An incredible run just saw France’s Leo Bergere claim the victory at the European Championship Olympic Distance in Munich, Germany. The full French clean sweep was complete with Pierre Le Corre (+0:08) and Dorian Coninx (+0:15), who took second and third respectively.
Athletes who struggles with a bad swim today, lost their race after that first discipline, because with Hungary’s Mark Devay in front, the swim already broke the field apart. In the first few kilometers of the bike part, a leading group of twelve took shape. Even some top favorites – like Belgium’s Jelle Geens, Portugal’s Vasco Vilaca and Spain’s Antonio Serrat Seoane – weren’t able to keep up with these fast first men.
In the saddle, the differences only got bigger. After two laps, the first chase group – actually a duo – was half a minute behind the leading man. That, while the big chase group – of more than 50 men – dealt with a deficit of approximately one minute.
In the lead group Bergere, Le Corre, Germany’s Tim Hellwig and Coninx tried to keep the pace high. The athletes even tried to leave the group behind a few times, but they eventually weren’t able to drop anyone. That means these twelve athletes battled for the medals, once they had their bikes racked and run shoes on.
On the run, it were initially Bergere, Le Corre, Portugal’s Joao Pereira, Hungary’s Csongor Lehmann and Germany’s Jonas Schomburg, who ran to the front. Schomburg lost touch in the first lap, which means four men were left. Coninx – surprisingly – managed to re-join these men after a few kilometers.
With about five km to go, Bergere hit the gas and took off on his own. Nobody was stopping him anymore. It was Bergere who brought home the gold medal, Le Corre who took silver and Coninx who rounded the podium.
