Pujades Outruns Hojo for Haeundae Win
Anthony Pujades rode with a 10-man bike breakaway, then joined Takumi Hojo and Nicola Azzano in a break on the run before jetting away to victory in 15:09 with a 6-seconds margin on Hojo and 13 seconds on third-place Azzano.
Race recap
Alessio Crociani of Italy led the swim in 8:24 which gave him a 5 seconds lead on Lars Holenweger of Switzerland, 11 seconds lead on Max Stapley of Australia, 13 seconds on Jumpei Furuya of Japan, 15 seconds on Pujades, 16 seconds on Hojo, and 17 seconds on Nicola Azzano of Italy.
The seven top swimmers rode away to a 24 seconds lead on a chase group led by Felix Duchampt of Romania and Michele Sarzilla of Italy.
The Magnificent Seven worked hard together to establish a 1-minute lead on the chasers at T2. Hojo, Pujades and Azzano charged out of transition in the lead with Crociani and Furuya in pursuit. Halfway through the 4-lap, 5 kilometer run Pujades surged to the front with Hojo straining to stay in touch.
After a race-best 15:02 run split, Pujades finished in 50:19 with a 6-seconds margin on Hojo and 13 seconds on third-place Azzano.
“It was a crazy good finish for me and am so happy, Pujades told World Triathlon media. “It’s been a while for me since I have raced in ITU (World Triathlon) races so yes, such a happy man now.”
Pujades summarized his tactics: “Most of the strategy was to save as much energy as I could until the run. Because it was four laps the run was quite easy to build.”
After earning his first World Cup silver medal, Hojo told World Triathlon media: “I am so happy, I am on the podium at a World Triathlon Cup for the first time.”
After edging Crociani by four seconds, Azzano was quite happy with his bronze. “We exited the swim in a group of 10 and I thought ‘OK, it’s a good group of strong bikers, Let’s go all out and see what could happen.’ It worked really well and that’s what we did. I am really happy.”
Men's World Triathlon Cup Haeundae
Busan, South Korea
October 23, 2021
S 750m / B 20k / R 5k
1. Anthony Pujades (FRA) S 8:38 T1 00:30 B 25:33 T2 00:33 R 15:02 TOT 50:19
2. Takumi Hojo (JPN) S 8:39 T1 00:29 B 25:33 T2 00:37 R 15:05 TOT 50:25
3. Nicola Azzano (ITA) AS 8:40 T1 00:31 B 25:32 T2 00:32 R 15:15 TOT 50:32
4. Alessio Crociani (ITA) S 8:24 T1 00:31 B 25:47 T2 00:31 R 15:21 TOT 50:36
5. Jumpei Furuya (JPN) S 8:37 T1 00:32 B 25:33 T2 00:35 R 15:29 TOT 50:49
6. Max Stapley (AUS) S 8:35 T1 00:30 B 25:38 T2 00:34 R 15:37 TOT 50:55
7. Antoine Duval (FRA) S 8:42 T1 00:31 B 25:32 T2 00:38 R 15:57 TOT 51:22
8. Felix Duchampt (ROU) S 9:06 T1 00:28 B 26:15 T2 00:34 R 15:04 TOT 51:30
9. Lars Holenweger (SUI) S 8:29 T1 00:32 B 25:39 T2 00:35 R 16:16 TOT 51:34
10. Arthur Berland (FRA) S 8:58 T1 00:29 B 26:22 T2 00:34 R 15:13 TOT 51:37
30. JiHwan Kim (KOR) S 8:57 T1 00:30 B 26:22 T2 00:37 R 16:40 R 16:40 TOT 53:08
33. Michael Arishita (USA) S 9:19 T1 00:31 B 26:39 T2 00:37 R 16:38 TOT 53:46
