The course at the WTCS Final in Pontevedra has something for everyone.
The river swim should offer fairly fast conditions and the more confident open water swimmers should be able to gain some time. The bike then balances a lack of technical sections with a minor climb. As such, the weaker cyclists face a lesser risk of losing time around a series of tight corners while the more powerful athletes will be able to drop the hammer on the hill.
Finally, the run is mostly flat but has enough bumps and turns to bring strategy to the forefront of the race.
The full route can be viewed below and there are a couple of points to note.
As is the norm over the Olympic distance, the race kicks off with a 1.5km swim.
The athletes will complete two laps in the water between the Puente de los Tirantes and the pedestrian walkway. A short run to T1 will then follow. Unlike most races, Pontevedra will have a split transition so T2 will take place on a different part of the course.
The bike section will consist of eight laps of 4km. For much of the course, there is not a lot to challenge the athletes. A solitary dead turn awaits and there are limited technical sections. On each lap, the athletes will ride over an athletics track which represents the ultimate flat experience.
The one item that stands out on the bike is the small climb. The ascent will take place in Campus, around the area of the dead turn. At 2.6%, the gradient is not particularly steep. Over the course of eight laps, though, it could offer a possible area to break clear or at least inflict damage upon rivals’ legs.
After the climb, the descent is slightly shallower and so should not present any great technical challenge.
T2 will take place in the stadium beside the athletics track. From there, the athletes will complete four laps of 2.5km on the run. Although there are some twists and turns through the old town, the run should not be particularly challenging. It resembles the route at WTCS Cagliari to a degree.
With a slight rise on each lap, pacing could be an issue. On that note, it can be instructive to look back to the women’s race at last year’s World Cup. Lisa Tertsch appeared to have the gold medal sewn up at one stage on the run, although over the course of the 10km she began to falter, allowing Petra Kurikova to pass her and claim the gold.
Rather than running at a constant pace throughout, there may be some benefit to varying one’s effort to exploit the various bumps and corners in the route.
While the Pontevedra running course does not hold any major challenges, it may still pay off to hold something in reserve. Those that prefer to blast out of T2, such as Jonas Schomburg, may thus find the strategy is a little less suited to Pontevedra.
All in all, there is little to be concerned about when it comes to the Pontevedra course. There is just about enough on the bike and run to give the athletes a chance to attack one another. Although the topography of the route will probably not break up the race, it could nonetheless sway the outcome.
