Norway win European Games relay
With the men’s racing winner from the European Games leading off and the women’s race winner on the anchor leg, Norway had a pretty good chance of winning the Mixed Team Relay in Krakow.
At the European Games, they duly put together a marvelous display to seal the gold, their third across the three triathlon events.
Vetle Bergsvik Thorn got them off to a great start while Solveig Løvseth sealed the deal at the end. In between, Lotte Miller and Casper Stornes also impressed. One interesting point to note is that Norway did not have the fastest leg at any point of the race. Thorn came closest; he had the second first opening leg behind Adrien Briffod of Switzerland.
Across the board, though, their depth and ability shone through.
They also played it smart on the bike to keep out of trouble in the rain. By contrast, Germany’s hopes were ended early as Selina Klamt unfortunately came unstuck on the bike during the second leg.
Difficulty with bikes proved a theme of the race. At the end of the first leg, Barclay Izzard of Britain was taken out on the run into T2. The culprit? His own bike.
In a perfectly-timed tackle, Izzard’s bike slid through and poleaxed the Brit. Izzard appealed the referee but play was waved on; the bike won the ball fairly. Izzard went on to recover on the run and helped the British team towards silver. Meanwhile, rumour has it his bike is being touted for a big-money move to sign for Chelsea F.C. as their new centre-back.
Klamer showing promising signs
At the European Cup in Holten, Rachel Klamer had a legacy to defend.
With more gold medals at the race than be counted (at least on one hand), the Dutch woman has enjoyed prolonged success on the streets of Holten. This time round, she was eventually denied another gold by a fantastic performance from Jolien Vermeylen. A silver medal, though, was a very encouraging return for Klamer.
Indeed, it came only a week after she won silver at Bundesliga Schliersee.
After long-standing issues with her hamstring, Klamer seems to be regaining form. On the WTCS front, her recent displays have also shown signs of growth. She finished 2022 with a 39th place at WTCS Abu Dhabi and then launched her 2023 campaign with a 38th place in Yokohama.
In Cagliari, though, she improved to 28th.
With her consecutive silver medals, she can be confident of going even better still at her next WTCS race in Hamburg. Maybe Klamer will not return to the top of a WTCS podium with her hamstring struggles. However, her form proves that she is still a high-class operator and should not be discounted anytime soon.
Swedish Champs
Wins at the Swedish Championships were claimed at the weekend by Tilda Månsson and Gabriel Sandör.
Still a Junior, Månsson’s win continues a wonderful year in which she also broke the Swedish Junior 5000m record. Although she is still in her final year of Junior eligibility, she will not be racing at the World Junior Championships. Rather, her focus is on gaining Senior experience and pushing towards greater exposure to the highest levels of the sport.
This weekend, she will be racing at the Tiszaujvaros World Cup. Having won the Bergen World Cup last year, Månsson could be due for another big showing over the Sprint distance.
She is also on the wait list WTCS Hamburg where the shortened swim and bike over the Super Sprint format should help her unleash her full running potential.
Sandör, meanwhile, claimed his national title after a season in which he broke his 10km personal best. Despite being the strongest man within the Swedish ranks, Sandör has still not raced internationally since winning the Asia Cup in Manama at the end of 2022. His absence has seen his world ranking take a hit and he has also slid down the Olympic qualification rankings.
However, Sandör is due to join Månsson in Tiszaujvaros this weekend. His win at the Swedish Championships showed that his race fitness is coming into shape and he can be considered a dark horse for a medal.
Swiss Champs
The note of the Swedish Championships also brings us nicely to the overlooked Swiss Championships from a week prior. At the Zurich City Triathlon, which doubled as the national championships, Max Studer and Leana Bissig came away with the titles.
Studer remains an enigma.
To start his season, he finished 9th at WTCS Abu Dhabi. That represented only his second WTCS start since 2020, a remarkable tally of races for an athlete of his talent. He then popped up in China to take the win at the Asia Cup in Dexing. And then nothing.
He sits on the precipice of breaking into the top-30 of the Olympic qualification rankings and could be an important force in earning Switzerland a third men’s spot at the Olympic Games. Yet he has also not raced at a World Cup since Bergen last August (where he finished 12th).
Injuries have been an issue at times. Either way, the Swiss federation will be hoping to use Studer as much as possible over the rest of the season. His win in Zurich confirmed that he is in shape. Armed with a fantastic run, he could be a handful at any given race. All he has to do is start.
On the women’s side, Bissig put in a brilliant performance to claim the gold.
Having moved up from the U23 ranks at the turn of the year, Bissig remains a young athlete and is finding her feet at the top level. Her best international finish of 2023 is a 27th place from the European Cup in Holten. Considering that Holten came a week after her win in Zurich, there is reason to think Bissig should enjoy even better results over the second half of the season.
At any stage, though, a national title is a major achievement and will be a feather in her cap. Hopefully it will provide the perfect boost for her to make the next step in her career.
