A hard day of racing at today's Challenge Weymouth saw two new ETU European Champions crowned and thousands of triathlon dreams come true on England's Jurassic Coast. Marek Jaskolka (POL) and Camilla Lindholm (SWE) took the Championship titles in 8:42:32 and 9:41:31 respectively.
The day dawned with calm seas and light winds that built throughout the day to provide testing conditions on the bike and run. UK favourite Stephen Bayliss was first out the water in 50:06 with Jaroslav Kovacic (SLO) just one second behind him and Jaskolka 1:30 further back. And so this group of three remained for the first lap of the bike with a chase group five minutes back led by Chris Fischer (DEN) and including Graham Stewart (GBR) and David Näsvik (SWE). However, by 99km it was all change with Jaskolka breaking away, Bayliss dropping back and Fischer and Stewart picking up the pace to chase Jaskolka. However, Jaskolka's calculated decision to break away paid off and he proved uncatchable for the rest of the race, posting a 2:57 marathon split to take the win and European title.
 Marek Jaskolka (POL) wins Challenge Weymouth and the ETU European Long Distance Triathlon Championships(Photo: Challenge Family; click to enlarge) |
Meanwhile behind him the battle for the podium continued with Näsvik holding second place until the 30km mark when Kovacic proved too fast and overtook. In the meantime Marques had been working his way up the field from seventh place and 16 -minutes down off the bike to round off the podium in third, posting the fastest run split of the day in 2:45:19.
Jaskolka was ecstatic as he crossed the line, but also stunned the crowed with news of his pending retirement. "I wasn't sure whether to make the break at the start of the second lap of the bike as I didn't know how far behind the group was but I decided to go for it and it paid off. I can't think of a better way to retire as European Champion – this is the best day of my life, well except for the birth of my daughter, obviously!" he said.
The women's race was dominated at the start by Kate Comber (GBR) and Eva Potuckova (CZE) who exited the water first in 57:26. By the second lap of the bike course, Comber had put three minutes into Potuckova and came into T2 2:35 up. Up until this point, Lindholm had been under the radar, playing catch-up after a 1:11 swim and not registering on the timing system due to a chip issue. Arriving in T2 in third, she soon made her presence known. By 10k, she had formed a 1:13 lead over Comber and continued to extend this over the multi-lap course along Weymouth's beachfront promenade, taking the European title 10:50 ahead of second place Comber. Vicky Gill rounded off the women's podium in 9:53:26.
 Women's ETU European Long Distance Triathlon Champion 2015, Camilla Lindholm (SWE) crosses the line at Challenge Weymouth(Photo: Challenge Family; click to enlarge) |
Men's Results
1. Marek Jaskolka (POL) – 8:42:32
2. Jaroslav Kovacic (SLO) – 8:45:51
3. Sergio Marques (POR) – 8:46:51
4. David Näsvik (SWE) – 8:51:38
5. Graeme Stewart (GBR) – 8:53:04
Women's Results
1. Camilla Lindholm (SWE) – 9:41:31
2. Kate Comber (GBR) – 9:52:21
3. Vicky Gill (GBR) – 9:53:26
4. Eva Potuckova (CZE) – 10:06:52
5. Yvette Grice (GBR) – 10:09:49
