Battered. Beaten. Broken.
The bodies of the athletes had been through much and yearned for a respite after multiple rounds of racing at WTCS Hamburg. None such rest was forthcoming, though, as a number of the finalists lined up to race once more in the Mixed Team Relay.
Doubling as the World Championships, the relay held a special importance. The winners would seal two male and two female places at the Paris Olympic Games, earning the right to start a relay too. That kind of security was hard to pass up, no matter the depth of any given country. As hosts, France had already qualified for Paris and so did not show up in Hamburg. Britain, meanwhile, had booked their slots through the equivalent race in Montreal one year prior and were on the start line.
For the rest of the field, those tantalising Olympic slots awaited.
In addition to the worn down bodies of the athletes, several had to contend with the emotional crash. After the high of his win a day prior, Hayden Wilde led off for the New Zealand relay. Portugal fielded the men’s silver medallist, Vasco Vilaca, on their opening leg.
From the women’s podium, Britain selected Beth Potter while Germany could call upon the ever-reliable Laura Lindemann. How they responded mentally as well as physically would go a long way in determining the fortunes of their teams.
After finishing 5th in the individual event, Matthew Hauser led the swim for Australia. In a great start to his race, Connor Bentley was right on Hauser’s feet while Vilaca and Tim Hellwig were also to the front.
However Bentley could not maintain his momentum and fell behind as the other three escaped on the bike.
Wilde lost 13 seconds to Hauser in the swim but Marten Van Riel was able to ride up to leaders. With a lap to go on the bike, the front four had developed a 12 second lead.
Two men then went in opposing directions on the bike. As Wilde broke off the front of the chase group to hunt the leaders, Bentley fell off the back. Like many others, his leg was emblematic of the efforts of the prior two days. Bentley had only made his WTCS debut in Hamburg, too, so the emotional drain was exacerbated.
Wilde’s legs were also not what they were a day earlier. Despite his efforts, the gap remained at 11 seconds into T2.
Van Riel slipped off the pace on the run and was passed by Wilde and Max Studer. At the front, Hauser handed over a small lead of 2 seconds to the first Australian woman, Natalie Van Coevorden.
After a frantic swim in which Annika Koch and Van Coevorden shared several moments of contact, the German led the Australian into transition. Vittoria Lopes had closed the gap to the leaders however she did not have the transition to successfully bridge. After doing the hard work in water, Lopes watched the lead trio bolt away
Koch pushed hard early on during the bike and the gap to the chase grew to 13 seconds. Taylor Spivey and Julie Derron made it into the chase pack and together worked to limit the damage. By the end of the bike, they had slashed the deficit to 4 seconds.
Koch then took a risky approach into T2, removing her feet from her cycling shoes at the last second. She managed to just dismount in time and ran into a lead.
With a pack of seven teams within striking distance behind, Koch tagged Simon Henseleit into the race. Sylvain Fridelance and Matthew McElroy followed but after a big swim it was Tayler Reid that nudged ahead of the German.
The newly-crowned World Junior champion, Joao Nuno Batista, took to the water for Portugal and managed to swim with the leaders. In an improved swim from his individual race, Márk Dévay also swam up to the front group. McElroy was unable to keep pace and then Batista fell behind on the bike, leaving a front group of Reid, Henseleit, Fridelance and Dévay.
During the bike, McElroy caught Batista and the youngster latched onto the American’s wheel. They could not make an in-roads against the leaders, though.
After a fast T2, Dévay burst into the lead on the run. Henseleit and Reid dropped Fridelance and swiftly assumed the lead from the Hungarian. Neither Reid nor Henseleit yielded an inch to one another but it was the New Zealander that made it to his teammate first, sending Nicole Van Der Kaay charging towards the pontoon.
Right on her feet was Laura Lindemann.
In what seemed like the fight for bronze, Márta Kropkó led Cathia Schär and Summer Rappaport. As Lindemann swam clear, Kropkó overcame the 14 second deficit to Van Der Kaay and exited with the New Zealand athlete.
Lindemann was 12 seconds ahead but together, Kropkó and Van Der Kaay had a shot of closing the gap. Rappaport had also passed Schär in the swim and was 19 seconds behind the two chasers. Not long into the bike, Schär regained the American’s wheel.
When it came to the gold medal, though, none of the antics behind meant much. Lindemann powered clear alone and extended her gap to 18 seconds. By the midpoint of the bike, her advantage stood at 22 seconds and the race was all but won.
Rather than riding with Rappaport, Schär pushed on and caught Van Der Kaay and Kropkó. With the Swiss powerhouse on the front, the group reduced Lindemann’s gap to 14 seconds into T2. Yet the run made it apparent that the gap was irrelevant.
A five-time medallist in Hamburg and winner of the relay in the city in 2021, Lindemann was never likely to throw away her lead. Indeed, she cruised to finish, adding further time to her advantage as she did so.
Van Der Kaay pulled away from Schär as Kropkó fell behind. Rappaport, too, eventually snuck by the Hungarian.
All attention was at the front, though, as the gold and the all-important Olympic places went to Germany. New Zealand claimed the silver medal while Switzerland took the bronze.
After their win in the U23/Junior event, it was two wins from two relays for Germany. With their place at the Olympics locked in, they will be a dangerous proposition at the Games.
You can view the full results here.
