London 2012 Olympian Lucy Hall dominates with an impressive gun-to-tape ETU Triathlon Cup victory in Madrid, Spain.
Four weeks after earning a Silver medal at the Quarteira, Portugal event, Lucy Hall proved that she can apply the same tactics for solo success as she dominated in Spain this past weekend.
Hall’s abilities in the water are without question. Setting the pace from the start in the opening 1.5km swim, only Sara Perez Sala (ESP) was able to stay close to the impressive Brit, who was clear what her tactical route to success would be today.
In Quarteira, Hall had team-mate Jessica Learmonth for company and that pairing proceeded to work together in a two-up time trial format on the bike, before battling for Gold and Silver over the final 10km run. The ‘go hard on the bike’ tactics were the same in Spain, only this time it was going to have to be from a solo effort.
Having exited the water first, Lucy then added the fastest bike time too to reach T2 with a lead approaching two minutes. That wasn’t going to be lost on the run either, as Hall showed that her efforts on the swim and bike had been properly managed, finishing the day with the fifth fastest run split and indeed stretching her winning margin to an exceptionally impressive two minutes and 24 seconds.
Overall, it was a complete performance and a fine way to earn a first senior ETU Triathlon European Cup victory for the current European Under-23 Triathlon Champion.
The men’s race saw Norway’s Kristian Blummenfelt, a regular on the World Triathlon Series, take the victory ahead of the home pairing of Antonio Serrat Seoane and Uxio Abuin Ares.
The men’s race saw a group of nine athletes reach T2 in close order, ahead of a chasing pack of twelve athletes including Great Britain’s Grant Sheldon.
Blummenfelt was able to pull away strongly on the run for a clear victory margin, while Sheldon was able to run his way up to eighth position from that chasing pack. Fellow Scottish athlete Marc Austin was in a great position after the swim, but his race was ended by a puncture.
Madrid ETU Triathlon European Cup – May 1 2016:
Women
1st – Lucy Hall (GBR) – 2:09:45
2nd – Anneke Jenkins (NZL) – 2:12:09
3rd – Sara Papais (ITA) – 2:12:38
8th – Zoe Thomas (GBR) – 2:14:25
Men
1st – Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR) – 1:53:50
2nd – Antonio Serrat Seoane (ESP) – 1:54:23
3rd – Uxio Abuin Ares (ESP) – 1:54:54
8th – Grant Sheldon (GBR) – 1:56:04
24th – David Bishop (GBR) – 1:58:41
30th – Iestyn Harrett (GBR) – 1:59:16
42nd – Luke Pollard (GBR) – 2:00:39
DNF – Marc Austin (GBR)
DNF – Douglas Roberts (GBR)
Full results:
http://www.triathlon.org/results/event/2016_madrid_etu_triathlon_european_cup