After Simon Henseleit cruised to victory in the men’s race at the World U23 Championships, attention turned to his female colleagues. Selina Klamt arrived in Pontevedra as the European U23 champion and a favourite for the win. Tanja Neubert and Finja Schierl also quietly fancied their chances.
When Klamt led the way out of the water, after Sophia Howell and Brea Roderick had set the pace early on in the swim, the omens looked good for the German team. Klamt clocked 18:36 over the 1500m and had the likes of Howell, Tilly Anema and Jessica Fullagar for company.
Two of the biggest threats to a German win lost over a minute. Cathia Schär, the athlete with the only WTCS top-10 (and top-20) finish in the field, exited 1:05 down. Anahi Alvarez Corral, the fastest runner in the race, lost 1:36 to Klamt in the swim.
New threats, however, were soon emerging.
Fullagar instantly launched a solo attack on the bike. It was reminiscent of her breakaway with Kate Waugh at the previous year’s iteration of the event; that attack put Waugh atop the podium. This time round, Fullagar scented her own shot at glory.
A chase of seven formed behind with Howell, Klamt and Anema leading the way. The pack grew in size, to eleven, by the end of the first lap but so too did Fullagar’s lead. With seven laps left, the Brit had a 24 second gap.
In the next pack, Neubert drove the pace. Likewise, Schär ratcheted up the pace from the subsequent group. On the third lap, both Neubert and Schär made it to the chase group and Fullagar’s attack looked hopeless.
Her lead, which had previously exceeded half a minute, was knocked down to 27 seconds by the twenty-five women behind. With Neubert and Schär blasting the tempo at the head of the chase, Fullagar was caught at the end of the fourth lap.
With Fullagar neutralised and Alvarez 3 minutes down and leaking time, Neubert sat in control of the race. For a spell, though, the leaders took a moment to catch their breath. As everyone slowed, the athletes rode several abreast. For the second half of the bike, there was little by way of action. The Alvarez group of twenty-one athletes saw their deficit exceed 4 minutes.
On the final lap Charlotte Derbyshire, the Oceania U23 champion, attacked. However, she would have a penalty to serve for littering on the course and her move was gradually shut down.
Once through T2, Neubert led the group onto the run. Tjasa Vrtacic and Klamt followed but Schär soon moved into first place. Over the first lap, the Swiss athlete looked in exceptional form. Only Klamt and Maria Tomé were really able to live with her speed as the likes of Neubert, Fullagar and Daisy Davies slipped back.
On the second lap, however, Klamt took over.
From there, she hardly looked back as she set a brutal pace. From further behind, Angelica Prestia rose through the ranks after a smooth first lap. As Schär eventually wilted on the run, Prestia caught and passed her to return the lead group to three women. Yet Klamt seemed untroubled.
Having taken her first international wins earlier in the year, the German athlete had built her confidence throughout the year. Although Tomé, another athlete in top form, matched her stride for stride, Klamt was in full flow.
On the final lap, Prestia began to suffer and could not maintain the pace. With the bronze medal secured, she could nonetheless enjoy the final kilometre. At the front, Tomé and Klamt battled for the win.
As the blue carpet arrived, Klamt started to break free. She was soaring, flying even. There wasn’t a way that Tomé could reach her.
Her devastating final surge carried her to the line and to the gold medal by 3 seconds. After a massive effort, Tomé had to settle for the silver medal while Prestia soon crossed to confirm her bronze.
Schär was the next woman home while Neubert repeated her 5th place from the 2022 World U23 Championships. Anema led Vrtacic and Karolina Helga Horváth home next while Barbara De Koning claimed 9th. Schierl then made it three Germans in the top-10 as she claimed 10th.
Once again, the German anthem would ring in Pontevedra. And after a hat-trick of victories already in 2023, once again Klamt won gold.
You can view the full results here.
