Zachaeus Eases to Win in Men’s Race
Stefan Zachaeus of Luxembourg took a comfortable victory at the African Cup in Kilifi, Kenya after breaking clear with Martin Demuth and Badr Siwane in the swim. The trio pushed the opening stages of the bike however they were later joined by other athletes, including Donald Hillebregt of the Netherlands.
Once the athletes were onto the run, the gulf in class was evident as Zachaeus quickly took the lead and split the second fastest run of the day in a 16:16.
Hillebregt had a good run to take silver. However, despite their good work throughout the race, Demuth and Siwane were pipped for bronze. The rapidly finishing Federico Scarabino of Uruguay stormed through to field to snatch away the silver medal with the fastest run of the day.
Scarabino’s split of 15:52 was by far the fastest of the day. Nonetheless, after ceding time in both the swim and on the bike, Scarabino left it too late to challenge for a higher finish.
Each of the top-5 could come away at least partially satisfied, though, having banked valuable points towards their World Triathlon rankings. Over the coming 18 months, that ranking will be key for the athletes to get onto World Cup and WTCS start lists in their pursuit to qualify for the Paris Olympics.
Stroschneider Takes First Ever International Win
Austrian Tanja Stroschneider won the women’s race in Kilifi by a comfortable 19 seconds after cruising away from her closest rivals on the run.
Stroschneider was first out of the water and headed up a group of five women onto the bike. In a field of only thirteen women, the win was almost guaranteed at that point. Although one athlete slipped off the back of the leading pack, the remaining four continued to work well together. Keeping Stroschneider company were Macarena Salazar, Zuzanna Sudak and Niina Kishimoto.
Towards the end of the bike, Kishimoto began to lose touch with the group. She went on to arrive in T2 over 20 seconds behind the leading trio.
Stroschneider was the fastest runner of the day, though, and cruised through her 5km in 19:15. Kishimoto rallied to log the second fastest run split of the day to overtake Salazar for bronze. Sudak held on for silver over Kishimito by six seconds.
You can view the full results here.
