Swim
Vittoria Lopes was on top form in the swim at the Brasilia World Cup and built a handy lead into T1. Over the long single lap of 1500m, she pulled away from the field and completed the course in 19:18. Having been a regular face at the front of the field in the swim in the WTCS, it was no surprise to see her take command of the race.
What was a little more unusual was her decision to race so aggressively. Rather than keep a couple of athletes on her feet, Lopes went hell for leather and opened up a gap.
Valerie Barthelemy was the next woman out, a full 15 seconds behind Lopes in 19:33. Katie Zaferes and Petra Kurikova were right with Barthelemy in 19:34 while the trio of Alice Betto, Verena Steinhauser and Djenyfer Arnold followed in 19:37.
Zuzana Michalickova then rounded out the top-8 in a time of 19:38.
In the men’s race, the variable waves around the course made for a difficult swim at points. Alessio Crociani navigated the waves the best and was the first man back in 18:07.
While Lopes had given the home fans something to cheer in the men’s race, Miguel Hidalgo buoyed their hopes in the men’s event by putting himself right on Crociani’s feet. Hidalgo completed the swim in 18:08.
Sylvain Fridelance, David Castro Fajardo and Alois Knabl were the next men out in 18:11 with Martin Demuth a second back in 18:12. Having led the early part of the swim, Charles Paquet then emerged in 18:13. Tjebbe Kaindl matched Paquet’s time to round out the top-8 splits.
Bike
On the bike, Lisa Perterer showed her strength. In the summer, she nearly won the Austrian Road Race Championships and her cycling has not let up since. Perteter completed the 40km in Brasilia in 1:02:09.
Almost matching her split was Luisa Baptista as the Brazilian athlete recorded a time of 1:02:10. Miriam Casillas Garcia and Marta Pintanel Raymundo then secured the third fastest split of the day in 1:02:13.
One of the most impressive performances on the bike came from one of the youngest women in the race. Dominga Elena Jacome Espinoza was one of two Junior women racing. Despite her age, the South American Junior champion powered to a split of 1:02:14.
Following one of the youngest athletes in the field was one of the most experienced. Whereas Jacome was born in 2005, Elizabeth Bravo was born in 1987. Indeed, Bravo started racing internationally (at the elite level) less than a year after Jacome was born. In Brasilia, Bravo produced a split of 1:01:18.
Romina Biagioli logged the same time of 1:01:18 over the 40km while Mercedes Romero Orozco rounded out the top-8 splits in 1:01:19.
Having been pipped to the fastest men’s swim, Hidalgo took the top bike split of the day. To a degree, he was aided by a fall in T1. His bike became stuck, causing him to fall, and being forced to regain the time lost helped with gaining a few seconds over the lead pack. His final time was 56:06.
Sergio Baxter Cabrera, Crisanto Grajales and Paquet took the next fastest splits in 56:09. Next up was the silver medallist, Antonio Serrat Seoane, as he rode the 40km in 56:10. Manoel Messias followed in 56:12 and Demuth clocked 56:14.
Knabl then secured his spot in the top-8 splits with a 56:15.
Run
With the fastest run split in the field, Alice Betto claimed her first ever international win. She had bided her time on the run before launching her final attack and her pacing resulted in a time of 36:23.
Rosa Maria Tapia Vidal, the bronze medallist, followed in 36:51 and was the last woman under 37 minutes. The times produced speak to the challenge of the undulating course. With several uphill sections, Brasilia was not the place to hunt best times.
Petra Kurikova came close to a second career World Cup medal as she ran 37:01 while Bravo was again among the leading splits as she ran 37:20. Casillas clocked a time of 37:24 yet beat Bravo in a sprint finish for 5th overall.
Verena Steinhauser made it two Italian athletes in the top-7 with a time of 37:43 and Michalickova rounded out the top-8 in 37:50.
Once again, Hidalgo claimed the leading split. Had Crociani not found a final burst on the swim, Hidalgo could have taken the rare achievement of logging the fastest split in all three disciplines. As it was, he had to settle for the fastest bike and the fastest run. In the latter, he stopped the clock at 32:22.
Jason West used a big run split to move up the field having arrived in T2 in the chase pack. His time of 32:29 came close to knocking Hidalgo from his perch.
The next fastest run went to Serrat. For a moment on the run, it looked as if Serrat had broken Hidalgo and that the Spanish athlete was on course to claim the gold medal. However, a monumental comeback from Hidalgo turned the tables and Serrat could not respond. As Hidalgo upped his pace, Serrat faltered and ended up producing a 32:42 split.
Paquet, the bronze medallist, was close behind with his time of 32:53. Michele Sarzilla was then the final man under 33 minutes with his time of 32:58. The leading men are all capable of running at least 2 minutes faster over 10km – and have done so in Olympic distance races – which speaks to the tough nature of the course.
Felix Duchampt had a very good run, logging 33:11, to get himself into the top-10 overall. Grajales and Castro then completed the top-8 splits in 33:17 and 33:20, respectively.
