Hungary’s Csongor Lehmann and Britain’s Olivia Mathias won this weekend’s Europe Triathlon Cup in Tiszaujvaros, Hungary. Lehmann was keen on a win on home soil and won his semi-final heat on Saturday, and yesterday he also took the overall win. Mathias made up for a “average” performance in the semifinals with a stunning victory in the finals.
In the final, which consisted of 750 meters of swimming, 20 kilometers of biking and 5 kilometers of running, Lehmann needed 9:08 for his swim. That laid the foundation for his victory, although a large group emerged on the bike. In the end, Lehmann biked 28:24 and ran his 5 kilometers in a time of 15:06. The race was exciting because with his final time of 53:54 he stayed just ahead of Italian Nicola Azzano by two seconds. Michele Sarzilla, also from Italy, came in third, five seconds behind Lehmann.
Mathias finished tenth in her heat in the semifinals, just enough for a spot in the finals. With that she did not seem to be a favorite for Sunday, but still the British athlete won thanks to a strong race. She swam 9:48, biked 31:42 and ran 17:22. Her total time to 1:00:16 was again just enough for the overall victory. Two seconds behind her in second was France’s Audrey Merle, who ran almost half a minute faster over the five kilometers. Italy’s Costanza Arpinelli finished third, eleven seconds behind Mathias.
