Ruben Slot Triathlon
XTERRA World Tour events that proceed will qualify athletes to race at the 2021 XTERRA World Championships. The XTERRA World Championship off-road triathlon is scheduled for October 31, 2021 in Kapalua, Maui. Clark added that, “Racing is in our DNA and XTERRA in-person events will return. The official triathlon resource. Triathlon event information, news, results, rankings, rules, education, and more from the International Triathlon Union. Visit Ruben Slot's (Netherlands) Triathlon.org profile for athlete results, stats, photos, videos, news, and more.
We saw strong performances from the U23 athletes when they had the chance to race against the Elite in the Cross-Duathlon and once again, in the women’s race, it was to be that a younger athlete would push the elite all the way to the line.
Victory went ultimately to Great Britain’s Nicole Walters the runner-up in Fyn.
Walters is well-known on the Xterra circuit and was guide to PTVI athlete Melissa Reid in Rio, making it to the podium and collecting the Paralympic bronze medal. With her swim power now able to work to her advantage, she was no doubt confident that her 6th place in the Cross-Duathlon would be improved upon.
A breakaway of four athletes; two elite, two U23, was led by Ukraine’s Sofiya Pryyma and Antoanela Manac ROU, who first got a taste of off-road racing last year on home soil in Târgu Mureș. The two U23 athletes were followed by Laura Gómez Ramón and Walters.
With Manac usually racing the “on-road” circuit and with limited time to train off-road, she was soon dropped and Walters, applying the pressure, simply pulled away with only Gómez able to keep her in sight.
Having finished her race day for the duathlon in pretty low spirits, “Some days you just have to suck it up at the back of the race. This is me absolutely hating life in the duathlon…. Massive thanks to all the GB support out on the course, not sure I’d have finished if it wasn’t for all the encouragement!! No time to dwell, less than 48 hours to recover and for my legs to not be sh#t. Roll on the triathlon.” Her words were clear enough after her victory, “Can’t quite believe it. European cross triathlon champion!!”
Her victory, by almost three minutes, was a clear statement and finishes a pretty good year, with the silver in Fyn and a number of other top finishes on other circuits. Silver medal-winner Gómez gave her all to claim the second place on the podium, “Y cuando das todo no hay nada que pedir … Pero al final quien lo diria unos meses atrás, así que contentisima por el resultado y lo vivido. Aprendiendo constantemente. And when you give everything and there is nothing more to give …. But in the end, who would have believed it a few months ago, so I am extremely happy with the result and loved every minute. Learning constantly.”
For Pryyma, she has once again shown her power. Coming to the race after the oven-like temperatures in Eilat only the weekend before, her determined attack at the start, and solid bike leg, was finished with an impressive final run to take her onto the podium, claiming bronze but also winning the U23 title ahead of Manac and Russia’s Daria Rogozina.
With the blinding sunshine of Eilat and the rain-swept, then sun-drenched courses in Ibiza a fond memory, Pryyma is now training in the winter wonderland of Ukraine in preparation for 2019.
The men’s race was in some ways a copy of the women’s with U23 athletes featuring in the top-end racing. Coming to the start line with the Cross-Duathlon title already claimed, Belgium’s Tim Van Hemel was up against some of the best off-road specialists in the world. Against all odds, he was able to “do the double” with once again absolutely breath–taking riding off road.
He came out of the water some considerable way down the pack and with Brice Daubord almost 30 seconds ahead, there must have been some small concerns at the back of his mind. Overtaking the Frenchman out on the bike course was just the signal that Van Hemel needed and coming into T2 with over 30 seconds in the bag, his final run was enough to secure both off-road titles.
Daubord’s blisteringly fast final run was simply not enough to catch his northern neighbour but was enough to keep him ahead of the young pretender from Italy, the world U23 champion, Marcello Ugazio whose bronze medal and victory in the U23 category has clearly signalled to everyone that he has great potential.
In the U23 category, it was a glory day for Italy, with Tommaso Gatti winning silver ahead of the swim leader, Kevin Tarek Viñuela González.
Amongst the Juniors, we were treated once again to a running masterclass by Italy’s Marta Menditto. Having lost out in Târgu Mureș last year, where she comfortably won the Cross-Duathlon but lost out in the Cross-Triathlon against the stronger swimming of Pryyma, she has clearly been working on her swimming and with two world junior bronze medals, she could come to Ibiza knowing that the balance would be in her favour. Having won silver in the Cross-Duathlon only a couple of days earlier, she knew that her bike to run would be good. Losing only a few seconds in the swim, she was soon able to catch up and, with her explosive final run power, the title was pretty much hers as she entered T2.
Reigning world champion, Pavlína Vargová CZE was the main threat in her final year as a junior but it was out on the run course that Menditto took command. A silver to the Czech athlete ahead of the swim leader, Lýdia Drahovská.
For the Junior Men, the anticipation was that Spanish athlete, Nicolás Puertas Fernández could claim both titles after his convincing victory in the cross-duathlon.
The swim was dominated by Croatia’s Luka Grgorinić but the rocky terrain soon slowed him down and he could do nothing to prevent the off-road powerhouse riders from taking the advantage. With Italy’s Filippo Pradella edging ahead on the bike, it was down to the run power of Puertas to seal the victory. He did just that with a stunning 14:15 to close the race down. Pradella came home for silver but it was a nail-biting final few metres that decided bronze. Spain’s Alfonso Izquierdo, making his international debut, as almost caught out by fast-finishing Petr Velíšek. His silver in the Cross-Duathlon had shown us his pace but it was just not quite enough to catch the Spaniard and he lost out on a podium place by just one, small second.
