He dared to leave a giant lead pack behind during the bike part, and that played out well: Brazil’s Manoel Messias just won the World Triathlon Cup in Valencia. He managed to stay clear of Spain’s Mario Mola, who took second and America’s Matthew McElroy, who took third.
During the 750 meters of swimming, not much happened, which meant a huge group of athletes hopped on their bikes simultaneously. It was Spain’s David Castro Fajardo who was first out of the water, but he hadn’t been able to create much of a gap towards the rest of the field.
With nearly all athletes sticking together, a lead pack of approximately 40 men took shape. Some athletes had to work hard to stay with that pack, though, as the group broke apart a bit after a few minutes. Also, a handful of athletes lost touch as they were involved in a crash about 2K into the bike part.
Looking at how slow the legs of some athletes in the back of the group were moving, it was clear that everything would come down to the run today. Some athletes barely had to do anything to stay with the group. Austria’s Tjebbe Kaindl and Brazil’s Manoel Messias didn’t feel like waiting for everyone to start the run at the same time, so the two took a risk by attacking in the final lap of the bike part. That worked out well for them, because Kaindl and Messias were about 14 seconds ahead of the rest of the field once they racked their bikes back in T2.
On the run, Kaindl faded away, but Messias continued his surge and took off strong. Behind him, five motivated Spanish athletes – among them Mola and Spain’s Antonio Serrat Seoane – were leading a long line of athletes that tried to hunt down the race leader. It was Serrat Seoane who was first to try to bridge the gap to Messias, but Serrat Seoane didn’t get what he hoped for when he burned that match and later settled back with McElroy and Mola again.
Mola showed to have something left in the final stretch, as Mola tried to get to Messias. However, Messias was too far away, so it turned out. Therefor it was Messias who claimed the victory, Mola who took third and McElroy who rounded the podium.
