The first Para Cup of 2023 took to the F1 circuit of Yas Island, Abu Dhabi on Friday morning, the Para athletes relishing the opportunity for some hard and fast racing in a stunning venue to get their campaigns underway.
Temperatures were rising into the mid-20s, and conditions were near perfect for the 750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run. With the Paris 2024 Paralympic Qualification period opening on 1 July, precious ranking points for the all-important start lines in the second half of the year were up for grabs.
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The male PTS5 athletes got the action underway, top-ranked Antoine Besse leading the first athletes down the pontoon, Spain’s Jairo Ruiz Lopez hoping to keep on the Frenchman’s feet through the water. It was the Spaniard who was in fact able to pull clear and was first out onto the bike, 50 seconds ahead of Andreas Doulappas (CYP).
Besse closed the gap to the lead with every passing lap of the bike, but by the time Ruiz was out on to the run there was no stopping him, finishing with the gold a minute ahead of Besse, Doulappas with bronze.
“After more than a year with a back injury that has had me struggling a lot, I feel absolutely great today,” said Ruiz. “The last two years have been really tough. I had a disappointing Paralympics, a bad result at the World Championships last year, I almost couldn’t swim because of my back. So to be back here, healthy and in form, means the world to me.”
The men’s PTVI race saw Spain’s Rafael Cabello Sanchez B2 first out of the water alongside Lukasz Wietecki B3 (POL) Ireland’s Donnacha Mc Carthy B1 and Dastan Kamchybekov (KGZ) 30 seconds back. Wietecki and McCarthy then pulled clear of the field over the 20km bike, Cabello 2 minutes back as they headed on to the run. The experienced Polish talent proved unstoppable over the final 5km, a 2 minute win margin to McCarthy, Cabello in third.
The women’s PTVI pitted Gulnaz Zhuzbaeva B1 and Aitunuk Zhoomart Kyzy B1 against eachother in the race for gold, the latter nearly four minutes quicker out of the water, but it was Zhuzbaeva’s superior biking that made the difference, passing at the end of the final lap and holding on to a narrow lead all the way to the tape.
“This is my first international race, and I am thrilled. The race was really good for us, we are now on our way to the Paris 2024 Paralympics,” said a happy Zhuzbaeva.
The PTS4 races saw Carmen Gonzalez Sanchez race solo to the gold, and another Spaniard found success in the men’s, Nil Riudavets Victory with a brilliant run to the tape after a close battle over the bike with Alejandro Sanchez Palomero, India’s Krushna Babasaheb Tanpure with bronze.
“It was my first time here in Abu Dhabi, the first major race for me and it was great to get the win here, back to racing at the highest level,” said Ruidavets. “And being able to race on a Formula 1 track is just so special, I loved every minute of it!”
Kini Carrasco won the men’s PTS3 category, exiting the water behind Bjorn Maas but taking control on the bike segment and never looking back. “It is difficult for us to navigate courses with lots of turns, and this Formula 1 track, with perfect curves and asphalt, suits perfectly. Now that our class is finally making the debut at the Paralympics, I’m glad to start the season with a victory to be well positioned on the rankings”
In the PTWC races, the experienced figure of Florian Brungraber H2 from Austria led Jose Cristobal Ramos Jimenez H1 from the first strokes of the swim to record the win, Eva Maria Moral Pedrero H1 with the women’s gold.