Triathletes out on the snow at the 2022 Winter Worlds
The best run-bike-ski triathletes were out on the snow this Saturday to lay claim of being the king and queen of the 2022 Winter Worlds.
High above the municipality of Sant Julià de Lòria, in Andorra, a tiny independent principality situated between France and Spain in the Pyrenees mountains the crème of world elite triathletes readied themselves to compete for the honours at the showpiece event, the 2022 Winter Triathlon World Championships.
In yet another close battle, it was again Italy’s Franco Pesavento who clinched the win in the men’s race to become the winter king, earning him his second championship title at this event having won the World Duathlon title on Friday. .
In the women’s race, Daria Rogozina of the Russian Triathlon Federation (RTF) re-captured the World Championship title and became the winter queen having lost her crown last year to Italy’s Sandra Mairhofer
Saturday’s elite races were over a gruelling total distance of an 8.1 km Run | 12.8 km Cycle | 12.4 km Ski with each athlete completing each discipline twice: RUN-BIKE-SKI-RUN-BIKE-SKI.
In the breath-taking natural landscape, nestled within the mighty Pyrenees it was the women elites who set off first combining the disciplines of running, mountain biking and cross-country skiing across a sprawling winter landscape.
As the women athletes lined up; Italy’s Sandra Mairhofer was poised to defend her world title she won at the same venue last year. A pair of former champions in Russian Triathlon Federation (RTF) colours – Yuliya Surikova and Daria Rogozina – plus the RTF’s former under-23 world champion Svetlana Sokolova were expected to be among Mairhofer’s principal challengers.
Debutants tipped for success included Lorena Erl from Germany, a former age-group world champion, plus Norway’s Stina Meinicke and Elisabeth Sveum.
It was the Russian Rogozina who dominated the women’s race, finishing in a time of 1:32:35. Italy’s Mairhofer finished 3:17 seconds behind, claiming the silver medal ahead of Norway’s debutant Elisabeth Sveum who took home the bronze.
In the mens race Pavel Andreev, of the RTF, was seeking a ninth world title after coming second 12 months ago behind last year’s shock gold medallist Norway’s Hans Christian Tuingesvik. The bronze medallist last year, Giuseppe Lamastra from Italy, was also back to challenge for the title while Romania’s Felix Duchampt – 36th in the men’s triathlon race at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games – was of interest being his first-time racing winter triathlon.
In a hotly contested race, it was a mighty win for Italy’s Franco Pesavento who still had plenty left in the tank from the previous day’s duathlon exertions taking the win in 1:48:10 using the valuable knowledge of the conditions from yesterday’s duathlon victory.
Czech’s Marek Rauchfuss (+0:15) took the silver spot with the Russian Evgenii Uliashev (+2:40) pipping his fellow compatriot Pavel Andreev who had to sit out a penalty right before the finish line, allowing Uliahsev to take the bronze.
Next up on the Winter Triathlon Calendar will be a trip to the Italian mountain town of Asiago were once again the best winter triathletes of the world will be welcomed, especially Europeans, for the 2022 Europe Triathlon Winter Championships on top of the World Cup, that will take place on the weekend of 18-19 February, 2022.
