Similarly to the elite paratriathlon and Age-Group racing, the elite triathlon action at the 2023 Europe Triathlon Championships was held over the duathlon format, with Jonny Brownlee taking silver in the men’s race.
A 5km run, 40km bike and 10km run lay ahead of the athletes in Madrid, with the first run taking place in Casa de Campo. In the men’s race, Ben Dijkstra, Max Stapley, Jack Willis and Dan Dixon all raced alongside second-placed Brownlee.
After a quick-paced first run, Brownlee came through first transition in fifth place as part of the lead group. Dijkstra and Stapley both came through in the second group and were riding at the front of their pack as they tried to make inroads on the leaders.
Further up the road, Brownlee’s group were driving forwards and split to leave the Brit amongst six others battling at the front.
The group with Dijkstra and Stapley were working in a well organised group, which was starting to stretch out, until the two Brits were caught up in a crash that took them both out.
With Brownlee pushing at the front, Dixon was breaking away from the group that he and Willis had been part of as they navigated the final laps and into second transition.
Coming out of T2, Brownlee was in second and working to pull clear on the first lap with Swiss athlete Briffod. The pair were joined by eventual winner Castro (ESP).
As Willis pulled out on the run, the three at the front were battling over positions and it came down to a sprint between Brownlee and Castro, with the home athlete charging over the line to win. Dixon finished 23rd.
Ahead of the men, the women’s race was the first elite action of the day. Kate Waugh, Olivia Mathias, Sian Rainsley, Daisy Davies and Sophie Alden were representing Great Britain.
In the women’s race, Waugh and Mathias were placed on the front row at the start, Rainsley was in the second row with Davies and Alden placed further back.
Across the first run and into first transition, Rainsley was the best placed among the Brits with Mathias and Waugh not far behind in the large group of women heading out onto the bike.
Across the opening laps of the bike, a few distinct group emerged with Waugh riding in the first of these and Rainsley just off the back. Mathias was riding at the front of the chase group who scooped up Rainsley in the middle of the bike leg.
Further back, Davies was pushing her group hard to maintain position and look to close to the group in front, however Alden was off the back on her own and forced to drop out on the bike.
The front group was split up by a crash, which left Waugh dropping away from the leaders coming into T2, but still placed within the top-ten with Mathias in 11th.
Midway through the run leg, Waugh was running strong in 8th with Mathias still knocking on the door of the top-ten in 11th and Rainsley in 27th.
In the midday heat of the Madrid sun, positions remained consistent through to the finish, where Waugh crossed the line in eighth, Mathias 12th, Rainsley gained a few places to finish in 24th, and Davies completed her first senior championship race in 31st.
Check out the full results here: https://triathlon.org/results/result/2022_europe_triathlon_championships_madrid
Saturday 3 June saw elite paratriathlon take place in Madrid. Claire Cashmore (PTS5) won gold, Dave Ellis guided by Luke Pollard (PTVI) and Mel Nicholls (PTWC) took home silver, and Michael Salisbury (PTS5) and Hannah Moore (PTS4) claimed bronze. Read the full report here.
Age-Group racing was also hosted on both days. View the Great Britain Roll of Honour here and all the results here.
