A strong run by Swiss’ Nicola Spirig saw her catch up with Lucy Hall, who had escaped during the swim and on the bike. It was Spirig who took the win of Challenge Peguera-Mallorca. Fellow Swiss’ Imogen Simmonds ran to second place (+1:24), while Hall had to settle for third (+1:58).
She started her day well, because when Hall starts a race, you can bet your money on her to exit the water in first place. That’s exactly what happened, and that saw the British athlete enjoy a lead to Spirig when starting the bike. In the saddle, she extended her lead. Hall was battling against the power of a group, though, because Spirig found company in Simmonds, Britain’s Jodie Stimpson and India Lee.
When entering the second lap, Hall enjoyed a two-minute advantage to Spirig, but the Swiss’ athlete – who rode a normal road bike instead of a TT-bike – hit the gas right after. It saw Simpson drop off from the group, and it initially resulted in Spirig closing the gap, but once Hall heard about this she found an extra gear too. Spirig had managed to shrink the gap to 1:45 minute, but Hall pushed it back to being over two minutes by the time T2 came into sight.
Just like it was no surprise to see Hall take the lead in the water, it was also expected that Spirig would attack on the run. That’s what she did, but Hall was a tough cookie at front. In the first few km, Spirig ran 30 seconds off her deficit. She continued that surge and about halfway though the run managed to take the lead.
In the meanwhile, Hall started to struggle and that created an opportunity for Simmonds. Shortly before the finish, Simmonds took over, while Hall dropped back to third place. Nobody was getting in between Spirig and the win. She ended up taking the day, Simmonds took home silver and Hall claimed the bronze.
