Byli blízko. Teprve potřetí v historii mohli jablonečtí fotbalisté zvítězit na neoblíbeném stadionu U Nisy. Když v 73. minutě odpověděli ihned po rozehrávce na penaltové snížení Rabušice a odskočili na rozdíl 3:1, zdálo se, že už jim vítězství nikdo nevezme. Liberec se ale vzchopil a dvěma góly v závěru dokázal vyrovnat na konečných 3:3.

Italy’s Franco Pesavento secured an outstanding second winter world triathlon title on Saturday in the mountain of Pragelato, making a bold breakaway early on the first run segment that he was able to stick for the duration of the race.

It was a case of revenge for the previous day’s duathlon defeat at the hands of Norway’s defending champion Hans Christian Tungesvik, who couldn’t match the impressive run-bike speed of his rival over the first half of the race, leaving too much ground to make up over the ski. Tungesvik was locked in a battle for silver with master of the mountain bike Marek Rauchfuss, before pulling clear over the final kilometres, the Czech scoring his sixth podium in the competition.

“That was tough,” admitted Pesavento, “but I just tried to push on the climbs and was able to stay clear. It feels great to win, especially here in Italy. The organisers have done such a great job to hold this race and I want to thank my team. I knew I had to put the pace on from the start and it was enough to win the gold.”

There was no doubt as to Italy’s 2022 World Champion’s intentions as he put the hammer down from the start horn and threw caution to the wind in establishing a commanding 30 second lead after just two 2km run laps.

It was an important margin, too, Rauchfuss immediately reeling him in on the first mountain bike, Italian Alessandro Saravelle also going well with teammate Giuseppe Lamastra, Tungesvik dropping another 30 seconds back from the leader.

Once into his favoured skis, however, it wasn’t long before defending champion was slicing through the field, but even as he closed in on second he could only claw 40 seconds back from the leader.

At the end of the second run it was Pesavento under the bridge first and into transition then out onto his bike with a healthy 40 second lead over Tungesvik, who himself now had the same margin over Rauchfuss and a minute over Lamastra and Romania’s Viorel Palici.

Rauchfuss was attacking hard to close the gap to Tungesvik and eventually passed him on lap two, but both were still a full minute off Pesavento who was into his skis and away as his rivals entered transition.

A swift T2 and Tungesvik was out with Rauchfuss, both giving chase but, with 65seconds to make up over the final 6km ski, it quickly looked like an impossible task. The Norwegian pulled 10 seconds out after first climb and descent, 10 more on the flat but he could do no more to catch the flying Italian as he soared down the final straight and took his flag and the tape by 35 seconds.

A smiling Tungesvik crossed for silver a full 90 seconds ahead of Rauchfuss in third, Lamastra another minute back in fourth, Palici fifth.

For full results click here.

It was another near-perfect day on the snow for Sandra Mairhofer as the Italian raced solo for close to two hours from the first run segment all the way to the tape on Saturday morning, earning the World Triathlon Winter Championship title in style in Pragelato.

Low temperatures led to some icy patches across the demanding course, where two laps of each of the very different run, bike and ski courses tested the concentration as well as power and finesse of the field, but it was the Italian who kept everyone at a safe distance, Aneta Grabmuller Soldati (CZE) and Julie Meinicke (NOR) taking silver and bronze.

“They were tricky conditions and changed from lap to lap especially on the bike but I like it slippery and technical, but it’s hard work and there was a lot of climbing,” said Mairhofer. “I have felt good in training so had confidence on the run and bike and wanted to gain time there knowing my ski wasn’t so strong. The organisers put a great event on and I was really happy I could take the win and Franco too. Looking forward to the summer season now!”

Italy’s defending champion was straight on the gas from the opening strides of the run and looking to assert herself rather than save energy, putting 10 seconds into the field after one lap of the opening run, doubling that by the time she hit the mountain bike and absolutely demolishing both laps of a testing 3km course.

Grabmuller pulled back a minute over the first ski segment to get herself back into contention, only for the second run to put the result almost beyond doubt, the lead stretching from 30 seconds up to 90 onto the bike and then Mairhofer simply extended the lead from there.

