Wilde, Beaugrand Seize Hamburg Super Sprint Crowns
The Women
The women started in Round One out with 30 contestants on the pontoon. Beaugrand broke out front while all rivals thrashed and bashed one another in close quarters. When Lisa Tertsch served a penalty for failing to clip in her helmet as she set out on the bike leg, that eliminated her from the top 20 ranks who would qualify for the second round. Also failing to make the cut were Solveig Loveseth, Natalie Van Coevorden and comeback kid Gwen Jorgensen. Of all the nations, home country contestants of Germany Laura Lindemann, Annika Koch, Marlene Gomez-Goggel, Lena Meissner and Annabel Koch remained in the hunt.
Beaugrand and Lindemann, who exited the first-round swim together, started out front in the second round, while Katie Zaferes fell off while entering T2 and failed to make the final 10. In addition, Sophie Linn injured her foot in her spokes and limped out of the race.
Hard on the gas Jolie Vermeylen of Belgium came back on the run to finish in the top 10, joined by Jeanne Lehair of Luxembourg, Rachel Klamer of Netherlands,, Nicole Van Der Kaay of New Zealand and Cathia Schär of Switzerland. Key U.S. rivals Taylor Spivey and Summer Rappaport also joined the 10 survivors.
That brought the action for the WTCS Hamburg title for 2023 down to one race between the ten. Lindemann ignited the crowds with a strong swim. No one made a break on the bike or the run, and all ten crowded into transition together.
Cathia Schär was first to fade but came back strong and joined Beth Potter at the front before Beaugrand jetted away to a big advantage and claimed the victory. Potter claimed silver and Laura Lindemann captured bronze – and the hearts and cheers of her home country fans.
Final Round – Elite Women
1. Cassandre Beaugrand FRA S 4:05 T1 00:32 B 11:08 T2 00:22 R 5:30 TOT 21:35
2. Beth Potter GBR S 4:07 T1 00:34 B 11:03 T2 00:22 R 5:42 TOT 21:45
3. Laura Lindemann GER S 4:05 T1 00:31 B 11:09 T2 00:23 R 5:41 TOT 21:47
4. Annika Koch GER S 4:09 T1 00:32 B 11:04 T2 00:23 R 5:47 TOT 21:52
5. Marlene Gomez-Goggel GER S 4:11 T1 00:32 B 11:02 T2 00:24 R 5:48 TOT 21:55
6. Nicole Van Der Kaay NZL S 4:12 T1 00:33 B 11:00 T2 00:23 R 5:51 TOT 21:57
7. Taylor Spivey USA S 4:07 T1 0:33 B 11:05 T2 00:23 R 5:54 TOT 21:59
8. Cathia Schär SUI S 4:20 T1 00:34 B 10:50 T2 00:22 R 5:56 TOT 22:00
9. Jolien Verneylen BELG S 4:10 T1 00:31 B 11:08 T2 00:22 R 5:58 TOT 22:07
10. Summer Rappaport USA S 4:05 T1 00:34 B 11:10 T2 00:23 R 6:21 TOT 22:30
The Men
Wilde had to work hard to make up for a lackluster swim and early bike to avoid elimination but used his Olympic medalist fleet feet to stay safe. Failing to earn survival of the 20 fittest were Jelle Geens of Belgium and Matthew McElroy of the U.S. Young Vetle Bergvik of Norway suffered elimination due to a dismount penalty
The pace in the second round was equally fierce, as Wilde once again had to fight his way back to the leading group and survive to the final round. Less fortunate were Marten Van Riel of Belgium, Manoel Messias of Brazil and Tayler Reid of New Zealand.
Coming back to his Olympic gold form, Kristian Blummenfelt of Norway charged to the front to catch early leader Csongor Lehmann of Hungary. But it was Hayden Wilde who played his cards best sweeping past Matt Hauser, Alex Yee and Blummenfelt, opening up an unassailable gap.
That left Wilde 1.75km run to glory, his first lap clocking 2 seconds quicker than Yee and a margin that allowed him enjoy the blue carpet – and his first victory over Yee at an WTCS race.
Vasco Vilaca of Portugal edged Yee for the silver and earned a enough points to maintain his hold on the WTCS points lead, while Wilde advanced to second place in series points. Kristian Blummenfelt finished 4th this day, while Matt Hauser of Australia advanced to third in points with his 5th place at Hamburg.
A bit exhausted after his two comebacks in rounds one and two, Wilde took satisfaction with his performance. “I had to do some work in that first round and the legs weren’t feeling too good but I was a bit more relaxed in the second while out front,” Wilde told World Triathlon media. “But my tactic was always to try and get a couple of seconds swinging round into transition and get away. It was a bit of a gamble and I normally fumble a bit in T2 But I just keep pushing and got the win.”
“I’m not sure you can call it short distance when we’ve been here for three hours, but we got a bit of a break in the middle,” said Vasco Vilaca. “It’s a long session time under pressure not just physically but mentally as well. This year has been better than I could have expected. I’m still missing that win but it’s the third podium this season and I’m very happy with it. Kristian was killing my legs on the bike and I could feel Alex’s shadow on that finish chute. But I went into another dimension to get the sprint!”
“It’s crazy this racing,” Alex Yee told World Triathlon media. “I really enjoy it but it’s carnage, Once you get to that last ten just racing against your mates it’s really enjoyable. Kristian was doing a madness on the bike and my legs were in tatters, but it’s great racing.”
Final Round– Elite Men
1. Hayden Wilde NZL S 3:48 T1 00:27 B 9:59 T2 00:19 R 4:55 TOT 19:26
2. Vasco Vilaca POR S 3:44 T1 00:29 B 10:03 T2 00:22 R 4:53 TOT 19:28
3. Alex Yee GBR S 3:47 T1 00:27 B 10:01 T2 00:21 R 4:54 TOT19:28
4. Kristian Blummenfelt NOR S 3:50 T1 00:28 B 9:57 T2 00:21 R 4:57 TOT 19:32
5. Matthew Hauser AUS S 3:44 T1 00:28 B 10:04 T2 00:20 R 4:59 TOT 19:33
6. Max Studer SUI S 3:51 T1 00:28 B 9:59 T2 00:23 R 5:00 TOT 19:38
7. Miquel Hidalgo BRA S 3:45 T1 00:36 B 9:56 T2 00:21 R 5:05 TOT 19:41
8. Tim Hellwig GER S 3:42 T1 00:31 B 10:03 T2b 00:21 R 5:09 TOT 19:44
9. Tyler Mislawchuk CAN S 3:46 T1 00:28 B 10:04 T2 00:22 R 5:09 TOT 19:47
10. Csongor Lehmann HUN S v3:4`1 T1 00:29 B 10:06 T2 00:21 R 5:17 TOT 19:52
