Tilly Anema put in a strong 10km run to finish sixth in the World Triathlon U23 Championships as she was the lead Brit with Jess Fullagar 11th and Daisy Davies 14th.
The Brits were all within ten seconds of the leader Sophia Howell (CAN) on the first lap of the swim and, as they exited the water, German Selina Klamt, who would go on to win the race, led the way with Anema second and Fullagar in tow in third. Davies was just off the back of them in 12th.
As they headed onto the bike, Fullagar took the lead in a British 1-2 with Anema before deciding to go it alone.
She quickly established a clear gap and was 18 seconds clear, with New Zealander Brea Roderick and teammate Anema in her wake by the first mid-way point of lap one. Davies was in the pack in tenth, 26 second behind.
The early stages of the bike leg saw Fullagar build up a sizeable lead with Anema and Davies in the 12 strong chase group. Davies then took charge of the chase group to push the pace and attempt to close the gap to her teammate, but the gap only grew, as did the chasing group as the 12 were joined by 13 more athletes who were separated by seven seconds.
On lap four, Cathia Schar (SUI) took charge of the chase group and began to cut into the gap, with Fullagar’s advantage dropping down to 17 seconds. By the start of lap five she had been reeled in and was now part of the large lead pack with her teammates.
The final bike laps ticked away with the pack working together and rotating around with no one wanting to spend too long at the front. Position coming into T2 would be all important for the decisive run leg.
Tanja Neubert (GER) was the leader out of T2 with Fullagar and Davies in the top-ten as Anema was further back in 24th.
The early parts of the 10km run saw Schar take the lead and set a quick pace and the British trio were unable to go with her, Portugal’s Maria Tome and Klamt in the breakaway.
By the end of lap one of the run, Fullagar was seventh, seven seconds back with Davies and Anema level in ninth and tenth. Lap two of the run saw Fullagar make her move as she climbed to fifth ahead of Neubert and Tjasa Vrtacic. Further back, Anema was also climbing the field as she bridged to eighth with Davies holding onto tenth spot.
At the halfway stage of the run, Anema had continued her forward momentum and led the British trio in fifth but was 25 seconds back from the medal places. She was level with Fullagar at that stage with Davies dropping to 11th.
Anema built a gap to Fullagar on lap three as she was now running alongside Neubert in fifth and sixth.
The closing stages of the race saw Anema run strongly and finish the race in sixth as the lead Brit. Fullagar crossed the line just outside the top-ten in 11th and Davies rounded off the results in 14th to see all Brits finish inside the top-15.
