NEWS

Battle in the Mud at Visegrad - Cross Triathlon European Championships

By David Peddie | 04 Jul, 2011

Victor Manuel Del Corral Morales (ESP) and Renata Bucher (SUI) won the ETU Cross Triathlon European Championship in Visegrad, Hungary. This was a hard battle from start to the finish, thanks to the strong and experienced field with Olivier Marceau (FRA), Richard Stannard (GBR), Karel Zadak (CZE), Carina Wasle (AUT), Brigitta Poór (HUN) and Marion Lorblanchet (FRA) all in action.

The spectacular venue beside the Danube with the Royal Palace, the Castle, the Citadel and the admirable forests, supports the event as an unforgettable cross triathlon race – and the race field from all over Europe, from Estonia to Spain, proved that the athletes didn’t want to miss this event.

Junior Race Review

The day was started early with Junior race, a fast race course with 500 m swim in the Danube, 8 km MTB and 3 km trail running. In the mens field, Audric Lambolez (FRA) dominated the race, never far from the front and consistently posting some of the fastest times in the individual segments. His final run time was the fastest of any competitor and granted him a comfortable victory, with a 34 second advantage over Jarrich Van Woersem (NED). Filip Lishak (SVK) took the bronze medal.

In the Junior womens race, a tremendous final run by Hungarian athlete Kinga Király was the highlight as she powered her way into second place from some way back. It wasn’t enough to secure first place, that honour went to Jip Veelenturf (NED) who having taken the lead on the bike never looked like losing control of the race. Third place and the bronze medal went to Sandra Schmidt (EST).

Elite Race Review

The Elites and U23 class set off together on the technical and challenging course. The 1000 m swim (2 laps), 22km MTB course and 8km running trail was designed by the best Hungarian off-road athletes. The MTB course includes a 780m vertical climb and the final run section features some tricky parts – a tunnel and groove running with some swamps and a long, flat finish on flood embankment.

The Elite men swim was dominated with the power-engined Richard Stannard (GBR) who emerged from the water with more than 30 seconds advantage ahead of Olivier Marceau (SUI). The U23 athlete Jonas Vojtech (CZE) followed closely behind.

The MTB section started with a scenic uphill ride on the cobbled road through the historical Salamon Tower. At 4km, the athletes headed into the deep forest section where the terrain is very diverse and requires great concentration from the competitors.

During the bike, Marceau (SUI) maintained his front position but was joined by Del Corral Morales (ESP). The two were neck and neck as they began the run but as the course veered towards the vertical 300m climb del Corral Morales had more power and stamina and tackled the terrain with gusto to develop a significant lead over Marceau. Del Corral Morales never looked back, and despite the return to the faster street section Marceau had to settle for second place. Victor Manuel Del Corral Morales is the Cross triathlon European Champion. Karel Zadak (CZE) secured third place and the bronze medal.

In the Womens Elite race, the partisan home support were behind Brigitta Poór, who won a U23 World Champion title in Spain and looked to be in contention here to do the European double. Poór made an encouraging start in the swim and emerged from the water amongst the leaders. Despite being passed on the bike she battled hard and was always just off the shoulder of the top three Elite women until the finish.

Renata Bucher (SUI) struggled in the swim but an incredible bike time saw her pass through the field and enter the run in first position. Bucher was pushed all the way in the closing stages of the run by Marion Lorblanchet (FRA) but was able to hold her ground to become Cross Triathlon European Champion. Lorblanchet took the silver medal and defending champion Carina Wasle (AUT) could only claim third place this time around. Brigitta Poór (HUN) finished in 4th position overall but that was enough to secure her the U23 title.

The winners were presented with their medals by two very special guest in the podium: Helmut Kaufmann, ETU vice-president and Peter Kropko vice-president of Hungarian Triathlon Federation and the most successful Hungarian Ironman ever.

Related Event: 2011 Visegrad ETU Cross Triathlon European Championships
02 Jul, 2011 • event pageall results
Results: U23 Women
1. Brigitta Poór HUN 02:14:03
2. Kairi Schmidt EST 02:31:47
Results: U23 Men
1. Jonas Vojtech CZE 01:51:38
2. Tomas Kubek SVK 01:53:37
3. Tomas Matera CZE 01:55:12
4. Jozef Tomasovic SVK 02:05:49
5. Máté Pálfy HUN 02:29:52
6. Jan Palider CZE 02:41:03
Results: Junior Women
1. Jip Veelenturf NED 00:45:45
2. Kinga Király HUN 00:46:32
3. Sandra Schmidt EST 00:48:19
4. Kristina Kaniscevova CZE 00:51:54
5. Alena Paliderova CZE 00:54:46
6. Anna Brychtova CZE 00:55:05
Results: Junior Men
1. Audric Lambolez FRA 00:38:47
2. Jarrich Van Woersem NED 00:39:22
3. Filip Lishak SVK 00:39:40
4. Filip Luzny CZE 00:41:36
5. Patrik Zilka SVK 00:43:53
6. Gellert Szekely HUN 00:44:05
7. Ondrej Doletina SVK 00:44:07
8. Máté Tóth HUN 00:45:06
9. Péter Fenyvesi HUN 00:46:24
10. Máté Bálint Hajzser HUN 00:48:47
Results: Elite Women
1. Renata Bucher SUI 02:05:13
2. Marion Lorblanchet FRA 02:05:38
3. Carina Wasle AUT 02:08:42
4. Svetlana Liparova SVK 02:28:19
Results: Elite Men
1. Victor Manuel Del Corral Morales ESP 01:44:20
2. Olivier Marceau SUI 01:45:54
3. Karel Zadak CZE 01:47:25
4. Jiri Klima CZE 01:48:40
5. Peter Mosny SVK 01:50:53
6. Michael Szymoniuk AUT 01:51:49
7. Tomas Jurkovic SVK 01:52:30
8. Gerald Will AUT 01:54:42
9. Rorik Schouten NED 01:55:19
10. Ole Vinnergaard DEN 01:57:04