Jessica Learmonth is on a roll when it comes to fast and short racing. Last week the British athlete won Super League Triathlon London and this week she again claimed the gold, this time in Munich. She wasn’t the only British athlete on the podium, because once again the race ended with three Brits taking the medals. In the men’s race, the British athletes were strong too, but not strong enough to keep up with France’s Vincent Luis, who took the win.
After racing the Triple Mixed format last week, this week athletes took part in The Equalizer format, which started with a 2.4-km time trial bike part; the time difference from that race decided on the start times for the next event: two very short triathlons, good for 300 meters of swimming, 1200 meters of cycling and 900 meters of running.
Women’s race
The time differences after this first discipline weren’t that big in the women’s race, which meant athletes followed each other up rapidly when jumping into the water for the short final triathlon. France’s Emilie Morier was in the lead after the time trial race, but Learmonth caught up with her straight away once they were in the water. That saw Learmonth earn a “short chute”, allowing her to take a shortcut on the run. Although Learmonth still had to bike and run, it already seemed as if nobody was going to get in between her and the win anymore. On the bike, she extended her lead to fifteen seconds. She maintained that advantage on the run, before diving back into the water to give it another push. With a 27-second advantage and only a very short bike and run leg to go, Learmonth was nearly certain of the win. She did what was expected and ended up taking the day, sharing the podium with Georgia Taylor-Brown and Beth Potter.
Men’s race
During the time trial bike leg, he may have lost ten seconds to America’s Seth Rider, as he finished in 15th place, but that didn’t stop Luis from putting together a strong race. He already closed the gap during the swim, also earning a “short chute” for the run. Unlike in the women’s race, he still had to work very hard for the win, though. When entering the second round of swim-bike-run, all race favorites were still close together. Only after a second swim, there was a change in the race. Heading into the final bike part, Luis and Brownlee managed to escape. As Luis still had the advantage of a shortcut, Brownlee wasn’t able to stay with him during the run. That meant Luis took the day, Brownlee finished second and Alex Yee ran to third.
