Germany’s own Katrin Müller capitalized on her recent European championship title to make big moves on a challenging bike course to win her first ITU Cross Triathlon World Championships in Zittau. Flora Duffy (BER) joined Müller on the podium for the first time with silver while reigning champion Helena Erbenova (CZE) settled for bronze.

Duffy kicked off the day by dousing the competition on the swim with her wake, propelling herself to a whopping 23 second lead over Olympic bronze medallist Erin Densham (AUS). Nobody came close to the pair, with Müller exiting the lake next a massive 1:35 down.

Sylvia Van Tromp joined Müller in the first transition, but the rest of the field was already at a disadvantage of more than 2:30. It looked as if the day would end before it really began for two-time champ Erbenova, as she exited the swim nearly six minutes behind Duffy. 

But a massive climb & treacherous bike changed the game, with Müller managing to move more than a minute ahead of the competition midway through the bike. Duffy worked diligently to maintain a top position, but Densham didn’t fare as well, falling more than five minutes back.

While Duffy did work alone on the bike, behind her the trio of Emma Garrard (USA), Jacqueline Slack (GBR) and Chantell Widney (CAN) toughed it out together more than three minutes down.

The tough ride didn’t slow Müller down, as the German scorched up the and down the mountain for a 2:39 lead over Duffy. With just a one-loop 9km run to go, the race was Müller’s to lose. Although Duffy made up slight ground, it wasn’t nearly enough to reel in the German, who won by 2:18. Duffy took silver, while Erbenova managed to run herself into bronze.