In a race where the footage looked like it was shot on a mobile phone – and by a cameraman who seemed to hope viewers would get seasick- where commentators sounded like they were speaking from a bathroom, and where intermediate timing was completely nonexistent, Lisa Tertsch has just become the European Champion Standard Distance. It is a pity the race was so poorly presented, as the course of events was interesting enough to talk about for a long time.
The race started remarkably with a different starting visual than we are used to; the athletes first swam to a pontoon, where they did not stand on top, but hung in the water in front of it, ultimately starting from the water itself. Already during the swim, the field was significantly pulled apart, which became evident on the bike when a leading group of thirteen women formed: Jolien Vermeylen, Paola Sacchi, Sian Rainsley, Mathilda Gautier, Lisa Tertsch, Bethany Cook, Roksana Slupek, Marta Kropko, Katie Rodda, Candice Denizot, and Dana Prikrylova came together and tried to fend off a chasing group for a while. They succeeded for about twenty kilometers, but after that, the second group managed to join the leaders, and the new front pack suddenly consisted of nearly 35 women.
One athlete who was in that leading pack was Finland’s Helena Knaapie. With a few kilometers left on the bike, she launched a surprise attack and opened up a gap of twenty seconds. However, that did not last long; by the time she reached T2, eight seconds had already been shaved off that twenty-second lead, and during the run, she could not keep up with the fastest women.
Tertsch – the biggest favorite beforehand – started the run most aggressively and quickly moved into the leading position. Defending European Champion Vermeylen, on the other hand, had a poor transition and immediately had to give chase, but she closed the gap within two kilometers and joined Tertsch at the front. She did not do this alone, however, as Slupek and Russia’s Valentina Riasova also hooked onto the lead group, which then consisted of four women.
From that moment on, an exciting tactical battle ensued between the four, with the pace being pushed more than once and the women doing everything they could to break the others. With 2.5 kilometers to go, the leaders were still running side-by-side, with Vermeylen visibly seeming to have the most trouble with the pace. Yet, the Belgian maintained contact, and the race grew more tense by the meter.
Riasova was ultimately the one to make the first real acceleration, but it was quickly countered by Vermeylen. Slupek was the first to drop, and eventually, Riasova fell back as well. Meanwhile, Vermeylen and Tertsch kept accelerating until Vermeylen had to concede that Tertsch was the strongest.
Tertsch won the race in a time of 2:00:56, Vermeylen finished second just two seconds later, and Riasova took third a few seconds after that.
