Tyler Smith 32nd at Valencia ITU Triathlon World Cup
Bermuda’s Tyler Smith continued his development as an international-class triathlete after finishing 32nd at the Valencia ITU Triathlon World Cup this afternoon.
Smith completed the 750-metre swim, 20-kilometre cycle and 5km run in 53min 12sec in a crack 53-strong Elite Men’s field in which there were six who did not finish the race or were disqualified.
The 22-year-old, who was 22nd in Barcelona on October 25 and 26th in Arzachena, Italy, two weeks earlier, will take comfort from his race speed, as he knocked almost three minutes off his previous time.
He came out of the water in 8:36, completed the four-lap cycle in 27:09 and clocked 16:04 for the run.
If he is to be disappointed about anything, it might be the slowest transition in the field from the swim to cycle, taking up almost one minute.
At the head of the field was race favourite Vincent Luis, of France, who held off Britain’s Alistair Brownlee in a battle of tactics once they dropped Pierre Le Corre, another Frenchman, at the beginning of the run.
The trio worked in tandem on the cycle and took turns in distancing themselves from the chasing pack — of which one was Bermuda’s Smith before he was dropped.
With Brownlee only just returning to top-class triathlon having contemplated retirement two years ago, and not having nearly as many miles in his legs, the fitter and naturally faster Luis bided his time from the front.
He needed to cover only one genuine move, which he did comfortably, and then settled it with one decisive kick.
Luis’s winning time was 50:22 with Brownlee, the two-times Olympic champion, second in 50:25.
Le Corre, meanwhile, had been reeled in and passed by Belgium’s Jelle Geens, who was timed in 50:33.
Flora Duffy not on start line
The day started with the women’s race and the expectation that Flora Duffy would be going for a third successive World Cup win.
But the Bermudian superstar was not in 31-strong field, from which Beth Potter, of Britain, who was second to Duffy in Arzachena, emerged victorious in 56:35. Nicola Spirig, the former Olympic champion from Switzerland, was second in 56:38 and Lisa Tertsch, of Germany, third in 56:39.
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