British Triathlon have been avid readers of #Bont News and as a result asked that we send a media representative to cover the racing up in Leeds at the weekend.
After a busy morning of age-group racing, the afternoon began with the men lining up for the first race - a sprint distance (750 swim in Waterloo Lake, 20km bike and then 5km around Roundhay Park). It was a packed start list (possibly the most competitive that Leeds has ever seen). The British charge would be led by three time Olympic medalist Jonny Brownlee and Tokyo medalist and Super League World Champion Alex Yee. The French had a strong team of Luis, Bergere and Connix, whilst Norwegian double 70.3 world champion Gustav Iden would be testing whether the Norwegian “Hype-Train” could move from the longer distances to sprint racing. Perhaps pre-race favourite would be the fast-moving Kiwi Hayden Wilde, who had come second to Yee in Yokohama .
The short nature of the swim meant that it was very difficult for anyone to get away, and as they rounded the final buoy to return back to the pontoon, it was clear that a large pack would be entering T1 together.
Out onto the bike, it was the French duo of Luis and Bergere who led a two-man break away with a massive chasing pack about 30 seconds back. Perhaps the only surprise (?) was last-man out of the swim and off the pace for the rest of the day - Gustav Iden - there would be no lucky Taiwanese hat for him today!
It was during the bike leg that we got news out on the course that there had been a crash involving Yee and Brownlee. The extent of the crash wasn’t known at the time, but it later transpired that Hayden Wilde held his hand up for causing it, and a very angry Brownlee ended up in A+E with a broken elbow which puts his Commonwealth Games participation in Birmingham in July in doubt. Yee came off slightly better but still had to be checked out for concussion.
Coming into transition, the French pair or Luis and Bergere still had a sizeable lead, but inexplicably for a man of his experience, Vincent Luis’s race would be over as a contest. T1 came after a very fast downhill descent. Luis obviously miscounted his laps and went sailing through transition and into a barrier! He managed to rack his bike, but a 10 stop second penalty was inevitable and psychologically it must have impacted the rest of his race.
Out of T2 and on to the run, Bergere had a sizeable lead and was looking strong. However, Hayden Wilde had other ideas and set off away from the chasing pack to hunt Bergere down. With his superior run speed, Wilde was able to overhaul Bergere on the second lap, leaving the Frenchman to come in a creditable second with relative newcomer, German Lasse Luhrs taking the final step on the podium.
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