After a two-year pause caused by coronavirus measures, the Tábor Triathlon Festival returned to the racing calendar in style. Kateřina Hadravová shone with bronze in the fantastically casted European Junior Cup. David Martin and Alžběta Hrušková dominated the Czech Cup race in the Olympic and Sprint Triathlon on Sunday 24 July.
Not only competitors from the old continent, but also from all over the world headed to Tábor for the European Junior Cup – Canadian Beaulieu won, Australian Powers took bronze, but triathletes from Brazil, Colombia, Puerto Rico and Hong Kong also competed. “We have the busiest start list in our 37-year history,” said race director Šimon Kuncl. In total, 19 Czechs have entered the European Junior Cup!
The Czech Republic had two big medal hopes in the junior women’s race. Dana Přikrylová held on to the medal positions from the beginning of the race, but unfortunately did not make it to the finish line – she dropped out of first place in the cross-country part. “I have been injured for a long time and my hip is not yet ready for such steep runs as the ones here in Tabor. I am very sorry, at least I could enjoy the nice atmosphere,” said the Czech junior. “At the same time I congratulate Kačka Hadravová, who I told that she could have a medal, but she didn’t believe me.”
The swimming part did not suggest that Hadravova could win a medal. After swimming 750 metres in the Jordan lake, she was one of the last to come out of the water. But she kept moving forward. “Unfortunately, I swam badly and had to work very hard on the bike. I almost fell down, but had a luck and went into the run as fourth,” said Hadravova, who crossed the finish line third, 22 seconds behind the winning Swiss Possberg. “I didn’t expect this result at all. It is my biggest success. Unbelievable!”
Jakub Mittner had the best start to the junior race, swimming in third position. Šimon Michálek was also in the top ten. During the 20km cycling part of the race, the field came together in a large pack, which included six Czech athletes. The best result was achieved by Jakub Marek, who took 7th place. He was 20 seconds away from the medal and 51 seconds away from the winning Canadian. Just six seconds later Šimon Michálek came in 8th place.
Czech Cup for Martin and Hruskova
The start list of the Czech Cup was affected not only by the participation of the best Czech juniors in the European Cup race, but also by the clash with the national training camp in Livigno.
Nevertheless, several members of the national team were present in Tábor and one of them did the best in the water – David Martin developed an eighteen-second lead. He also posted the fastest time in the cycling part, during which he increased his lead by another tens of seconds.
Filip Vaclavik, the winner of the previous cup race in Konopiště, gave the best performance in the cross-country part, but he could not catch Martin. He therefore won in 59:08. The second place belongs to Václavík, the bronze went to Filip Tlamka from Tábor.
The women’s race was a clear-cut affair, with Alžběta Hrušková fulfilling the role of the favourite from the start to the finish. She took a 19-second lead out of the water, and during the cycling part she increased the gap to her rivals to several minutes. She did not hesitate even during the run. She crossed the finish line in 1:06:46, almost four minutes before the second Adriana Horňová. The third place went to Zuzana Pičmanová.
The Czech Olympic and Sprint Triathlon Cup will continue on the weekend of 9-11 September, when the CITY TRIATHLON Karlovy Vary event will take place, culminating in the World Cup race on Sunday.
Results
Tabor Triathlon Festival, 24 July 2022
European Junior Cup, men: 1. Mathis Beaulieu (Canada) 58:26, 2. Davide Menichelli (Italy) 58:37, 3. Toby Powers (Aus.) 58:57 … 7. Jakub Marek 59:17, 8. Šimon Michálek 59:23, 18. David Korous 1:00:17, 19. Jakub Homola 1:00:21, 21. Jakub Souček 1:00:26, 40. Lukáš Plic 1:02:13, 43. Jakub Mittner 1:02:26, 47. Filip Nýdrle 1:02:47, 52. Ondřej Lemberka 1:03:29, 58. Jakub Pásler 1:04:06
Women: 1. Vanessa Possberg (Switz.) 1:06:41, 2. Romina Nádas (Hungary) 1:06:58, 3. Kateřina Hadravová 1:07:03 … 22. Michaela Mitisková 1:10:11, 24. Julie Balcarová 1:10:20, 29. Barbora Jedličková 1:10:51, 33. Natálie Fraňková 1:11:20, 34. Veronika Holanikova 1:11:35, 40. Petra Dvořáková 1:12:36, Dana Přikrylová and Emma Rysávková did not finish
Full results here.
Czech Cup, men: 1. David Martin 59:08, 2. Filip Vaclavik 59:17, 3. Filip Tlamka 59:23
Women: 1. Alžběta Hrušková 1:06:46, 2. Adriana Horňová 1:10:23, 3. Zuzana Pičmanová 1:12:04.14
Full results here.
Photo gallery
Photos from the whole day by Patrik Jech can be found in the photo gallery.
