It was no turning back for Germany’s Lisa Tertsch as the current Olympic champion of the Mixed Relay delivered a classy run segment to take the tape of the 2024 World Triathlon Cup Valencia on her first race after the Olympics. Second on the day was Olivia Mathias, delivering an impressive race beginning to end after two years struggling with injuries, while the bronze medal was for France’s Candice Denizot on her first ever World Cup podium.
Over 40 women lined up at the Valencia Marina with the sun shining bright up on the sky of the Mediterranean city, with the water at 28 degrees and the sea calm and flat, but the swim was not an easy one, with a large group making it together to the first buoy, ending up with many involved in the usual ‘washing machine’ before heading back to the Marina.
And it was Australia’s Emma Jeffcoat the one who faced the swim exit ramp in first place, followed by Candice Denizot (FRA), Olivia Mathias (GBR) and Sophie Howell (CAN), with Zuzana Michalickova (SVK) and Diana Isakova (AIN) the first ones that were not able to make the lead group.
As soon as the four leaders were on the bike, Mathias and Jeffcoat started to get organised and push hard to try to open a significant break, knowing that the German squad, led by Lisa Tertsch and Tanja Neubert, would be trying to catch them before they finish the 20km bike course.
Mathias and Jeffcoat put their heads down and worked in turns, followed by Howell and Denizot, and by the time they were half way through the bike, the four had a 40 seconds lead over the chase group, let by Tertsch, Anna Godoy Contreras (ESP), Noelia Juan (ESP), Maria Casals Mujica (ESP), Solveig Løvseth (NOR) and Tanja Neubert (GER). The flat out and back course made it hard for the large chase group, while the four in front were not taking it easy. With less than one lap to go, Løvseth and Neubert added one extra gear and left the chase group on the chase of the leaders, but ended up on no one’s land for the last two kilometers, to hit the second transition just 15 seconds before the leading four.
Mathias and Denizot had both excellent transitions and were quickly on the run before the chasers hit the blue carpet, but the large group managed to finally get organised and started the run only 21 seconds behind. And that’s the moment when the real chase started. While Mathias and Denizot moved up in front, Tertscht moved like a panther, and by the time they had finished the first couple of kilometers, she was already breathing on the neck of Emma Jeffcoat, at that moment in third place.
Mathias and Denizot started to look behind them quite nervous, but the German look determined and continued the chase, and with 1.5 kilometers to go moved to the first place, not even looking back when she passed the Brit and the French, knowing that behind them another fast German was coming: Tanja Neubert. She also managed to move in front of Jeffcoat, who struggled in the second lap of the run, and brought with her Solveig Løvseth, also in the chase of a podium position.
Facing the blue carpet, Tertscht had no one on sight and was all smiles when she grabbed the tape to claim the second gold of her career at the Valencia World Cup, after her victory in 2022, a boost of confidence for the German before heading to Weihai for the next stop of the World Triathlon Championship Series. “I am exhausted now, but I could feel that my legs were ready for a good run today, so I am really happy with the result”, she said, after crossing the finish line. “I knew that I had some time to make up for, I was trying to run at my own pace in the first lap, but of course you see that you are coming closer and is easy to go too fast so I was trying to not over pace myself, although is very tempting to push more. I didn’t want to leave it til the blue carpet, you never know what every one has on their legs at the end but it did work out well for me”, she said.
The German clocked a fantastic 16:05 run split to claim gold, while Mathias managed to cross the finish line in second place, a silver with a taste of much more after the challenging year for the Brit. “Finally we managed to make a swim-bike breakaway and make it until the finish line or almost. All four of us worked so hard on the bike to get away, I can only congratulate them (Jeffcoat, Howell and Denizot) for their amazing work today. It doesn’t happen often to have all of us willing to commit and I can only thank them. I knew that after that bike the run will be hard, but I just tried to stay calm and believe on myself. This year has been rough, so this just feels great”, said Mathias.
Also delighted was Denizot, climbing on a World Cup podium for the first time of her career on her second World Cup appearance. “I am really happy, we all did a great jov today”, she said.
Fourth on the finish line was Neubert, with Løvseth close behind to round a top five. Diana Isakova crossed the finish line in 6th place, followed by Emma Jeffcoat, Jule Behrens (GER), Anna Godoy Contreras (ESP) and Zuzana Michalickova (SVK) closing the top 10.