Emphatic Wins for Potter (GB) and Raphael (FRA) at Arena Games Munich 2022

Emphatic wins for Beth Potter (GB) and Aurelian Raphael (FRA) at the Arena Games Munich as they crossed the virtual finishing line respectively in the first of the eSports World Tri Series in a bid to be crowned the first-ever eSports Triathlon World Champion 2022.

 The eSports World Tri Series under a partnership between World Triathlon and Super League and powered by Zwift Triathlon with the aim to deliver new energy and entertainment to the sport relevant to the next ‘digital age’ generation.

This three-race series started today in Munich today, with the second in London on April 23, and the Grand Final in Singapore on May 7

The Munich event took place in an indoor facility, with athletes swimming 200m in an Olympic sized pool, then using a smart trainer for the 4k bike portions and then onto a self-powered treadmill for the 1km run legs These races are formatted differently than a traditional triathlon:

• Each event has heats consisting of two stages (swim-bike-run/swim-bike-run), with the second stage in a pursuit format, meaning the athlete with the fastest time will start first, leaving others to try to catch up 
• The fastest athletes move on to a final with three stages (swim-bike-run/run-bike-swim/swim-bike-run); the third stage will be in a pursuit format, based on the athlete’s times for the first two stages.

Womens Race:
With some of the bigger names in the women’s side waiting to make their 2022 debuts in London later in the month, the stage was set for another 2021 winner, Beth Potter (GBR) to continue her rich form. A double World Cup winner in Korea at the end of last year with a storming 2022 Europe Cup Quarteira already in the bag for this season, a repeat of the 2021 dominant Arena Games London display was an odds-on bet.

And so, it turned out to be as Potter made lightwork of her competitors during the heats laying down the marker in the swim then cruising to the winning tape on the bike and the run in both heats. With five hours chill out time before the final her rivals from stage two of Italian Bragmayer, Knoll of Germany and the Spaniard Goody would have been searching for answers on how to pulled back the British running machine. To add more woes Petra Kyrikova of Czech Republic who bagged the victory in heat one was disqualified for ‘spitting’.

The format for the final was as follows:
Stage 1: Swim-Bike-Run
Stage 2: Run-Bike-Swim
Stage 3: Swim-Bike-Run

And the final there were no answers from rest of the finalists as Potter maintained herconsistent performance from beginning to end taking victory by a 90 second margin and one step closer to becoming thefirst-ever Womens eSports Triathlon World Champion 2022.

 The home crowd had plenty to cheer on as the German duo of Meissner and Knoll claimed second and third.

Mens Race:
The men’s race looked altogether a much tighter affair as amongst the more experienced men on the start list with previous Arena Games golds to their names were Great Britain’s Olympic medallist Alex Yee, Belgiums Marten Van Riel and Germanys Justus Nieschlag, the latter having won the pioneering inaugural event in Rotterdam back in August 2020.

In stage one of heat one it was Van Riel who displayed his remarkable versatility across the short distance. Having found himself eight seconds behind in the first heat the Belgian lay down the marker with a phenomenal swim in heat two that evaporated the 8 second deficit then maintained front pack spot on the bike before showing his class on the run to take the lead before playing smart to conserve energy and slowing up to take second behind Raphael of France with Italy’s Pozzatti in third spot.

In the second heat it was a one-two for the Brit of Yee and Gordon Benson a full 10 second clear of their rivals. Onto stage two and it was the German Nieschlag who bridged back to Yee and Benson on the swim. Onto the bike and the front three of Yee, Benson and Nieschlag looked strong, Into the run and the one-two-three was confirmed with Yee crossing the line first, Benson second and Nieschlag taking third spot. 

So, onto to the final with the identical format as the women’s final. And Yee, Benson and Van Riel were not going to get it all their own way.

Unfortunately, Benson (GB) had avatar technical issues on his treadmill run in stage 1 of the final so as per rules he got the same time as the last placed finisher putting him behind the others for stage 2 of the race (plenty for triathlon purists to debate there).

At the end of stage 2 it did not appear it was going to be a Yee versus Van Riel head-to-head as both seemed to be suffering from fatigue with Yee going into the final stage some 13 seconds behind with Van Riel a further 27 seconds behind the race leader Frenchman Aurelian Raphael.

And it was the oldest athlete in the field 33-year-old Frenchman Aurelian Raphael rolling back the years having been competing in international triathlon since 2005 who was to maintain his lead in the final stage and bring home victory in style with a 2:43 final run to take the win at Arena Games Triathlon in Munich.

Australian Max Stapley who was out to make a name for himself did just that taking second place on hisdebut with 2020 champion Nieschlag giving the German home crowd plenty to cheer as he came in third.

Favourites Yee and Van Riel were sixth and last respectively.