Temperatures around zero, beautiful sunshine – perfect conditions for the Winter Triathlon World Cup in Valberg, France. Strong teams arrived from Germany, Italy and Spain for the competition, but we could not forget about the local favorites.
The event started with the difficult 5km run with mainly up and down sections. Daniel Antonioli from Italy and Victor Lobo ran together and they were followed by Stephan Frank from Germany and Steeve Laurent from France. In the women race Myriam Guillot from France was the first after the run with a 50 seconds lead over Jutta Schubert from Germany.
On the bike segment Antonioli could maintain his lead over Lobo by 90 seconds and over Frank with an other 2 minutes. It was clear that after the very difficult two-lap bike, there is no other athlete who can be on the podium at the end of the race. In the women’s race Schubert came on first with a huge lead over the rest of the field.
On the cross-country ski segment the athletes kept their positions and all the favorites came onto the podium.
Former triathlete Jean-Luc Capogna and his team, fully supported by the local Municipality of the busy alpine city of Valberg, organized the race.
The next stage of the ITU Winter Triathlon World Cup will be in Liechtenstein on the last weekend of February.
Results:
Men:
1. Daniel Antonioli (ITA) 1:34:11
2. Victor Lobo (ESP) 1:36:56
3. Stephan Frank (GER) 1:38:02
4. Claude Carrere (FRA) 1:42:22
5. Guillaume Peyronnet (FRA) 1:44:42
6. Steeve Laurent (FRA) 1:46:00
7. Marco Bethaz (ITA) 1:46:24
8. Louis Lobo (ESP) 1:49:02
9. Franck Borgia (FRA) 1:51:37
10. Jerome Granvillain (FRA) 1:55:29
11. Guillaume Lenormand (FRA) 1:57:36
12. Laurent Bonnet (FRA) 1:57:56
13. Frederic Besson (FRA) 1:58:36
14. John Underwood (FRA) 1:59:11
15. Thierry Pelet (FRA) 2:02:59
Women:
1. Jutta Schubert (GER) 2:01:34
2. Myriam Guillot (FRA) 2:07:59
3. Barbara Underwood Conrad (FRA) 2:26:22
4. Annick Vidal (FRA) 2:41:54
5. Agnes Bureau (FRA) 2:44:27
6. Mariane Sutra (FRA) 2:51:53
7. Emmanuelle Dumont (FRA) 2:59:18
8. Sylvie Bonaldi (FRA) 3:07:22
9. Amelie Vantomme (FRA) 3:39:00