France’s Cassandre Beaugrand led from start to finish in the women’s elite race in Quarteira, winning comfortably by almost a minute after controlling the race from the front throughout.
Swimming – Beaugrand leads in T1
Over two laps, 1500m sea swimming, French superstar Beaugrand showed her prowess in the water as she effectively navigated the slightly choppy conditions to exit the water with a slim lead.
Italy’s Bianca Seregni, known for her impressive swimming leg, was alongside the Frenchwoman for most of the 1500m swim, but Beaugrand was fastest down the long stretch from the beach to transition, opening a small gap leaving T1.
In the chase, reigning U23 world champion Kate Waugh made up the group along with Seregni and about ten other women, including Luxembourg’s Jeanne Lehair, home favorite Melanie Santos and Spain’s Cecilia Santamaria Surroca.
Bicycle – Breakaway poles
While Beaugrand enjoyed a small lead in the opening kilometers, she was quickly reeled in by the chasing group as the leading pack swelled to a group of eleven, with most of the main contenders.
In that group, in addition to Beaugrand, Waugh, Seregni, Lehair, Santos and Santamaria, there were the Japanese Yuko Takahashi, the French duo Mathilde Gautier and Celia Merle, the Italian Luisa Iogna-Prat and the Australian Jaz Greaves.
Behind, Norway’s Lotte Miller, Swiss athlete Alissa Konig and Portugal’s Helena Carvahalo took the lion’s share of the work for the attacking pack. The group, which included Swedish star Tilda Mansson, initially made very little inroads into the lead of the first group, trailing by 1:20 after the first lap.
After a strong ride, the leading group of 11 entered T2 with a comfortable lead as it looked like the medals were coming from this group. Behind, the charging pack, despite their best efforts, started with a deficit of more than two minutes to the top 10.
Running – Beaugrand dominates
From T2, all eyes were on Beaugrand, who as the best runner in the field somehow looked capable of winning the race however she wanted as they headed into the 10km race.
The Frenchwoman, who had been at the front of the race since the gun went off, quickly built up a comfortable lead over the rest of the field and at 2.5km looked an invincible disaster at the bar.
Behind Beaugrand, Luxembourg’s Lehair looked like she had the freshest legs of the rest of the front pack as she bravely chased Beaugrand and in the process put time into the other podium contenders over the first 5km.
In the closing kilometres, with Beaugrand clear, her compatriot Merle closed the gap on Lehair and worked hard to secure second place and leave the Luxembourger behind.
Beaugrand, who controlled the race from start to finish, secured a comfortable victory in Quarteira, as Merle made it 1-2 for the French in the Algarve and Lehair was rewarded for her persistence with an excellent third place.
European Triathlon Cup Quarteira Results 2023
Saturday 25.03.2022 – ELITE
1.5 km / 40 km / 10 km
- 1. Cassandre Beaugrand (FRA) –
- 2. Celia Merle (FRA) –
- 3. Jeanne Lehair (LUX) –
- 4. Mathilde Gauthier (FRA) –
- 5.
- 6.
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- 10.
