In both races at the European Junior Cup in Bled, a bold breakaway would be cruelly denied.
Over the Super Sprint format, with distances of a 400m swim, 13.4km bike and 3.3km run, the races unfolded in similar manners. It was only at the finish that the changes came. In the men’s race, a nail-biting sprint finish separated the leading athletes while in the women’s event, a late come-from-behind victory snatched victory from a bold solo attack.
Men’s race
As has become his calling card, Zalán Hóbor attacked the swim and was the first man to emerge in a time of 5:04. The French pair of Paul Delamare and Pao Millo followed on his heels as a pack of eight men escaped onto the bike.
Lehel Hóbor had been close to making the front pack however a slow T1 cost him dearly. Joining Zalán Hóbor were Lawrence Martindale and Patrick Leitner, while the Hungarian duo of Gergő Gyula Soós and Gyula Kovács were also to the fore. Millo, however, came unstuck on the bike, leaving only seven at the front.
A chase group however around 20 seconds behind the leaders while a third pack containing Martin Hubner, Lorenzo Pelliciardi and Tristan Douche, the European Youth champion, set after them. The chase groups soon merged, yet they could not make much of a dent into the leaders.
With Hóbor driving the pace, the leaders stayed clear. Hubner, Pelliciardi and Douche reduced their swim deficit of 40 seconds by 10 seconds, however the leaders were still among the fastest riders on the course.
When the arrived in T2, then, the Hóbor group had a lead of around half a minute.
Martindale fell back on the run, but Hóbor, Delamare, Leitner, Soós and Kovács clustered together. They tackled the first kilometre smoothly but the threat behind was growing.
Hubner, Pelliciardi and Douche were flying and closed in on the leaders. Unable to react and lift their tempo, the front five leaked ground and the gap narrowed. Kovács and Hóbor each tried to push in vain but they could not get away. Throughout it all the chasers gained on them.
Finally, the chase trio caught the front five and from there Hubner and Pelliciardi blasted into a new gear. They tore into the finishing stretch. Hubner seemed to have the slight advantage but Pelliciardi roared past to pip him at the line. The Italian athlete therefore claimed his first international win on the back of a field-leading run split of 9:48.
Hubner had to settle for silver and then attention turned to the bronze medal.
Douche remained with the original leading quintet. Having worked so hard on the swim and bike, only Leitner could respond as the European Youth champion sprinted to the line. The Austrian desperately tried to overhaul Douche, but the French athlete had too much and took bronze.
After all their hard work, the five leaders occupied 4th through to 8th and went home empty-handed.
Women’s race
If the men’s race had been fraught with tension, the women’s race was even more intense.
Tabea Huys rattled into the lead in the swim, clocking 5:31. Fresh off her win at the European Junior Cup in Dublin, Nora Romina Nádas was the next woman out, 4 seconds back.
Huys, though, was in no mood to wait. She launched herself onto the bike and did not look back. Earlier in August, Huys raced at the World Cycling Championships in Glasgow, finishing 20th in the road race and 11th in the individual time trial. Her cycling ability was on full show in Bled as she dominated the course.
No slouch on the bike herself, Nádas could only watch as Huys built what looked like an insurmountable 40 second lead.
Lea Houart and Cassilda Carvalho joined Nádas in her chase but there was nothing to be done. Huys was simply too strong. The Austrian was therefore able to rack her bike in T2 in blissful isolation and set out onto the run.
Nádas, Houart and Carvalho eventually arrived but it seemed there was too much to do over the 3.3km.
Bled, however, had another cruel twist left.
As much as Huys pushed, the gap began to dwindle. Smaller and smaller it grew, dropping from 30 seconds to 20 and then to 10. Closer and closer the chase trio came and still Huys willed her legs to hold out. For Nádas and Carvalho, both the gap and Houart’s pace proved too much. The final kilometre thus arrived and Huys had only one woman to hold off.
Finally, it happened. Houart passed Huys and charged away to victory. After her immense performance Huys managed to summon the final push to hold onto the silver. The gold medal, however, had vanished up the road.
Houart crossed the line after hitting a field-leading 11:55 split to claim her first Europan Junior Cup win. Not long after, Huys made it home to seal a hard-earned silver medal. Carvalho then overcame Nádas to win the bronze medal.
It had been a day of breakaways and day of bravery. In the end, though, the daring attempts ultimately suffered the kind of fate usually reserved for Greek tragedies.
You can view the full results here.
