ETU Dnipro European Cup Review: GB men Shine and GB women go Green
Away from the limelight of Leeds WTCS, in Dnipro, Ukraine, a European Triathlon Cup fest was taking place on Saturday June 5, where three GB representatives lined up in a field brimming with Europe’s top elite athletes to make their mark on the European circuit. And they did not disappoint with all three making the podium.
In the men’s race Elite British Triathlon Champion Harry Leleu lined up with fellow GB and Scottish triathlete Cameron Main against the best of Europe elite triathletes.
Revisit the TriNation Podcast and listen to our first ever guest Harry Leleu talk about his Triathlon journey.
It was Norway’s Jorgen Gundersen who was in the lead after the swim, coming out of the water after 10:06 with Harry Leleu right on his tail. The front 10 swimmers were all within fifteen second of each other and with a terrifically fast transition Cameron was up alongside Harry as fifteen of the athletes formed the front pack.
Czech’s Redim Grebik made a break away from the pack as they neared T2 to give himself a 9 seconds lead going out onto the final leg of the run.
The chase pack moved into position to chase him down and by around the 2k mark it was Azerbaijan’s Rostislav Pevtsov, an Olympic athlete and European Games medallist together with Harry Leleu and Cameron Main who took to the front with strong, powerful distance running.
Cameron Main chats to the Podcast Crew about moving from junior to the senior ranks
The this how the race continued with the trio making a strong front pack formation until the last 100 metres where Pevtsov ran himself to the win at Europe Triathlon Cup Dnipro in 51:20 with Britain’s Harry Leleu a split second behind to claim silver (+0:02) and his fellow countryman Cameron Main fighting to the very end to take home the bronze medal (+0:06).
British and Scottish triathlete Sophia Green put in a sterling performance in the elite women’s race following her recent sixth place in the European Cup held in Olsztyn, Poland on 29 May and she will be delighted to have improved on this result with a stunning third spot and a place on the podium.
It was Ukraine’s Yuliya Yelistratova who claimed victory in an exciting sprint finish with Norway’s Solveig Lovseth, with GB’s Sophia Green finishing her valiant effort with an impressive run just +0:11 second behind the winner to complete the podium in third place.
Hear all about Sophia Green’s triathlon career to date on TriNation Podcast
Sophia showed her swimming prowess coming out second behind the lead swimmer Bianca Seregni of Italy. Seregni was well ahead of her rivals with a six-second advantage once she reached her bike. Green and Slovenia’s Zuzana Michalickova followed in the Italians footsteps and the three formed the front pack for the first 1K until they were hauled back by the chase pack of seven athletes and these ten women athletes held the front pack until T2.
As the ten front runners set of on the final leg of the run it was Yelistratova and Lovseth who pushed the pace but Sophia dug deep and keep the two front runners in her sights as the remaining pack of runners fell away. At the finish Sophie claimed a well-deserved bronze over a minute ahead of the 4th place athlete Seregni and only +0:11 seconds behind the winner.
Andrew Woodroffe, head coach at the University of Stirling Performance Triathlon Centre had this to say about Cameron and Sophia’s performances “It’s great to see Cameron and Sophia both progressing on the European scene, it wasn’t an easy week leading into the race but we talked about taking the opportunity and going for it. They did just that and this race experience is setting them up perfectly for more results to come!”
