Grau Earns Photo Finish Win at Huatulco
On a hot day on a grinding hilly course, there was plenty of sprint distance fireworks before Genis Grau of Spain outkicked defending champion Tyler Mislawchuk of Canada and Miguel Hidalgo of Brazil for the victory.
After a huge pack formed on the 20 kilometer bike leg, before the contenders winnowed down a 12-man pack to three men – Grau, Mislawchuk and Hidalgo – remained in the final 500 meters. In the final turn, Grau found the best line and some daylight to take the tape by one second over the Canadian two-time defending champ with last year’s bronze medalist Hidalgo repeating his 2021 podium finish.
‘I was not expecting this, it’s a really big surprise,” Grau told World Triathlon media. “I came from WTCS Leeds and didn’t know what was going to happen or how I would adapt to the heat. I swam well and managed to stay with the leaders on the bike, then found myself with the leading athletes on the run. I was dropped a couple of times but knew I had a powerful sprint and just went for it right before the finish line.”
Race recap
Swim king Richard Varga of Slovakia and Mislawchuk hit the water first after the horn, then Hidalgo and New Zealand’s Trent Thorpe joined the leaders after 8:55 swim split.
Twenty men burst into a pack of 20 starting the bike leg and 14 men led the first lap of four. By the first half, the pack increased to 25. By halfway, the pack increased to 38 menled by Hidalgo, Baxter and Ren Sato of Japan.
As the men left T2, Sato and Hidalgo ran shoulder to shoulder at the front, with follow3ed by Mislawchuk, Moya and Baxter. But just 10 seconds separated the top 40. At the bell, Portugal’s Joao Pereira, Aram Michell Penaflor Moysen and David Nunez looked strongest of 11 men at the front. On the final climb out of transition, Nunez, Baxter and Sagiv faded but Grau, Mislawchuk and Hidalgo. The Brazilian pressed his case on the turn after the downhill, but Grau had the winning energy, and broke the tape, while Mislawchuk grabbed for silver and Hidalgo took the bronze.
“It was a bit of a strange race,” Mislawchuk told World Triathlon media. “On the run it was kind of like a championship style track event where I pushed the first bit but realized there was fifteen or twenty guys with us, tactical until the end. I got caught off guard going into the last corner. I mean after I tore my Achilles last year I didn’t know if I was ever going to be on one of these podiums again. I’ll enjoy this one.”
“I thought I was going to win on the last corner but Genis (Grau) and Tyler (Mislawchuk) were fastest on the day,” Hidalgo told World Triathlon media. “I wanted the win so much but repeated last year’s result. I gave it everything, no hiding from the start. This course is so hard to break away on the bike and always comes into a running race.”
World Triathlon Cup Huatulco
Huatulco, Mexico
June 19, 2022
S 750m / B 20k / R 5k
Men
1. Genis Grau (ESP) S 9:06 T1 00:50 B 28:37 T2 00:22 R 14:50 TOT 53:47
2. Tyler Mislawchuk (CAN) S 09:00 T1 00:48 B 28:45 T2 00:22 R 14:50 TOT 53:48
3. Miguel Hidalgo (BRA) S 08:55 T1 00:51 B 28:47 T2 00:21 R 14:54 TOT 53:50
4. David Nuñez (MEX) S 09:45 T1 00:46 B 28:05 T2 00:26 R 14:48 TOT 53:53
5. Sergio Baxter Cabrera (ESP) S 09:04 T1 00:49 B 28:40 T2 00:26 R 14:53 TOT 53:53
6. Shachar Sagiv (ISR) S 09:13 T1 00:47 B 28:36 T2 00:22 R 14:53 TOT 53:54
7. Joao Pereira (POR) S 09:12 T1 00:49 B 28:32 T2 00:26 R 14:55 TOT 53:56
8. Aram Michell Peñaflor Maysen (MEX) S 09:13 T1 00:50 B 28:34 T2 00:28 R 14:50 TOT 53:57
9. Diego Moya (CHL) S 8:57 T1 00:50 B 28:45 T2 00:24 R 15:05 TOT 54:04
10. Alois Knabl (AUT) S 09:02 T1 00:53 B 28:39 T2 00:26 R 15:04 TOT 54:06
17. Brent Demarest (USA) S 09:15 T1 00:52 B 28:31 T2 00:28 R 15:14 TOT 54:22
32. Michael Arishita (USA) S 09:37 T1 00:47 B 28:14 T2 00:25 R 16:04 TOT 55:09
33. Thomas Sonnery-Cottet (USA) S 09:21 T1 00:50 B 28:25 T2 00:25 R 16:08 TOT 55:11
38. Andrew Shellenberger (USA) S 09:16 T1 00:49 B 28:33 T2 00:24 R 16:19 TOT 55:23
54. Griff Morgan (USA) S 09:19 T1 00:53 B 32:26 T2 00:26 R 17:14 TOT 1:00:20
