While WTCS medallists Emma Lombardi, Kate Waugh and Sophie Coldwell showed the field how its done in the women’s race at the Melilla European Cup, plenty of athletes hoping to mimic their success took to the start line at the European Junior Cup. Racing over the Sprint distance, both Junior races saw smart breakaways and were won in decisive fashion.
Women’s race
Margareta Vrablova returned to a scene of previous success having won the race in 2023. This time round, she found herself in the perfect position after the swim.
Cristina Jímenez-Orta Guerrero got off to a great start and led the way. She covered the 750m in the water in 9:18. Vrablova then exited in 9:22 to take early control. Dana Soroka of Ukraine was a further second back and then a gap of almost half a minute to the rest of the field opened up.
Vrablova was the best on the long run to T1 and passed Jímenez-Orta. Soroka would fall behind the two leaders in the same section. At the start of the bike, Jímenez-Orta had to work to catch Vrablova but managed to do so. Both worked well together and converted the break into a substantial lead.
By the end of the 20km, the front pair had built a lead of over a minute.
From there, the run was a procession. Vrablova clocked a 17:31 5km to win by over 90 seconds. Having entered her final year as a Junior, she brought up win number 10 at the European Junior Cup level. Prior to Vrablova’s run, the previous record (post 2009) stood at 5 wins, highlighting the Slovakian athlete’s absurd level of success.
Jímenez-Orta held on to take 2nd place with a classy all-round showing. Nieves Navarro Gímenez was the best runner of the chase pack and was therefore able to run through and earn the bronze medal.
Men’s race
Alejandro López García (8:42) led Tom Dixon of Britain by 3 seconds after a fast start to the men’s race. Many of the competitors were aware that they had to push the pace earlier given that Izan Edo Aguilar, the winner of European Junior Cup in Quarteira, was lying in wait.
However, despite López’s best efforts, a 14 second lead out of the water was not enough. Edo flew past on bike with Adrian Alvaro Garcia and Eneko De Castro Cativiela for company. No one was able to hang on to the charging trio and from there they seized control of proceedings.
As was the case in the Junior women’s race, the small escape group established a lead of over a minute and the López-Dixon group had no answer. Even after the chasers were joined by the third pack and enjoyed a large numerical advantage, they were powerless against the smooth operation of the leading three athletes.
With a medal all but guaranteed, Edo then made sure that it would be gold. He ran clear over the 5km to win by 37 seconds and made it a second consecutive international win. De Castro hung on for silver to cap an impressive performance while Jarno Pousada Troitiño passed Alvaro. Pousada also nearly caught De Castro but ultimately settled for bronze in a Spanish sweep of the men’s podium.
View the full results here.
