Europe Triathlon

For the Elite we saw some considerable strength from the French National Team. With the juniors racing in similar conditions it was once again a strong French Team that walked down to the carpet on the beach for the swim start. The heartbeat started, the athletes took one step forward and then it was the sprint to the sea.

Still rough; still tough and in the Junior Women’s Race; still dominated by the French. First out of the water was Lola Bachet. Just behind her were Jeanne Lehair , Margot Garabedian and British athlete Olivia Mathias. There then followed a further 9 athletes in the next six seconds. T1 would be a decider.

With a wide transition area overseen by the newly qualified Technical Officials all went smoothly. A group of some 15 found themselves working together. In that pack was Sian Rainsley GBR, who had a good silver in Alanya and the German Lisa Tertsch. Tucked in and well-placed were the two French athletes, Lehair and Emilie Morier.

Out onto the run and it was the amazing pace of Tertsch that attracted most attention. The Darmstadt athlete has been training well over the winter months and has put in some impressive run times in readiness for this season. 1500m in 4:35 is a 25 second improvement on her 2014 time. She stunned the spectators in Quarteira with a 17:43 run over the 5k to romp home with a 30 second lead.

The German Federation was very pleased. Thomas Moeller for DTU said, “I am naturally very pleased with our junior women. Lisa Tertsch won this race in impressive style. Three of the four German juniors were in the lead group after the swim. They had no problems on the bike and were able to hold on to the leaders. The race would be decided on the run and Tertsch was in a class of her own.”  This young athlete’s run pace is impressive. Her positioning in the pack during the bike was tactically good and she swam strongly in rough seas. Definitely one to watch !

For the French it was silver and bronze with time to spare. Lehair took the silver, “The race went well for me. I managed to get to the front in the race, especially on the bike. I worked in relay with Megan McDonald GBR. I have to say that the swim was tough for everyone due to the waves. There was no real breakaway on the bike, which was not so difficult. I did try to push and make it hurt for the others, while trying to save something back for the legs. At one point Emilie (Morier) got close but I pushed hard for the last 500m and came home with 10 seconds between us.” Morier settled for bronze to add weight to the French medal haul.

For the French athlete this is a great start to the season after 2014. This has given her confidence and is a sure sign that the French Federation has got it right.

Junior Men

The Junior Men had 73 athletes on the carpet for the start. We saw the washing machine conditions in the previous three starts and this would be pretty much the same.

First out of the rough sea swim was Omri Bahat ISR.

He led the pack out of the water with a 5 second advantage over the chasing athletes. His nearest big threat was the Frenchman Lucas Jacolin.  He maintained a good position during the bike in a lead group.

Further down the pack British Youth Olympic Champion, Ben Dijkstra worked hard with Norwegian athlete Casper Stornes to bridge the gap and son there was an impressive pack of young talent racing around the streets of Quarteira and pushing hard on that massive hill.  Inside that pack Dijkstra worked with the other Brits and, being mindful of his coach, Steve Casson’s, advice, kept an eye out for the pinch points on the course.

Transition, as expected with the Junior Men, was intense and any error here could cost. A time penalty to Frenchman Maxime Hueber-Moosbrugger for racking his bike in another athlete’s position may ultimately have cost him a victory.

Out onto the run and the pace was high. It was Hueber-Moosbrugger leading and with the finish in sight when he saw that he had indeed received a penalty and in order to avoid a DSQ he went to the Penalty Box that was just 200m from the finish. Behind him was a storming Dijkstra and fellow-Frenchman Jacolin. For the penalised Frenchman, “I was 200m from the finish when I saw the penalty, for racking my bike in the wrong position. I thought I had the race sewn up as I was ahead of the rest of the field. It is a bit disappointing to be beaten like that but rules are rules. Bravo to Lucas for his silver and Ben for his gold.”

It was indeed the fastest runner of the day who took gold. For Dijkstra, “Going on to the run, I knew that both French athletes (Lucas Jacolin and Maxime Hueber-Moosbrugger) were extremely strong and we quickly established a lead. The pace was very high and with 800m to go Hueber-Moosbrugger pulled away from me and it looked like he was going to win. I had to keep on pushing, as Lucas Jacolin was only a couple of seconds behind me but when Maxime had to pull into the penalty box just before the finish I had to keep on pushing until I had crossed the line.”

Whilst there will be disappointment in the French camp the Federation can go away in the knowledge that for an early season race they have come away from the Junior event with four medals.
For the British camp it must be rewarding to see Youth Olympic Gold being translated into Junior gold. Dijkstra again, “As this is my first year in the Junior age category, I could not have had a better start to the 2015 season!”

Quarteira has everything a triathlete could wish for; easy access, glorious sandy beaches for the swim, testing Atlantic breakers to really challenge the swimmers, a tight and technical bike course with a whopping hill and then a fast, flat run course. With numerous hotels and the efficiency and enthusiasm of the Portuguese Triathlon Federation, this race is going places.

Once again, many thanks to Clarisse Henriques and the Portuguese Triathlon Federation for the excellent photos.