Clockwork wins for Swiss athlete Derron and Frenchman Coninx at European Triathlon Championship Valencia
As the athletes pounded the tarmac of the Valencia Street Circuit towards the finishing line it was Swiss athlete Julie Derron for the women and Frenchman Dorian Coninx for the men who crossed the winning tape with clockwork precision to take the wins at the Europe Triathlon Championship Valencia.
Europe’s top male and female elite athletes lined up for their respective championship races to swim 1.5km in the Marina Valencia dock then bike 8 laps of the 38km on an authentic F1 circuit and conclude with a 10km run also on the layout of the F1 circuit and along the promenade area.
Womens Race
Swiss athlete Julie Derron raced like clockwork to win the 2021 Europe Triathlon Championship in Valencia and be crowned European Champion in the women’s category. She shared the podium with Annika Koch (GER) who took second. Great Britain’s Sian Rainsley stepped onto the podium taking third place building on her 5th place in the World Triathlon Championship Series race in Hamburg.
As the 56 athletes dived into the waters of Marina Valencia dock all were vying for the same water toward the one buoy ahead of them. It was Italy’s Bianca Serengi who broke free from the washing machine of the other swimmers fighting for water space. Sian Rainsley broke free into second place and started the chase down with Sophine Allen (GB) some 30 seconds behind in a pack of about 20 swimmers.
Out of T1 and onto the bike to power down on the flat F1 street circuit a front pack of around 15 formed with Derron, Koch, Rainsley and the other Brits of Kate Waugh, Sophie Alden and Sophia Green pushing the pace. As the front pack entered T1 they had built a lead of over a minute on the chasing pack.
Out of T2 onto the 10k run it was the running pace of Kerron, Koch and Rainsley that soon saw them pull away from the chasing group. At the halfway mark of the run Kerron maintained her high tempo pace that saw her pull away into insurmountable lead and continue to run like clockwork to the finishing line to take the win in 01:51:43 with Koch a further 16 seconds back coming in second with Rainsely coming home third in 01:52.19.
Poland’s Paulina Klimas made a late surge for a podium but ran out of road and settled for fourth with Brit Kate Waugh running through to round off the top five.
Men’s Race
Just like in the women’s race it was another clockwork precision run that saw Frenchman Dorian Coninx win the 2021 Europe Triathlon Championship in Valencia and be crowned European Champion in the men’s category. The Spanish home crowd had plenty to cheer about as the saw two of their own take podium spots with Spain’s Roberto Sanchez Mantecon taking second place and Antonio Serrat Seoane taking third spot.
The weather took a turn for the worse as the men lined up for the start of their race. As the rain descended and the horn sounded and 64 athletes representing 26 different nationalities dived into the waters of Marina Valencia dock. With no-one making any headwind the swimmers all grouped together fighting their way to the first buoy.
Slovenia’s Richard Varga was first out the water closely followed by about a group of 25 all within striking distance. As they took to their bikes and headed out of T1 onto the 38km ride on an authentic F1 race-track, the Valencia Street Circuit was wet and treacherous. With no pit-stops to change the cyclists slick racing tyres the chances of their bike wheels hydroplaning on the wet and slippery track increased. And so it was, as the circuits tight technical corners resulted in a number of crashes.
The front pack of approx. 25 athletes stayed close together with no-one willing to make the break-away on such dangerous road conditions allowing the chasing pack to close the gap and group up allowing the whole pack to entered T2.
Out onto the run and it was down to the final discipline of who could run the fastest over 10K. There was a group of 7 runners that broke away from the chasing group and one of them was Coninx who as a sub-30/10k runner was always a top contender for the win, particularly having shown his running form at WTCS Montreal last month having led the French podium sweep.
At they hit the 5k mark it was Coninx along with the Spanish contingent of Roberto Sanchez Mantecon and Antonio Serrat Seoane who formed the front trio until around 1km from the finish where .Coninx made his move.
Pulling away from his rivals Coninx reached the finish line first in a time of 01:41:03 with the Spainards Sanchez Mantecon 19 seconds behind in second place and Serrat Seoane taking third spot in 01:41:41.
Young Spainard Sergio Baxter Cabrera ran through to take 4th place with Frenchman Tom Richard rounding off the top five to make it a French/Spanish affair.
The British contingent placings were Grant Sheldon (23rd) Cameron Main(27th) Jack Willis, (30th) Harry Leleu (38th) and Connor Bentley (DNF)
