Tiszaujvaros is home turf for Csongor Lehmann.
The winner of the European Cups that came to the town in 2021 and 2022, Lehmann also finished 4th the last time it hosted a World Cup in 2019. He lives in the town. He trains in the town. It is his home and it is therefore a safe bet to say he will put on a show.
This season Lehmann has finished 9th at WTCS Yokohama and 7th at WTCS Cagliari. He then nabbed 6th place at the European Championships, even though the duathlon format negated his speed in the water. To go with that, Lehmann won the Karlovy Vary World Cup in 2022. In-form, with recent experience of winning a World Cup and on home territory: it is hard to see Lehmann being beaten.
However, that is not to say it is impossible. There are too many dangers among Lehmann’s compatriots alone for that to be the case.
Within a large Hungarian team, Bence Bicsák stands out as an obvious threat. The former WTCS medallist kicked his season into gear with a 6th place at WTCS Montreal recently. He won the Tiszaujvaros World Cup in 2017 so knows what it takes to succeed at the event. On his day, Bicsák is one of the best runners in the world of triathlon. If things click for him, he could spoil Lehmann’s weekend.
The veteran of the Hungarian team, Gábor Faldum, finished 13th at WTCS Abu Dhabi earlier in the year. At the tail end of 2022 he also won a silver medal at the Tongyeong World Cup. Over the course of his career, he has medalled at the Tiszaujvaros World Cup twice. Much like Bicsák, then, Faldum cannot be discounted.
Lehmann will also have to find a way past Márk Dévay, one of the best swimmers in triathlon. Dévay recently finished 4th at Bundesliga Schliersee and will be race sharp. Moreover Gergely Kiss, the silver medallist from the World U23 Championships will be waiting in the wings.
Kiss’ U23 rival, Hamish Reilly, has not quite hit his stride yet this season. However, given his age, Reilly is not likely to find much consistency at this point in his career. Having proven his ability to step up in Abu Dhabi last season, he could pop off at any point.
Sergio Baxter Cabrera opened his account for the season with a bronze medal in Schliersee. In Tiszaujvaros, he will be making his first international start of 2023. As a World Cup winner last year, Baxter has proven himself at this level. Adept across all three disciplines and armed with a vicious kick at the end of the run, he will likely be the biggest threat to a Hungarian win.
Baxter’s teammate, David Cantero del Campo, is another athlete on the rise and could be a dark horse.
Maxime Hueber Moosbrugger performed well at the French Grand Prix in Bordeaux, winning silver. He then followed it up with a good showing in Schliersee. However, his race at the French Grand Prix in Metz at the weekend did not quite go to plan. Hueber Moosbrugger’s day could go either way, then. The swim could be something that holds him back. If he navigates the first discipline safely, though, a medal could be on the cards.
When it comes to the third discipline, Callum Mcclusky has shown his running speed this season and he impressed on foot at the New Plymouth World Cup. The problem was, he had not positioned himself out of T2 to fully exploit his speed.
Based on the run alone, Mcclusky should be in the mix. However, a question mark still hangs over his swim and bike at the world-level. The flat course of Tiszaujvaros, though, should not trouble him too much.
Meanwhile, Mcclusky’s fellow Australian, Oscar Dart, has impressed with Asia Cup wins in 2023. In addition, Janus Staufenberg arrives in Hungary off the back of a win at the European Cup in Holten while Samuele Angelini, the newly-crowned Italian champion, likewise has a recent European Cup gold to his name. He won in Kitzbühel in June.
Tjebbe Kaindl has been impressive on the bike at a number of races and claimed a maiden European Cup medal in Rzeszów. Then there is Gabriel Sandör. The winner of the Swedish Championships, Sandör will be making his first international start since winning the Asia Cup in Manama last December.
As such, plenty of winners from 2023 will be gathering in Tiszaujavros and it is hard to separate them. Overall, though, the race feels like it will come down to the home Hungarian team. Although Lehmann is not the only athlete starting to call Tiszaujvaros home, his form and recent record in the town means that he will be the favourite.
TriStats Predictions
- Csongor Lehmann
- Bence Bicsák
- Sergio Baxter Cabrera
- Samuele Angelini
- Márk Dévay
