He was the absolute hometown favorite, but Kristian Blummenfelt wasn’t able to beat France’s Dorian Coninx. Coninx out sprinted Blummenfelt in an exciting sprint finish at World Triathlon Cup Bergen. Blummenfelt took second, only a second behind Coninx, while third place went to Norway’s Vetle Bergsvik Thorn. Casper Thorns and Gustav Iden were considered the hometown favorites too and strong podium contenders, but they had to settle for a respective fifth and 14th place.
After the swim part, Coninx was already right in the mix as the athlete got out of the water in second place, three seconds behind Italy’s Nicolo Strada. Blummenfelt exited the water 20 seconds later in 21st place, whereas the reigning Ironman 70.3 World Champion – Iden – got to his bike in 51st place (+0:40).
Blummenfelt pushed quite some watts and rode to the front group, but Iden had to settle with a position further back in the field. During the bike part, twelve men formed a lead group, among them Coninx and Blummenfelt
Once the bikes were racked back in T2 and the run shoes were on, Coninx, Blummenfelt, Stornes, Bergsvik Thorn and France’s Tom Richard took off. Eventually, it turned out that the battle for the podium spots would come down to Coninx, Blummenfelt and Bergsvik Thorn, as the other men dropped back.
Coninx and Blummenfelt gave each other a tough time until the final meters. Coninx had just a little extra energy left in the tank, which saw him pull off the best sprint. While Coninx claimed gold, Blummenfelt settled in second place and Bergsvik Thorn took home the bronze medal.
