup winners took to the start line as did the men’s Asian Junior champion, Alexandr Ten of Kazakhstan. When the starters horn went off for the final time of the season, the racing did not disappoint.
Women’s race
Selinay Tuğçe Kır of Turkey seized control of the race in the swim and did not relinquish it. She led the field out of the water in a time of 10:13. Close behind was Kseniya Voronina of Azerbaijan as well as Beāte Bula of Latvia, who clocked 10:14.
The rest of the field, though, lagged over half a minute behind.
On the bike, Kir and Bula dropped Voronina and set about extending their lead. Having clocked the quickest swim of the day, Kir added the best bike split for good measure, completing the 20km in 33:17. Bula stuck with her for the entire way and the lead pair arrived in T2 with a lead of over a minute.
A chase quartet consisting of Iva Pavlovic, Grete Maria Savitsch, Luna Sraka and Merel Veltman had broken clear of the rest of the field and presented the only remaining opposition to the front duo. With a minute to close, though, their work was cut out for them.
On the run, Kir pulled away from Bula and zoomed to a commanding victory. Last year, she had won the Turkish Junior title but this was her first international win. In front of a home Turkish crowd, she could afford to celebrate as the line drew closer. Kir is also in her final year as a Junior athlete and so capped this stage of her career in memorable fashion.
Bula battled to hold onto the silver medal however she was passed by Veltman. As with Kir, Veltman claimed her first international medal in Yenisehir. With another year left in the Junior ranks, Veltman will have twelve more months to hunt a first international win.
Bula then came home to take the bronze medal. The youngest athlete on the podium, Bula’s bronze was again her first international medal and a perfect way to cap a strong season.
Men’s race
In addition to Ten, the Junior men’s race contained athletes such as Garbiel Barac, who won the European Junior Cup in Panevėžys, and Lorenzo Pelliciardi, who won the European Junior Cup in Bled.
The leader out of the water, though, was Alexander Bozhilov, a European Junior Cup medallist himself. The Bulgarian athlete managed a time of 9:19 and put much of the field into difficulty. Only four men were able to stay within 10 seconds of him.
Unlike the women’s race, there would be no dramatic breakaway. Barac and Ten produced good swims and soon bridged onto Bozhilov’s wheel. Ten’s compatriot, Yegor Krupyakov also rode up to the leaders after a strong performance in the water.
A select nine man group ultimately formed at the front. Missing out was Pelliciardi, although the Italian athlete had proven his ability to stage a comeback on the run in Bled.
Andrea Balestreri of Italy rode well in the lead group and helped the pack to consolidate an advantage of around 30 seconds. With Ten, Barac and Krupyakov also pulling their turns alongside the others, the leaders arrived in T2 with the win in sight.
After getting through a lot of work in the first two disciplines, Bozhilov fell behind on the run. Meanwhile, Ten, Krupyakov, Balestreri and Barac powered into the lead.
Pelliciardi headed up the chasers as they made it onto the run and passed the remnants of the front pack. However the front quartet would remain out of reach.
A tense first lap gave way to a dramatic final lap. Barac was the first to crack of the leading four and the Kazakh duo tried to drop Balestreri. The Italian athlete fought back but in the final kilometre he also began to lose his toehold in the race.
In the final sprint, Krupyakov overcame Ten to nick the gold. The pair were awarded the same time but Krupyakov managed to lunge over the line first and earn his maiden international win. Having beaten his teammate at the Asian Junior Championships, Ten had to settle for silver and Balestreti took the bronze.
You can view the full results here.
