Three British women toed the start line at WTCS Montreal, each already an owner of a gold medal from the Series this season. Sophie Coldwell lined up to the left. Georgia Taylor-Brown took her place to the right. One dark shape amidst the cluster of wetsuits, though, stood completely still.
Beth Potter arrived in Montreal having won the opener race of the season in Abu Dhabi. Despite her majestic start to the year, the subsequent success of her compatriots seemed to distance her from the spotlight. She was still there, but a little out of shot.
After the swim in Montreal, it looked as if Potter risked slipping further out of view.
Vittoria Lopes took control of the race with Lena Meißner on feet in a rapid time of 8:48. Next out of the water, worryingly for the field, was Taylor Knibb. The American had recently finished 4th at the USA Time Trial Championships. Her decision to race in Tennessee, though, had a sting in its tail as she missed the pre-race briefing in Montreal and so had to serve a 10 second penalty in T1.
As Knibb waited, Coldwell stormed through transition, gaining ten places to emerge in the lead. She had lost 10 seconds to Lopes in the swim and exited with Taylor-Brown and Taylor Spivey close behind. On the opening lap of the bike, though, she careered up the road.
Potter, meanwhile, had conceded 34 seconds in the water and wallowed in 34th place.
At the front, Coldwell’s move reshaped the dynamic of the race. A large front pack looked like it was about to form in T1, with the likes of Katie Zaferes and Djenyfer Arnold enjoying great swims. Yet Coldwell’s brutal surge turned what could have been a big lead group into a long, splintered line of athletes.
Gradually, though, the Brit was caught and a large front pack of twenty-one women formed. Moreover, while the forecasted rain did not quite hit, the course was nonetheless slick as Nicole Van Der Kaay discovered to her peril after crashing on the opening lap. Perhaps the dampness of the circuit led to jitters, for at the end of the first bike lap, the chase group containing Potter and Jeanne Lehair had narrowed their deficit to 10 seconds.
Then Knibb struck.
With her training partner Summer Rappaport in tow, the American launched a massive attack on the lead group. As much as the like of Spivey attempted to chase, Knibb and Rappaport escaped into a slim lead. The lead pair grew their advantage to 10 seconds whereupon it settled.
Shortly after, Potter and Lehair completed their recovery as chase group merged with the main (formerly front) pack. At the head of the pack, Spivey made her displeasure clear at the lack of support in chasing her compatriots. On paper a pack of thirty should have been able to catch the leaders in comfort. Knibb, though, had a reputation to uphold.
Without letting Rappaport take a turn, she powered around each lap. However, precious few athletes seemed willing to commit to the hunt.
With runners like Taylor-Brown, Rosa Maria Tapia Vidal, Potter and Lehair in the group, any work expended would open up the race for someone else. As such, a small coterie of women took up their place at the front of the pack and the contrast in dynamism on the road was stark.
Whereas Knibb and Rappaport hammered their advantage home, the chase were stuck in a blob, often two or three abreast with several freewheeling. By the midpoint of the bike, the lead had grown to 14 seconds.
Spivey hit the front again, as did Taylor-Brown, Coldwell and Kate Waugh. And then, finally, the chase slotted into single file as the pace rose. The German duo of Laura Lindemann and Lena Meißner then took up the lead and brought the gap down to 9 seconds with two laps to go.
However Knibb was not done.
A massive penultimate lap saw her rebuild the lead to 15 seconds. Disheartened, the chase returned to the blob. On the final lap, Cathia Schär tried to attack the chasers but was quickly caught. And so, Knibb and Rappaport arrived in T2 with a 13 second lead.
Rappaport struck clear and thundered ahead. Further behind, Zsanett Bragmayer had a great transition to lead the chase while Lehair, Potter and Zaferes sat at the head of the pack.
Over the course of the first lap, Potter, Lehair, Taylor-Brown and Leonie Periault moved ahead of Knibb and Bragmayer. However Coldwell and Spivey lost time.
Around a dead turn on the first of the two run laps, Taylor-Brown then lost contact with her fellow chasers and, suddenly, Potter was the leading Brit. The spotlight was hers for the taking.
The gap to Rappaport dwindled and the American began to look a little vulnerable. Sensing an opportunity, Lehair charged ahead and caught her former training partner. As the bell rung for the final lap, Potter caught the leaders while Periault hung behind.
After her bold attack, Lehair seemed to pay for the effort and slipped behind. In a complete switch, it was Periault that took up setting the pace having looked a little weaker when the Luxembourg athlete pushed.
As the finish line neared, Rappaport held on, stubbornly refusing to relinquish her shot at gold. Another burst from Potter and Periault, though, was enough to put daylight between them and the American.
Although Periault flew towards the finish, Potter was ready to strike. Stepping into the spotlight with panache, Potter sprinted clear to take the win by 2 seconds.
The French woman had to settle for silver while Rappaport held on for bronze. Both took their first medals of the season in welcome returns to the podium.
Lehair was next over the line while Zaferes had a brilliant race to record her best finish since her return from childbirth. Knibb managed to rally on the final lap to drop Taylor-Brown and take 6th. After her stirring race in Cagliari, 7th will have been a slight disappointment for the Brit.
Bragmayer also enjoyed a fantastic race to hold off Spivey and earn 8th. Close behind Spivey was Maria Carolina Velasquez Soto with a best ever WTCS finish of 10th. After a run of wins in Americas Cups, Velasquez showed her form could translate to the world stage.
The day, though, belonged to Potter. After the twists and turns of the season thus far, supremacy has returned to the Scot. Yet in doing so, the Series sits gloriously poised. No woman has quite been able to stake a claim for control of the top spot and the race to the world title remains fascinatingly open.
With a performance so assured, though, it will be hard to look beyond Beth Potter going forward.
View the full results here.