For Puertas, “Ni en el mejor de los sueños conseguía una medalla en un Campeonato de Europa. Fue una gran sorpresa el rendimiento en cada competición. Fui a disfrutar y disfruté a lo grande. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I could win a medal at the European Championships. It was a great surprise for me, my performance in each race. I went to enjoy and enjoyed it more than I could ever possibly imagine.”
Three categories were represented in the Para-Tri Championships. The medals were shared between Spain and Italy, with the host nation taking the lion’s share. When you look at the degree of difficulty out on the bike and run courses; a mixture of rocks and sand, the performances really are put into perspective.
In the PTS2 Category, it was gold to Ricardo Marín Arcis to add to his title collection on the island.
PTS3 saw gold and silver going to Spain, with Raúl Zambrana Romero having greater control over the bike than runner-up Kini Carrasco who within days of the race was under the surgeon’s knife to sort out an Achilles problem.
The PTS4 category saw a full podium, with once again the host nation taking the title. Gold went to José Antonio Abril in his first race on the ETU / ITU circuit. He used his run power to absorb any weaknesses in the swim and bike but in this pretty evenly-matched race, he delivered excellent swim and bike legs, before racing away on the final segment to finish ahead of Italy’s Gianfilippo Mirabile, who goes away from the island with two silver medals from the off-road events. Bronze went to Francisco José López Salar to match his medal in the Cross-Duathlon.
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Even the sun was out today at Strathclyde Park in Glasgow for the flawless show that Nicola Spirig had prepared for the European Championships. The Swiss, one of the oldest competitors in the field, impressed everyone to claim the European crown again, the sixth of her career, proving that she is serious when she announced that she wants to go for another medal in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. British Jessica Learmonth crossed the finish line in second while Cassandre Beaugrand (FRA) finished in third place.
The race started with Learmonth leading the 1500m swim from the first strokes, proving that she is one of the strongest swimmers in the field. While in the first lap she was followed by a group of three swimmers -Beaugrand, Sara Perez Sala and Anna Godoy Contreras-, in the second lap the quartet became a duo, with Learmonth and Beaugrand the only ones in front.
Learmonth and Beaugrand exited the water together, with the two Spaniards 24 seconds behind them, and with a difference of almost 50 seconds with the large group of chasers, including Nicola Spirig. And off they went together while behind them a small group was immediately formed, but a crash involving Perez Sala, Angelica Olmo (ITA) and Lotte Miller (NOR) changed quickly the setup, with Spirig deciding to go solo to chase the British and the French.
It was a matter of a few kilometers for Spirig to show her cycling power, even when riding completely alone, decreasing the difference with the leaders lap after lap. With one lap to go, the Swiss managed to rejoin the duo and attacked, to be followed only by Learmonth. By the end of the 40km leg, Beaugrand was 1 minute 57 seconds behind.
With the race clearly looking as a three-persons game, the chase pack included really strong names such as Laura Lindemann, Claire Michel, Anna Godoy and Vendula Frintova.
And right after the second transition, Spirig took control of the run leaving Learmonth in her wake. She proved that at 36 years old, after a 20-year career, two Olympic medals, five European golds and two children, she still has surprises up her sleeve. Behind them, Beaugrand looked too tired to try to chase them, and focussed her efforts on just crossing the finish line.
By the end of the 10km run under the Scottish sun, Spirig was all smiles when crossing the finish line to grab the sixth european title of her career, after the ones she got in 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2015. Learmonth stopped the clock in 1:59:46, 33 seconds behind Spirig, to add a silver medal to the gold she got last year in the Europeans. And in third place came Beaugrand, followed by Lindemann in fourth place.
With Claire Michel and Vendula Frintova finding out the strength to sprint to the finish line for the 5th and 6th place respectively, the top ten was closed with Julia Hauser (AUT), Kaidi Kivioja (EST), Petra Kurikova (CZE) and Melanie Santos (POR).
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“It feels amazing. I’m really happy. I had huge support from my husband, my whole family and my whole team”, said Spirig after crossing the finish line. “There were a few key moments, I came out of the water 40 seconds down, but that wasn’t a problem for me. I felt it was doable. I knew that I would be stronger in the second part of the bike stage compared to the others. I knew I’m probably stronger in the second part. I was lucky because there was a little bit of a crash behind me, so I was by myself from the beginning. I could just concentrate on the leaders without worrying about taking turns (with other riders).It was a key part when I caught up with Jess and Cassandre , I attacked straight away,” said the Swiss, who at 36 and mother of two young kids, is again racing at top level at the ITU circuit. “I never thought I was gonna be still doing this at my age. Never. I was just taking it one step at a time. I always wanted to stop at 30, but now I’m six years past that and I’m still winning and still enjoying it a lot,” she stated.
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The race was a killer one, even for the top athletes. “That’s a hard course, definitely. I struggled at points but I’m delighted with second”, said silver medallist Jess Learmonth. “I was the swimmer, Nicola was the rider and Cassandre was the runner. I knew I’d struggle today, out front on my own. Nicola is extremely strong and once I knew she was catching I just thought I’d ease up a bit and I knew she’d want to get rid of Cassandre so I was just ready for the jump and just then she made a little attack. Both of us didn’t realise that she’d dropped. I looked around and thought, ‘Oh, she’s gone, so we’ll crack on’, so off we went”, she commented after the race.
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Beaugrand was really happy with her performance, even though she struggled at some points of the race. “It was a very difficult race and not really my preferred race profile. I tried to push, push. I had a really tight race with Jessica which I don’t normally do, because I’m less strong on the bike. I really had trouble on the run leg, at least I was not at my normal level, but I kept my position,” she said. “The first thing Jessica and I said to each other when Nicola chased us was ‘s**t’. We saw we had a 10-second lead on the hill, and then we lost it straight away because she attacked”, she recalled.