With all the race favorites right at the front at the start of the run, France’s Dorian Coninx was fully dependent on his performance on this final discipline. He didn’t disappoint, because thanks to a strong run, the Frenchman took the win of the Europe Triathlon Championship in Valencia. Behind him, local favorite Roberto Sanchez Mantecon claimed silver and Spain’s Antonio Serrat Seoane took bronze.
While in the women’s race one athlete took off in the water, in the men’s race almost the entire field stayed close to each other. Slovenia’s Richard Varga was first to reach his bike, but he wasn’t far ahead of a giant group of chasers. On the bike that group, with about 25 men, stayed mostly together. The women – who raced earlier today – turned out to be lucky when it comes to the weather, as the man struggled with rain. It resulted in a few nasty crashes.
The technical and wet course didn’t allow for much of a breakaway on the bike, and that meant nearly the entire field entered T2 simultaneously. It all came down to the run. Initially, seven men ran alongside each other, but already before the second half of the run, it were Coninx, Serrat Seoane and Sanchez Mantecon who took the lead. In the final kilometers, Coninx ran off to be the first to cross the line. Behind him, Sanchez Mantecon gave it his all to try and earn a medal for his home crowd, that turned out to be the silver medal. Serrat Seoane settled for bronze.
