Swim
The women’s race at the Chengdu World Cup was all about Bianca Seregni. The Italian athlete led from the opening exchanges and built a substantial lead over the 1500m swim. She emerged in a time of 19:24 to put clear daylight between her and her rivals.
The next best swimmer was Yifan Yang. A recent bronze medallist at the Asian Games, Yang clocked 19:47 in the water. Her teammate, Xinyu Lin, then followed in 19:56.
Eva Goodisson was the final woman under 20 minutes as she produced a time of 19:58. From there, yet another gap appeared, speaking to just how much pressure Seregni applied to the field.
Ilaria Zane, Márta Kropkó and Yuka Sato exited the water together in 20:08 while Paulina Klimas concluded the top-8 splits in 20:09. Seregni, however, was already long gone by that point.
In the men’s race, Márk Dévay was up to his usual tricks as he popped a field-leading swim split of 17:50. Dylan McCullough was able to hang with the Hungarian athlete and came out of the water in 17:51.
As had been the case in the women’s race, the front of the field was then marked by a notable gap. Tim Hellwig, the race winner, headed up the next group in a time of 18:08.
The Japanese duo of Takumi Hojo and Makoto Odakura followed in 18:09 and 18:10, respectively, while Samuel Dickinson, Jonas Schomburg and Fabian Meeusen shared a 18:11 split. Dévay and McCullough, though, had certainly built an advantage.
Bike
The lone leader in the women’s race was soon caught as the field began to bunch back together. The top bike split of the day came from Xinyi Xu of China. She managed a time of 1:00:44.
The silver medallist, Claire Michel, was also among the best splits. She utilised a 1:00:45 split to close the deficit to Seregni and put herself among the leading riders. Similarly, Zsófia Kovács rose through the field with a time of 1:00:47.
Erica Ackerlund came away with a 1:00:48 split for her efforts. After dropping the boldest attack on the bike of the field, though, there is a degree to which her efforts deserved more. Having ridden alone, her time is not necessarily reflective of how she almost broke the race open.
Siyu Wang had the next quickest bike split in 1:00:50 while Sinem Francisca Tous Servera made it into T2 with a 1:00:54. Ivana Kuriackova was close behind in 1:00:56 and then Tereza Zimovjanova and Niina Kishimoto shared eighth fastest split in 1:00:57.
The men’s race followed a similar pattern with a large front pack eventually massing. As a result, Dévay and McCullough would not be seen among the top bike splits as others made up time lost in the water.
Bob Haller had the fastest split of the day in 54:16 while Jesus Gildardo Espiritu was right behind in 54:17. The bike proved to be a happy hunting ground for the Mexican team as they had two men in addition to Gildardo inside the top-8 splits.
Luke Bate had the third fastest split in 54:18. Aram Michell Peñaflor Moysen, the silver medallist, then clocked 54:19 to make him the second Mexican athlete in the top-8.
Xunyu Bai and Fabian Villanueva Moehl both hit 54:20 (with Villanueva being the third Mexican athlete) while Russell White, Zhengyu Duan and Aoba Yasumatsu completed the top-8 in 54:21.
Run
Having clocked the best swim of the day, Seregni asserted her dominance over the field by throwing down the fastest run too. Her time of 34:28 for the 10km was half a minute quicker than her next closest rival.
In the end, the top-8 run splits made up the top-8 finishing positions. Michel was the only other woman under 35 minutes, clocking 34:58, as she took the silver medal. The bronze medallist, Zane, then followed in 35:18.
Lin was the last woman under 36 minutes in 35:38, speaking to an incredibly spread field on the run. Meanwhile, Zimovjanova used a 36:15 split to run to her highest ever World Cup finish.
Tous stopped the clock at 36:23 for a similarly impressive finish while Ackerlund followed in 36:30. Rounding out the top-8 in 36:33 was Kovács.
Given that the men’s race had broadly shared the same race pattern as the women’s in the swim and bike, it was little surprise that the run told the same story. Like the women’s race, the top-8 splits all went to the top-8 finishers.
Hellwig was the fastest man in 30:08 as he took the win by 6 seconds. Peñaflor and Rostislav Pevtsov then matched one another to the second in 30:13. The pair had to be separated by a photo finish on the line to determine who won the silver medal; their identical split shows how there was nothing to separate them throughout the 10km.
Odakura then clocked 30:15 for the fourth fastest run. His time is notable as he finished 5th overall. He was therefore the only male or female athlete in the top-8 whose split was better than their finishing position.
Bence Bicsák, who actually finished 4th in the men’s race, managed a time of 30:16 for the fifth fastest split. Only 1 second separated Odakura and Bicsák at the line.
Darr Smith, the 6th place finisher, returns the splits to their previous pattern. He logged the sixth fastest time in 30:18. Afterwards, Luke Willian clocked 30:24 and Martin Sobey brought home the top-8 in 30:27.
