Swim
As is so often the case, Márk Dévay was the fastest swimmer at the Valencia World Cup. The Hungarian athlete clocked a 17:18 split for the 1500m.
Right on his feet was Connor Bentley. The World U23 champion split 17:19 in the water which enabled him and Dévay to initially escape on the bike. Kevin Tarek Viñuela Gonzalez looked to have joined them with his split of 17:21 however an early mechanical thwarted his hopes of escaping in a breakaway.
After a short wait, Fabian Meeusen and Adrian Martinez Bayan led the chasers out in 17:30. Nicola Azzano followed in 17:32 with Casper Stornes and Valentin Morlec competing the top-8 splits in 17:33.
The race winner, David Cantero del Campo, was actually the ninth fastest swimmer and was 1 second behind Morlec and Stornes.
Having not initially known that Valencia would be an Olympic distance race, Jolien Vermeylen was the quickest swimmer in the women’s race. She stopped the clock at 22:13.
Yuko Takahashi and Anja Weber followed in 22:14 while Eva Goodisson recorded a time of 22:16.
The Spanish dup of Sara Guerrero Manso and Cecilia Santamaria Surroca hit 22:18 and were 1 second ahead of Valerie Barthelemy. The women’s winner, Gwen Jorgensen, then shared the eighth fastest split with Mathilde Gautier in 22:20.
In both races, then, the swim did not prove to be key to success but the winners were nevertheless well-positioned into T1.
Bike
After Márk Dévay was the fastest swimmer, the best cycling split remained in the family. Zsombor Dévay dropped the quickest time with an impressive 52:01.
That was a whole 15 seconds quicker than the next fastest athlete, Angel Sanchez Carreras. A cluster of men then recorded a time of 52:17. This group included Genis Grau, Kaue Willy, Saxon Morgan and Ka’eo Kruse. Ren Sato then followed in 52:18. Russell White, Lachlan Haycock and Cedric Osterholt completed the top-8 splits in 52:21.
Aside from an attack by Bentley and Zsombor Dévay, there was little to animate the men’s bike section. For the entertainment value, then, Dévay was well worth his leading split.
The women’s bike was also rather uneventful and the top splits went to athletes that made up time from the swim to get into the front group.
Noelia Juan was the fastest athlete in 57:46 while Niina Kishimoto was close behind in 57:48.
Sinem Francisca Tous Servera had the next fastest split in 57:49, putting her 4 seconds ahead of Anabel Knoll. Karolina Helga Horváth and Tilda Månsson both rode times of 57:54.
A group consisting of Angelica Prestia, Marlene Gomez-Göggel, Maria Carolina Velasquez Soto and Zuzana Michalickova then concluded the top splits with a shared time of 57:56.
Run
As to be expected in Valencia, the fastest runners came away with the gold medals.
On the men’s side, David Cantero del Campo was one of two men to dip under the 30 minute barrier over the 10km. He stopped the clock at 29:54 to take gold. Lasse Nygaard Priester was the second man under the 30 minute threshold in 29:57.
From further down the field, Hugo Milner took the next best split in a time of 30:11. He narrowly edged out the bronze medallist Michele Sarzilla who ran 30:14.
Azzano was the next quickest runner in 30:26 while Cameron Main soared to a career-best World Cup finish on the back of a 30:31 split. His 5th place was not simply his first trip inside the top-10; it was his first venture into the top-30.
Nan Oliveras and Maxime Fluri rounded out the top-8 splits with times of 30:32 and 30:40, respectively.
Jorgensen earned the gold medal on the back of a 33:37 run split. Her run time earned the greatest gap to the next best split of any athlete as Nina Eim followed in 33:59.
Gomez-Göggel clocked 34:05 to round out the podium while Juan was the next woman home in 34:21.
Claire Michel had lost ground prior to T2 but still rallied on the run. She dropped a 34:36 split in a sterling recovery. Vermeylen ran 34:48 to take 5th place
Michalickova and Velasquez then completed the top-8 splits with times of 34:53 and 34:54.
