A full Spanish clean sweep in the men’s race, with Ruben Ruzafa on top of the podium. Silver and bronze of the European Championship Cross Triathlon in Bilbao went to Kevin Tarek Vinuela Gonzalez and Pello Osoro Gutierrez. In the women’s race, it was Italy’s Sandra Mairhofer who dominated. She shared the podium with Margareta Bicanova (SVK) and Marta Borbon Llorente (ESP).
Ruzafa was about 1:20 minutes behind after the swim part, but he was fast in the saddle and soon made up for the time he lost. After that second discipline, Ruzafa was already leading the race, but he finished it off with a strong run, as Ruzafa ran the fastest 10K of the day (33:13 minutes). At the finish line, the Spanish athlete was leading by nearly three minutes.
Mairhofer – fifth out of the water – had some work to do after the swim part, but didn’t wait too long before she hit the gas. On the bike, the Italian athlete was by far the fastest (more than five minutes faster than the second-fastest cyclist). That meant Mairhofer blasted to the first position, and she could take it relatively easy on the run. More than four minutes ahead of the second-place finisher – Bicanova – Mairhofer broke the tape.
