At the last minute, the European Championships in Madrid were switched to a duathlon and a 5km run replaced the standard 1500m swim.
However the change did little to dampen the performances of the athletes. With the European title on the line, the field put their best feet forwards and the racing saw the coronation of two first-time continental champions.
Women’s race
Lisa Tertsch made the most of the first 5km run and set the pace in the early stages. Also with her were Jeanne Lehair and Miriam Casillas Garcia as they led what was otherwise a large pack.
The likes of Celine Kaiser, Tanja Neubert, Mathilde Gautier, Sian Rainsley and Lea Coninx were all in the mix throughout. Gradually, though, the intensity began to tell and several athletes, including Anabel Knoll, started to lose ground.
Cathia Schär of Switzerland then took her turn to inject some speed into the 5km. Tertsch was quickly onto her shoulder. Although the front of the race came back together, the pace did not settle. Kate Waugh hung back in the front pack but kept within striking distance.
Tertsch led the athletes into T1 having clocked a time of 15:24 for the opening run. Petra Kurikova was next to arrive along with Casillas, Sandra Dodet and Claire Michel. Lehair was also towards the front the leaders while Tilda Månsson had put herself in a good position.
The field stretched a little in T1 as athletes gained and lost precious seconds. All the while there was the unique sight of people grabbing shoes from the athletes’ boxes; not to steal, though, but rather to send them onwards to T2.
Tertsch launched an early surge on the bike, forcing the field to chase her. Over the course of the first lap, the leaders from the run grouped around Tertsch to form a powerful front pack. Many in the chase pack had only lost around 10 seconds out of T1 but that was enough to put them on the back foot.
On each of the bike laps, the athletes had to navigate the long climb in the heart of the city. Månsson lost contact with the lead pack on the climb and slipped to the chase. As a result, the front pack settled at twelve-strong. Michel, Kurikova and Waugh took over setting the pace as Gautier, Schär and Neubert followed. Audrey Merle, Dodet, Lehair, Casillas and Marta Pintanel Raymundo were also in the group.
However, Pintanel’s day was soon over, reducing the pack by one. Towards the end, Dodet and Gautier fell behind while Michel and Waugh crashed behind another athlete and had to chase the leaders for the last couple of laps in vain.
With the bike complete, Schär was the first woman first out of T2. It soon became apparent, though, that the battle for gold would be between Tertsch and Lehair. Neubert tried to close in on Schär’s virtual bronze medal too.
On the penultimate lap of the run, Tertsch looked like she had escaped Lehair’s clutches. However the Luxembourg athlete clawed herself back into the lead. Throughout the final lap, the pair went stride for stride.
With a final surge as the finish came into view, Lehair managed to pull clear and take a first European gold for Luxembourg. Tertsch took silver while Schär held on for an impressive bronze medal. Neubert consolidated 4th place while Casillas rounded out the top-5.
Men’s race
A small Spanish Armada led the first men’s run as Mario Mola, Antonio Serrat Seoane and Genis Grau took turns in setting the pace. Perhaps the biggest talking point from the run was the presence of the young Spaniard David Cantero del Campo at the front of the race. Indeed, Cantero went on to set a field-leading 13:25 for the 5km, with Mola 1 second back.
The field split during the run as ten men pulled away (including the four Spanish athletes). The second group on the road contained Ben Dijkstra and David Castro Fajardo. Csongor Lehmann, the wearer of number 1, also found himself in the chase group.
After his sterling effort over the first 5km, Cantero dangled off lead group on the first lap of the bike. Slowly but surely, he dragged himself back onto the wheel of Vitali Vorontsov. Emil Holm also made the front group and took several turns pushing the pace.
However, as the lead pack lost Serrat, the chase began to up their efforts. Lehmann and Jonas Schomburg put in some big efforts. Yet the gap stubbornly refused to dip under 15 seconds. With Jonathan Brownlee and Adrien Briffod setting the pace at the front, the leaders were able to defend their slim advantage up each climb.
Over the course of the 40km, Vorontsov and Lasse Nygaard Priester fell away from the front pack too. Later on Grau also appeared to suffer cramps and dropped behind. That left a six-man group consisting of Briffod, Brownlee, Mola, Cantero, Holm and Shachar Sagiv.
Up the last climb, however, Mola appeared to suffer a mechanical with his bike and lost precious 8 seconds. As Briffod and Brownlee charged out of T2, Lehmann led the chase into transition, only 14 seconds behind Mola.
As Briffod battled with Brownlee, Holm occupied 3rd place ahead of Cantero. The youngster looked like he was gaining on the Dane but then a red blur blew by both of them.
Castro was enjoying a storming run and roared through from the chase into 3rd place. He was not yet done. With another huge surge, he reeled in the leading pair. As the bell for the final lap rang, Brownlee, Briffod and Castro were tightly bound.
Further back, Cantero appeared to catch Holm but then faded over the last lap as Arnaud Mengal and Csongor Lehmann overtook him.
Briffod, too, began to suffer on the last lap and the race became a straight shootout between Brownlee and Castro. With the finish line in sight, Castro pumped his arms and unleashed a vicious sprint. He rounded the last corner to approach the line and could already see he had eaten a chunk out of Brownlee. The Brit simply had no answer.
Castro could therefore jump and twirl in celebration as he crossed the line to claim gold. Brownlee was only a few seconds back as he took silver in his best showing of the season so far. Briffod held on for a well-earned bronze.
Mengal was the next man home, over 30 seconds down on the podium. Holm put in a huge effort to hang on to 5th.
View the full results here.
