After the European Junior Cup took place in Holten yesterday, today it was the turn of the Senior athletes with the European Premium Cup.
Several athletes arrived straight from the European Games in Krakow, including the women’s bronze medallist, Jolien Vermeylen. On the one hand, Holten only presented a sprint distance race. However, with an Olympic distance race in Vermeylen’s legs from only a few days prior, it remained to be seen how her body would respond.
A notable Junior face also popped up in the men’s field as Bradley Course, the Oceania Junior champion (and Senior champion for that matter), took to the start line. However, supporters of Saint-Jean-des-Monts Vendée in the French Grand Prix may have been disappointed to see two of their star performers, Nathan Grayel and Louis Vitiello, line up in Holten instead of Metz.
Women’s race
If Vermeylen was supposed to be tired after her exploits in Poland, someone forgot to tell her. The Belgian hammered the swim, clocking a time of 9:35. Sophia Green and Myral Greco were the two women able to best keep up with Vermeylen. Otherwise the rest of the field may have quietly cursed her decision not to take the weekend off.
After a silver medal at Bundesliga Schliersee, Rachel Klamer was on hand to lead the chase to Vermeylen. Moreover the Dutch star had a legacy to uphold in Holten. To call the race a spiritual home of sorts would be to sell Klamer’s record short.
Taking into account only her Senior results, Klamer won the race in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2018. Any suggestion that she has enjoyed Holten before, then, would be a slight understatement.
This time round, she overcame the 12 second gap to Vermeylen after a hard push on the bike. With Hannah Knighton and Olivia Thornbury on hand to assist, the leaders were quickly absorbed.
Two Junior athletes also floated on the fringes of the front pack. Dominga Elena Jacome Espinoza, the South American champion, and Hasse Fleerackers had solid swims but eventually fell back as the pace rose on the bike.
With the likes of Vermeylen, Klamer and Green driving the tempo, the lead group continued to shrink. However, Jacome and Fleerackers found valuable support in the chase. After a string of Continental Cup medals, Ellie Hoitink played a big part in limiting the losses of the chase. Similarly, after a silver medal at the European Cup in Olsztyn, Anouk Sterkers hovered in the chase group and tried to limit the deficit to enable her to strike on the run.
As much as Vermeylen and Klamer ramped up their efforts, the lead did not quite broach the 30 second mark.
Nevertheless, that was more than enough of an advantage. Vermeylen and Klamer quickly dropped the rest of the lead pack on the run; only Thornbury was able to put up any meaningful resistance.
The Belgian and the Dutch woman swerved through the streets, refusing to cede even a centimetre to the other. With so many wins at the town, Klamer had to be confident of adding another. If nothing else, the muscle memory could have carried her to the line. Yet Vermeylen held firm.
And then, as the finish line approached, the Belgian attacked. A small gap formed but it proved enough as Vermeylen earned the win by 4 seconds. Having been the fastest swimmer, she added the day’s top run split. Klamer had to settle for silver but could still be pleased with her result.
Meanwhile, Thornbury held off a charging Hoitink and Sterkers to seal bronze.
Men’s race
The swim was only about one man. If Vermeylen had been impressive in the women’s race, Marcus Dey was superlative in the water as he put 13 seconds into the next best man, fellow Brit Cameron Main.
Janus Staufenberg of New Zealand had a good swim to emerge on Main’s feet alongside Ben Fäh and Trent Thorpe
Next out was Bradley Course. As the only Junior in the field, Course’s presence was a noteworthy point at the start of the day. However on the bike he rode like a man ten years older and played his part in reeling Dey in. There were plenty of other prominent names in the field, such as Richard Murray, Maxime Fluri and Eric Diener; the race did not need to centre around Course.
Yet he made it about him.
A front pack of nineteen men rode clear and Course was a force within it. Of course, the success of the lead group came down to the hard work of many others. Staufenberg, Dey and Thorpe were integral and put in big shifts. Likewise Theo Texereau, Boris Pierre and Alexis Lherieau featured heavily. For a Junior, though, Course’s contribution was particularly notable.
As a result, the leaders pulled away from a chase pack that included Murray, Fluri and Hugo Milner. After Gjalt Panjer piled on the pressure, the gap cleared the 50 seconds mark.
The leaders therefore flew through T2, safe in the knowledge that the chase pack were hardly likely to challenge for the win. With a silver medal at the Oceania Cup in Taupo to his name from earlier in the year, Staufenberg asserted his control over the run. Once he broke clear, he had no real need to look back for no one could go with him.
Texereau, Course and Daniel Damian were best placed to chase the New Zealander and contest the medals. Having impressed during the swim and bike, it duly followed that Course popped a fantastic run split to separate himself from Texereau and Damian.
Up ahead, Staufenberg proved beyond the young Australian’s grasp. He cruised the final stretch and in doing so claimed a first international win. After several promising showings this year, a result like this has been coming for the young Kiwi and he executed his race to perfection.
Only 11 seconds later, Course crossed the line to earn the silver medal. Given the level at which he is currently operating, Course is in irresistible form and it is hard to imagine anyone beating him at the World Junior Championships. While several of his rivals have logged outstanding results recently, Course is rapidly becoming a consistent threat on the Senior level.
In a late sprint, Damian claimed the bronze medal.
View the full results here.
