A swim nearly neutralized?
If Carolina Routier forgot to take the lead in the water, it also has been the case in the men’s race with Richard Varga. It’s Jonny Brownlee that had to do it. Finally, there wasn’t this usual selection. Kristian Blummenfelt managed the exploit to get out at 5” from the British.
It’s a total of 36 athletes that we saw less than 20” from the best swimmer (Jonny Brownlee). It’s pretty atypical and hard to explain the reasons. Is it because the best swimmers as Aurélien Raphaël (absentee) or Richard Varga weren’t there?
Spanish team to the limit…
Fernando Alarza gets out of the water 21” after the lead and Mario Mola 27” after. In some contexts, they would have been out of the race. Their comeback may be explained by many factors, of course, there is a question of talent, and these two Spanish are able to generate shorts and very intense efforts so they can to come back from behind. But conditions helped too. There was a certain prudence in the bends. By being less aggressive in the bends, it’s the law o number (the group) that wins.
If Blummenfelt and Brownlee try to escape, right lines enable to keep an eye on the chasers.
A different race, or not…
We often wonder why an athlete is good in some races and not in others.
Generally, it’s about exigence and specificities. According to Kristian Blummenfelt, the bike wasn’t that intense. This can be explained first, because of a real fear of falling. And it’s totally understandable.
In this 25 athletes group, apart from some athletes, the majority just follows. Mario Mola and Fernando Alarza are nicely waiting for the running part. When you are that strong in running, it’s obviously the game.
Spanish are strong on the bike but this force is only used to come back from behind after the swim…
A fact from the race to remember…
At the end of the bike course, we assisted to several accelerations for the pole position in the T2. In this little game, Jonny Brownlee fell in a bend and takes with him a few athletes. According to him, the fall was caused by a Japanese. For Mola and Alarza, not to be in the first athletes in T2 didn’t prevent them from taking the two first places.
Sub 31… Alarza best runner. A transition that costs him the victory?
Only 4 athletes went under 31 minutes. It’s Fernando Alarza that came up with the best time with 30’26”. If Alarza ends up 7” behind Mola, it’s because he lost 13” in T2. Obviously, Mola probably didn’t gave everything but everything seems to show a continuous progression from Alarza.
Mola, the series…
With Jonny’s fall, the absence of Murray and a diminished Gomez, Mola’s victory doesn’t seems significant. We still have to admit that as soon as he drops his bike in the lead group, his winning rate is close to perfection.
Jonny will have to act consequently
He wasn’t able to get rid of Mola and enjoy his advance out of the water. Will Jonny need to change his technics and more especially find some better allies? We can even wonder if the presence of the French wouldn’t have helped him to take the advantage. Now, the help should come from his teammates…
Blummenfelt, still this year’s revelation?
The Norwegian already astonished everyone by getting on a podium in 2016. This third place surprises again since he goes out of the water in the lead. For him, it’s pretty new (in WTS) and it seems to show that work pays. He also has been one of the most active on the bike.
Andreas Sschilling, 5th
The Danish gets his best result in WTS. He confirms.
Jonny Brownlee doesn’t like to give up?
With his fall in the last lap and a bike without any chain, his race was over. But he preferred running 400m with his bike on the shoulder and run the 10k. Ending up 42nd, the British doesn’t get any point but the honor is safe…
Gomez without…
Is the five time world champion cursed? Affected by a teeth infection and fever, the Spanish wasn’t able to give his full speed.
A second WTS without French athletes
Some wonder why French are still big absentees. How could they come from such a dense nation but without any athlete on the races? The question may not be here.
The WTS is, this year, scheduled with a race per month. We can then understand the choice of some athletes, as the Australians not to come to Abu Dhabi since it shortens to shorten an often too long season…
The problem isn’t there. These absences doesn’t allow to gain in experience. In Rio, French athletes weren’t models in execution. If we take a look at a race like Yokohama, we feel that some emerging talents could have gained confidence as the Swiss Adrien Briffod (7th).
Obviously, there are probably circumstances (injuries) and political choices that we don’t know about. But meanwhile, Spanish perform and new athletes come up and get confident…
There is still this danger to be spectator and not actor. Athletes also have to learn to deal with long journeys, even more when the next OG will be in Rio…
Jonny Brownlee, a world title already lost?
With zero points on the first 3 races, the young Brownlee already sees himself in the obligation to be in every race that left to stay in the game. He has no right to fail.
Photo credit : Delly Carr/ITU Media