It was a glorious morning in Pontevedra for the Spanish triathlon team, with golden young star Sergio Baxter Cabrera claiming his first ever World Cup title, and four of his teammates finishing in the top 10. Second on the finish line was local hero, born only a few kilometers from Pontevedra, Antonio Serrat Seoane while the bronze medal was for Max Studer (SUI), the only athlete able to follow the Spaniards on the fast 10km run. The race will also serve as an appetiser for what is to come when the Galician city hosts the World Triathlon Championship Series Final in 2023.
The sun was up bright in Pontevedra for the start of the men’s race, with athletes going for a non wetsuit swim and the water slightly above 22 degrees. Local true hero Javier Gomez Noya watching from the stands, still not completely recovered from Covid and focusing now on long distance races, but willing to support some athletes he has been training with during the last few weeks.
One of them was Chase Macqueen (USA), who took Noya’s advice and chose a position on the pontoon based on the five-time world champion’s recommendations: as far left as you can be. And it did pay off. The American was the first one going on the ramp out of the river for the first lap, with other great swimmers like Valentin Morlec (FRA), Joao Silva (POR) and Jonas Schomburg (GER) along with him diving in again for the last -and also shorter- lap, and with some of the strong runners quite behind in the big pack.
By the time they all hit the first transition, the group was already starting to stretch, and it was a long line of triathletes heading to the iconic hanging bridge of Pontevedra, which they all will have to cross eight times on their bikes. The group grew bigger with each lap, with the second and third chase groups being swallowed by the leaders, and ended up with a massive train trying to stay out of trouble in the multiple turns and speed bumps.
Macqueen, Schomburg, Diego Moya (CHI), Genis Grau (ESP) or Jawad Abdelmoula (MOR) were among the ones leading the group in alternative laps, until leaving the stadium at the beginning of the sixth lap, the Moroccan crashed and had to withdrawn, a few stitches on his foot needed, which ended with the podium dreams of one of the favourite athletes for this race.
The large pack of more than 40 athletes arrived together at the second transition, with all to be decided in the last 10km run. As soon as they were on their running shoes, Serrat Seoane and Studer were the ones that took the lead even before leaving the stadium, only a few meters after transition, with Sergio Baxter right at their feet, and no one else able to follow them. Behind the leading trio, Barclay Izzard (GBR) tried to organise a little chase group along with Silva, Joao Pereira (POR), Max Stapley (TRI) and Johannes Vogel (GER), but soon the Brit just left them behind, alone trying to chase the leaders.
Serrat tried to break away from Baxter and Studer on every climb on each lap, just to see a few meters later how either his teammate or the Swiss took control of the race again, and the three of them taking turns in the lead for most of the 10km run, being cheered by hundreds of spectators every time they passed through transition. With just one kilometer to go, right in the city center, the younger of the three, Baxter, decided that it was the moment to go and not risk everything to a sprint finish, and added an extra gear that no one was able to follow.
Quickly the Spaniard, bronze medallist in the 2019 Junior World Championships, was running solo, and solo he run until he crossed the finish line, the first world cup victory of his career, after a fifth place in Huatulco, a fourth place in Karlovy Vary and a bronce medal in Tongyeong. “It feels amazing. I am speechless. I really didn’t expect to win. I knew I was one of the favourites having number four. I had a bad swim and got pretty bashed around and then it was time to catch up on the bike and push as hard as I could on the run. I was just thinking of the hard work I’ve put in over these weeks and months and it’s paid off bigtime”, he said, all smiles after winning. “They got a gap at the beginning of the run and I thought I went too much in the red zone to catch them but it was a good decision because we kind of worked together on the run. We did take our share on the run and on the last lap, I saw that we were playing around and I am not a super-fast finisher so I tried to go a bit further away and I came away with the win.”
Serrat Seoane, born only a few kilometers away from Pontevedra, managed to hold on to the silver medal, his first ever world cup podium even though he has been a consistent top 5 finisher in WTCS event for the last months. “I am really happy. This race at home where I train with friends, family, means a lot to me. All of us tried to win but this time Sergio was the fastest so I am happy with second place and will continue to work. I tried a couple of times to break away but it didn’t work. In the last lap, I tried to go with Sergio but today it wasn’t possible.”
The third place was for a solid Studer that grabs in Pontevedra not only his third world cup podium, but also some valuable Olympic ranking points. “That was the goal (to go hard from the start). I was a bit involved in the brawl in the swim, so I came a little behind out of the water, pushed really hard to close the gap and maintained the energy to stick in the first pack, it was quite a big one with some crashes, a little bit dangerous. On the run I tried to push the pace. I know I am not 100% in shape, but I am really happy to be on the podium today”, he said.
The fourth place was for Izzard, also the best result of his career, although disappointing for him to be just left out of the podium, while another Spaniard, Genis Grau, claimed the fifth position. Vogel, Pereira, Jordi Garcia Gracia (ESP), Schomburg and Antonio Benito Lopez (ESP) closed the top ten on what it was a fantastic day for Team Spain, with five athletes amongst the top ten.