The fast running British Olympian runs to European Cup success in Funchal

In her debut season in the sport, Beth Potter gave a glimpse of her future potential on Saturday by dominating the field over the closing 5km run to take victory at the Funchal ETU Sprint Triathlon European Cup event in Portugal.

Having raced at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and London 2017 IAAF World Championships over 10,000m, Potter comes to the sport with a significant running pedigree – and a background as a Junior swimmer to call upon.

Saturday’s event saw five athletes break clear over the 20km, Sprint distance bike course to reach T2 with a lead over more than one minute over a chase group of six, which included Potter and fellow British athlete, Zoe Thomas.

Once on to the run, Potter was in her element and gaining ground with every stride. Producing a run split of 16:44, which was more than a minute quicker than anyone else, Potter cut through the field from ninth place starting the run to take the lead. Indeed, by the time she reached the finish line she had extended her advantage to a dominating margin of 43 seconds, over Therese Feuersinger (AUT), who last week finishing fourth in the ITU World Junior Triathlon Championships.

Zoe Thomas ran through for seventh from that chasing group, while the second fastest run by Bronwen Owen moved her up to eighth position at the finish line.

There was more British podium success in the men’s race, where Liam Lloyd lead home the large British entry in third place, the race won by Dalian Stateff (ITA). That was a first ETU Triathlon European Cup podium finish for the Team Wales, 2014 Commonwealth Games athlete.

Lloyd said of his race, “My first podium on an ETU race. I couldn’t quite get second. He (Wernz) went at the right time. I left it a bit too late. His sprint was really good. I’m really happy with the race and the podium.”

Funchal ETU Sprint Triathlon European Cup
Saturday 23^rd September 2017
Sprint Distance, Draft-legal – 750m / 20km / 5km

Elite Women

1^st - Beth Potter (GBR) – 1:01:36
2^nd - Therese Feuersinger (AUT) – 1:02:19
3^rd - Gabriela Ribeiro (POR) – 1:02:35

7^th - Zoe Thomas (GBR) – 1:03:44
8^th - Bronwen Owen (GBR) – 1:03:51
16^th - Hannah Kitchen (GBR) – 1:05:53
21^st - Lucy Nell (GBR) – 1:07:39

Elite Men

1^st – Delian Stateff (ITA) – 00:54:33
2^nd – Valentin Wernz (GER) – 00:54:38
3^rd – Liam Lloyd (GBR) – 00:54:39

6^th - Jack Willis (GBR) – 00:55:02
13^th – Christopher Perham (GBR) – 00:55:30
15^th – Harry Leleu (GBR) – 00:55:36
17^th – Jimmy Kershaw (GBR) – 00:55:44
26^th – Fergus Roberts (GBR) – 00:56:38
34^th – Luke Pollard (GBR) – 00:57:32
42^nd – Matthew Nelson (GBR) – 00:58:22

Full results: http://www.triathlon.org/results/result/2017_funchal_etu_sprint_triathlon_european_cup