TriGrandPrix sees Llanos continue his dominance
Saturday 12th June saw the Inaugural TriGrandPrix Series move to the Basque Country for the Zarautz Triathlon. 600 competitors, including the cream of the world’s best triathletes, took part in the event, which started from the village of Getaria and involved a point-to-point sea swim back to the surf town of Zarautz.
Competitors were greeted by perfect racing conditions as the horn sounded at 13:45 and the 40 strong woman’s field took to the sea. Leanda Cave (GBR) established an incredible lead over the first discipline, putting almost 3.5minutes into a chasing group of Jo Lawn, Mirinda Carfrae and Scotland’s
Catriona Morrison.
Going out onto the bike Cave was clearly pushing hard throughout the first 2 laps, and showed no signs of relinquishing any of her lead, Morrison pulling away from Carfrae by 1minute in the latter stages, However, when the triathletes turned towards the town of Orio for the final lap, Cave was no longer looking as strong – and Morrison started to show her dominance over on the 25% climb affectionately known as ‘The Wall’ Cave lead off the bike with over 3 minutes and was looking strong, however
Morrison was on fire and the catch looked inevitable. After lap 2 of 3 the gap was down the just 17 seconds, and as the lead bike approached the final 400meters around the plaza del ayuntamiento, it was Morrison who was first down the finish chute to finish in a time of 4:18:25 to claim the title of
TriGrandPrix Basque Country Champion and take the €8,000 top prize. A visibly disappointed Leanda Cave crossed the line in second place, in a time of 4:19:07; having lead the race from the outset only to be passed in the latter stages, followed by Mirinda Carfrae in 4:22:33 – perhaps not fully recovered from her race in the US last weekend, plus the long hall flight to the Basque Country!
In the men’s race, Paul Matthews, Eneko Llanos and Mathias Hecht lead out of the water, closely followed by Scotland’s Scott Neyedli, Torsten Abel, Mikel Elgezabal and Clemente Alonso. After 1 lap on the bike, Hecht had a commanding lead of 1 minute and was clearly pushing hard. Llano was 1minute down, but looked calm, collected and under control as he passed. A group containing Alonso, Abel and Elgezabal trailed by 1 minute.
As the athletes came onto the run, Llanos quickly got into his stride and pulled away, always in control and with something in reserve, he kept himself 30 seconds in the lead – with the distinct impression that there was more in the tank if required! Llanos cruised to victory in a time of 3:58:14, with Alonso just 29 seconds behind him at the end. Llanos later commented ‘Clemente was closer than I would have hoped by the end but I felt in control for the entire run, its great to win again in Zarautz – the race was awesome as always!’
Top 5 Males:
- Eneko Llanos 3:58:14
- Clemente Alonso 3:58:42
- Mikel Elgezabel 3:59:43
- Mathias Hecht 4:00:21
- Torsten Abel 4:00:33
Top 5 Women:
- Cat Morrison 4:18:25
- Leanda Cave 4:19:07
- Mirinda Carfrae 4:22:33
- Joanna Lawn 4:34:52
- Edith Niederfringer 4:39:51
The town of Zarautz put on an amazing show, with DJ’s and bands in the plazas, spectators lining the course and carnival atmosphere. The festivities carried on into the night – demonstrating the unrivalled love for all things sporting by this community on the northern fringes of Spain.
As the age group athletes soaked up the atmosphere and enjoyed the achievement, the professionals joined in the encouragement and support – creating an unrivalled triathlon hosted by an otherwise sleepy town.
Thanks to Dann Brook and the crew from TriGrandPrix for their help in our coverage.
