Germany’s Lisa Tertsch has just won the World Triathlon Cup in Valencia. Little special happened during the swim and bike and then during the run the race was made hard by the French Leonie Periault. However, it was Tertsch who ran away with the overall victory after a very strong sprint.
During the swim – 750 meter – the women’s field was pulled apart somewhat and a small leading group of three ladies emerged, led by the American Summer Rappaport. On the bike – 20 km – the ladies were soon caught up though and so a huge leading group formed at the front of the race. The course of the World Triathlon Cup Valencia did not lend itself very well to an escape on the bike and indeed that did not happen during the 20 kilometer ride.
So it was that almost the entire group started running at the same time. The pace was high right from the start, as there were only five kilometers to run. The German Lisa Tertsch took the initiative and started to lead the field from T2. She was joined by Austria’s Julia Hauser, France’s Leonie Periault and Mexico’s Anahi Alvarez Corral, thus creating a leading group of four.
Periault was the woman who began to set the pace and it was at the expense of Hauser, who was the first to disappear from the leading group. The remaining three ladies made it particularly exciting as they continued to run side by side until shortly before the finish line.
Tertsch was the first lady to start the sprint and Periault had to leave a gap first and moments later the Mexican also had to acknowledge her superiority to Tertsch. Tertsch won the race in 55:17. Alvarez Corral was second at two seconds and Periault third at 6 seconds.
