It’s hard to imagine a more dramatic day for Germany at the World Triathlon Championship Series race in Hamburg today – in the women’s race Laura Lindemann thrilled the crowd with her first WTCS win, and a few hours later her countryman Tim Hellwig did the same, sprinting to the win in the men’s race, too.
Japan’s Takumi Hojo led the men out of the water, helping set up an initial breakaway group of six on the bike, but their gap was only 10 seconds. The group would be joined by a couple of athletes to set up a group of eight in front on the bike that included Chase McQueen (USA), Jona Schomburg (GER), Dylan McCullough (NZL), Mark Devay (HUN), Leo Bergere (FRA), Tim Hellwig (GER), Sylvain Fridelance (SUI) along with Hojo, but the chase group remained 10 seconds back for much of the ride, only to start closing the gap towards the end of the bike. By the end of the bike, though, the chase pack had caught the breakaway group and it turned into a group 5 km run for the title.
Through the halfway point of the run there were still almost 30 men within 30 seconds of each other, setting up a dramatic sprint on the blue carpet that came down to a photo finish. In the end it was Hellwig (53:08) who would get the nod over France’s Paul Georgenthum and Leo Bergere – just a second separated those three.
What an astonishing finish, it was down to the line and a photo finish! Tim Hellwig of Germany has earned gold in #WTCSHamburg.
Paul Georgenthum FRA with silver in a remarkable WTCS debut and @LeoBergere FRA with the bronze medal.
Replay on https://t.co/JwsigQVZc7 pic.twitter.com/ISlkzeMiDP
— TriathlonLIVE (@triathlonlive) September 18, 2021
You can find the full results from today’s race here.
