It was another near-perfect day on the snow for Sandra Mairhofer as the Italian raced solo for close to two hours from the first run segment all the way to the tape on Saturday morning, earning the World Triathlon Winter Championship title in style in Pragelato.
Low temperatures led to some icy patches across the demanding course, where two laps of each of the very different run, bike and ski courses tested the concentration as well as power and finesse of the field, but it was the Italian who kept everyone at a safe distance, Aneta Grabmuller Soldati (CZE) and Julie Meinicke (NOR) taking silver and bronze.
“They were tricky conditions and changed from lap to lap especially on the bike but I like it slippery and technical, but it’s hard work and there was a lot of climbing,” said Mairhofer. “I have felt good in training so had confidence on the run and bike and wanted to gain time there knowing my ski wasn’t so strong. The organisers put a great event on and I was really happy I could take the win and Franco too. Looking forward to the summer season now!”
Italy’s defending champion was straight on the gas from the opening strides of the run and looking to assert herself rather than save energy, putting 10 seconds into the field after one lap of the opening run, doubling that by the time she hit the mountain bike and absolutely demolishing both laps of a testing 3km course.
Grabmuller pulled back a minute over the first ski segment to get herself back into contention, only for the second run to put the result almost beyond doubt, the lead stretching from 30 seconds up to 90 onto the bike and then Mairhofer simply extended the lead from there.
Grabmuller was safe in second position as Julie Meinicke matched the Czech on ski and run but fell back over the bike. The Norwegian was still able to deliver another U23 title as well as the elite bronze, older sister Stina trying unsuccessfully to reign in her sibling and Winter Duathlon World Champion Ine Skjellum unable to sustain her challenge on two wheels.
Up ahead, it was Sandra Mairhofer taking the flag down the home chute and another imperious display ensured gold by a margin of nearly two minutes, setting up what is surely going to be another exciting year in multisport for the Italian talent.
Full results available here.
