Capping a busy weekend of racing was the Americas Cup in Calima, Colombia. As was the case with the African Cup, Asia Cup and French Grand Prix events that also took place, Calima offered a Sprint distance race.
Men’s race
The men’s race was a little all over the place in Calima. Carter Stuhlmacher of America played the first discipline to his advantage as he blasted a time of 9:36. The majority of the field were over half a minute back, although, concerningly for Stuhlmacher, his compatriot Reese Vannerson was only 5 seconds down. Vannerson won the Americas Junior title earlier in the season and is no slouch over the run and so it looked as if the leaders would have to wear him down on the bike.
The real action on two wheels, however, came at first from behind.
Another American athlete, Keller Norland, had lost 16 seconds to Stuhlmacher in the water. A silver medallist at the Americas Cup in Salinas, Norland set about trying to make up the gap.
Even further back was Sullivan Middaugh. Like Stuhlmacher, Middaugh is in his first year out of the Junior ranks. Unlike Stuhlmacher, Middaugh did not have a good swim in Calima, to put it bluntly. He lost 52 seconds to his teammate over the 750m and faced a major challenge in featuring at all. Luckily, Middaugh’s best discipline was yet to come.
He erupted on the bike and reeled in the leaders in a surprisingly short space of time. Then, as if to prove a point, Middaugh dropped them. He powered to a 27:31 split on a day in which times in the territory of 29-high were the standard. Stuhlmacher and Vannerson both rode over 30 minutes. Only three men actually rode within 2 minutes of Middaugh and he arrived in T2 with a chasm of a lead.
At that point it was game, set, match. Without needing to match the top run splits, Middaugh ran to victory by 70 seconds. It was certainly one of the most dominant biking disciplines of the season (if not the most) and was a stylish way to win from a seemingly lost position.
Way further back, the race for silver and bronze were very much alive. The chase pack containing Norland, Stuhlmacher and Vannerson arrived in T2, however they had several home contenders for company.
Hugo Mario Ruiz Dimate of Colombia got off to a fast start on the run, while his teammate Carlos Javier Quinchara Forero was also in the mix. Of the leading names, Vannerson was the first to lose contact with the group. Quinchara was the next to go, leaving three men to fight out the remaining two medals.
It was Norland that timed his move the best. He ran to a field-leading 15:00 split to take the silver medal, his second in a row. Stuhlmacher pushed to take the podium however he could not find a way past Ruiz. The Colombian athlete thus denied America a sweep of the podium as he brought home the bronze medal.
Women’s race
In a small field, the swim was a slightly cagey affair with no one willing to try to break away on their own. Amanda Moro of Brazil, racing in her first season out of the Junior ranks, was the top swimmer in 11:14. She had six rivals within 5 seconds of her as she made the long run into T1.
Raquel Solis Guerrero of Costa Rica had the joint-best T1 of the leaders (3:00) and took the early lead onto the bike. Although she pushed the pace initially, she wisely allowed some of her fellow leaders to latch onto her wheel. Moro, Rosa Elena Martinez Melchor and Marlen Alejandra Abigail Aguilar Bolaños were among the strongest riders and, over the 20km, the lead pack would lose two athletes. Valentina Alvarez Valencia was the fifth and final woman to stay in the front pack.
With a small front group, there was little sense to attack one another until the run. It was in the first kilometre of the run that Moro and Alvarez lost touch with the leaders. Martinez was the next to pop, leaving only Aguilar to battle with Solis.
In the end, Solis’ experience told and she was too strong for her Guatemalan rival. Solis therefore took the win and in doing so kept her hopes of claiming the Americas Olympic New Flag slot alive. Aguilar held on for an impressive silver medal while Martinez secured the bronze.
View the full results here.
