While a smaller field than normal lined up on the pontoon in the early hours to contest the Yeongdo World Cup, the level of racing remained as intense as ever.
In humid conditions, Zuzana Michalickova took an early lead in the swim. It was not until late on, though, that she began to turn the screw and made the field suffer. Márta Kropkó and Sophia Howell were able to stay closest to Michalickova as the Slovakian powered through the final part of the 750m.
A trio of Desirae Ridenour, Sara Vilic and Yuka Sato were able to latch onto the leading trio out of T1. However, the pre-race favourite, Annika Koch, had also managed to nip into the front pack. Having won a bronze medal at WTCS Sunderland, at which she had ridden in the breakaway until it was caught, Koch arrived in Yeongdo in form.
She soon moved to the front of the pack to keep the pace high over the long, undulating bike laps.
Around half a minute behind, a chase pack containing the likes of Romana Gajdošová, Charlotte Derbyshire, Erica Hawley and Sofia Rodriguez Moreno began to coordinate themselves. By the end of the first of the four laps, they had eaten a little into the lead of the front seven.
By the midpoint of the bike, they had almost shut down the gap entirely.
Ultimately, the two packs came together, creating a front group of twenty-one women. With the pace staying high, there was little scope for any late moves and the leaders readied themselves for the run.
Almost instantly out of T2, it was clear that Koch was operating at a different level to her rivals.
The German opened up a small gap to Hawley, Rodriguez Moreno and Gajdošová while looking in complete control. Niina Kishimoto, Michalickova, Derbyshire and Lisa Perterer hung in the pack behind Koch. For much of the 5km, there was little to separate any of the chasers.
As Koch bounded to the win with the second fastest run split of the day in 16:51, the chasers surged ahead of the sprint finish.
Gajdošova made the first move, with only Rodriguez and Hawley able to follow. Hawley then kicked to pull alongside the Slovakian. However, Gajdošova had another gear.
As they stepped upon the blue carpet, she pulled away from Hawley to seal the silver medal, 16 seconds behind Koch. In doing so, she sealed a first ever World Cup medal. Gajdošova’s previous best finish in a World Cup had been a 9th place in Sarasota back in 2017. Her performance therefore represented a major milestone in her career.
Hawley and Rodriguez tore after Gajdošova into the finish and it was Hawley that managed to claim the bronze medal. Like Gajdošova, Hawley’s hardware was the first she had earned on the World Cup circuit and could kickstart the next chapter of her career.
Rodriguez had to settled for 4th while Kishimoto out-lunged Michalickova at the line to take 5th place.
View the full results here.
