Boiled down to its purest form, the women’s final at the Tiszaujvaros World Cup came down to three women. Across the swim, bike and run, each shaped the race and, at separate points, each looked in control of the situation.
It was the battle of the three leading ladies that defined Tiszaujvaros. Only one of them, though, could take the win.
The first of the women was Bianca Seregni. Heading into the race, the Italian athlete had struggled with injury which had stalled her momentum. However, she had issued a timely reminder of her ability to overpower entire fields in the swim during the semi-final. To reiterate her dominance, Seregni squashed her rivals once more in the water.
Over the course of the 750m, she built a commanding lead of 29 seconds to the next woman, Zsanett Bragmayer. Jolien Vermeylen was the next athlete to follow, a further 5 seconds down. Seregni, though, was already away.
Alone, she took on the first of the eight bike laps and assessed the damage.
Among her rivals, Solveig Løvseth lost 1 minute 20 seconds in the water, Tilda Månsson lost 1 minute 10 seconds and Noelia Juan gave up 1 minute 5 seconds. In total, only three women actually managed to swim within 45 seconds of Seregni.
As a result she took on the bike alone.
A little shell-shocked by what had happened in the swim, the field tried to rally on the bike. Bragmayer hunted Seregni alone but leaked time and eventually settled into a chase pack. Månsson slotted into a group while Løvseth tried to regroup at the back of the race.
For lap after lap, Seregni ploughed around the course. To an extent, she was cursed by success. With no one anywhere near her, she had no choice but to ride alone. By contrast, the athletes behind were able to band together in pursuit of the Italian.
By the third lap of the bike, her lead was 40 seconds. Although that slimmed a little over the subsequent lap, she still led by 35 seconds at the midpoint.
Finally, though, the chase packs merged behind and that was when the second athlete to shape the race took centre stage.
Having driven a rear pack to hunt the group chasing Seregni, Løvseth brought the two together. That, however, was only the first step. Not content to rest, she powered ahead with Juan and Márta Kropkó for company. The trio were soon caught but at this stage the chase group were not the key.
What mattered was that Løvseth had wiped away over half of Seregni’s lead. The gap dwindled to 11 seconds. Soon after, Løvseth erased it entirely. At the head of the race, the Norwegian was in full control of the bike and Seregni slotted in on her wheel.
Twenty women remained in the front group; too many for Løvseth’s liking. On the final lap, she powered away once more, forcing the others to chase. The pack limited the gap to a couple of seconds into T2, but Løvseth had succeeded in sapping their legs.
It was Bragmayer that led out of T2 following a rapid transition. That differed entirely from the experience of the third key woman.
Tilda Månsson had a slow T2 and lost valuable seconds to the group forming behind Bragmayer. She was soon out after the leaders but had ground to make up. With possibly the quickest 5km time of the field, set recently as she broke the Swedish Junior record, Månsson could afford to be confident. Confident, but not complacent.
Vermeylen took over the lead with Angelica Prestia and Juan and set a fierce tempo. On the second lap, the three leaders began to create daylight between them and the rest, forcing Månsson to react. With a quick burst, the Swede was able to do so. Then, midway through the run, she took the lead.
Løvseth and Marta Pintanel Raymundo were still in contention and ready to strike. In the final lap, though, Vermeylen kicked clear and cut Pintanel and Løvseth loose. Prestia was the next to slide away, leaving only Juan and Månsson.
Månsson managed to wrestle her way to the front. Completely spent, Vermeylen fell away. Yet just as the path to victory seemed to open up for Månsson, it was the turn of Juan to attack. The Spaniard launched a colossal sprint to which the Swede initially had no answer.
As much as Månsson fought, the gap would not fully close. Juan made it onto the blue carpet and continued to thrash her arms while Månsson sprinted behind. With the finish line in sight, Juan began to lean forward. She could practically taste the victory. But suddenly, there was Månsson. The youngster drew alongside and lunged at the exact moment Juan’s legs faltered.
Juan seemed to break the line first but Månsson was alongside her. The photo finish showed that, by the thinnest of margins, the Swede had indeed taken the win. With the fastest run of the day, Månsson could therefore rejoice in her second World Cup victory. As much as Seregni and Løvseth had illuminated the race, it was the Junior that had the last laugh.
Although she was denied gold, Juan could nonetheless celebrate a first World Cup medal. Having recently logged a best ever finish in the WTCS, she is evidently a rising star in the Spanish team.
Vermeylen was the next to cross in 3rd. In doing so she added another medal to her European Games bronze and win in Holten from the past fortnight.
Prestia finished 4th while Løvseth completed the top-5 in 5th.
You can view the full results here.