Grabmuller was safe in second position as Julie Meinicke matched the Czech on ski and run but fell back over the bike. The Norwegian was still able to deliver another U23 title as well as the elite bronze, older sister Stina trying unsuccessfully to reign in her sibling and Winter Duathlon World Champion Ine Skjellum unable to sustain her challenge on two wheels.

Up ahead, it was Sandra Mairhofer taking the flag down the home chute and another imperious display ensured gold by a margin of nearly two minutes, setting up what is surely going to be another exciting year in multisport for the Italian talent.

Full results available here.

A golden day for Callum McClusky (AUS) at the Napier World Triathlon Cup, earning his first-ever world cup podium holding off world’s number 2 Hayden Wilde, who despite struggling on the swim, emptied the tank to hunt the silver medal. Bronze on the day was for Spain’s Alberto Gonzalez Garcia, showcasing fine form on the season opener of the World Cup circuit.

The men’s race witnessed an intense start, with the swim stringing out early over the 750m course. Italian Alessio Crociani set a blistering pace, leading the field into T1. Home talent Dylan McCullough closely followed, creating a lead pack with a significant advantage over pre-race favorite Hayden Wilde.

The Olympic bronze medallist Wilde produced a subpar swim that saw him second to last out of the choppy waters, and with quite a lot to do if he wanted to start the season with a home victory. But “the Falcon” was on a mission the second he jumped on the bike, 47 seconds behind the leaders and in the third chase group, and showcased a relentless pursuit, gradually closing the gap over the 20 km bike course.

By the time the leading group, that included names like Callum McClusky (AUS), Casper Stornes (NOR), Alberto Gonzalez García (ESP), Ben Djikstra (GBR) or Shachar Sagiv (ISR), just to name a few, hit the second transition, Wilde’s group was just 26 seconds behind them and ready for what would be a run for the books.

The day, however, belonged to McClusky, who demonstrated strength and composure throughout the race, holding off Wilde’s charge to secure his first World Triathlon Cup victory. While Wilde was chasing rival after rival, McClusky managed to keep his cool to cross the finish line just six seconds ahead of Wilde, who despite the support of the local crowds was just a few meters short to be able to chase him.

McClusky’s victory, first time ever of his career, puts him on a great spot on the fight for the Paris2024 selection. “It’s amazing, it’s seven years since my first World Cup and it’s taken me seven years to get on the podium, it’s been a lot of hard work with my team and we’ve had to work really hard to get here, ” he said.

Less happy, Wilde was totally conscious of what he needs to work on before heading to the first WTCS of the season, Abu Dhabi in just two weeks. “That was a disaster (the swim). I worked really hard on the bike, we got some movement in the group, I was pulling pretty hard and I just wanted to keep the gap as small as possible and we got something going on. I was pretty sore for the run and I just went for it. I think I ran pretty fast, so I am really happy with that and the hard bike, it is a good preparation for Abu Dhabi. I might need to assess there (the swim)  but it was a choppy swim and I just didn’t have a good day out there, ” he explained. In fact, the kiwi produced the fastest run split of the day, 20 seconds faster than McClusky.

The podium was completed by Spaniard Alberto Gonzalez Garcia, adding to the resurgence of Spanish talent in the triathlon world. “It feels amazing. In every race I feel more consistent in the three disciplines, I was swimming in the front, kept the pace on the bike and on the run, it was a mix of changing speed and finally it was just hold until the end”, he said.

Fourth on the day was Sagiv, delivering a strong performance that consolidates his inclusion in the Olympic rankings, while another Kiwi, Dylan McCullough, rounded the top five on the day.

Sophie Linn (AUS) secured her first-ever World Triathlon Cup victory in Napier, New Zealand, marking an unforgettable opener to the season for the young Australian, who has put herself in a great position on the road to secure a spot on the Olympic team for Paris 2024. Linn’s stellar performance unfolded under the Kiwi sun, with a solid race that had her crossing the finish line ten seconds ahead of the British duo of Sophie Alden and Olivia Mathias, who sprinted for silver with finally Alden securing the second spot on the podium. Alden, like Linn, celebrated her inaugural appearance on a World Cup podium, while for Mathias this is the second podium of her career.

A beautiful day on the idilic town of Napier, on the North Island east coast, welcomed the participants of the World Triathlon Cup Napier, opener of the season, with all set up for a sprint race for the ages: 740m swim without wetsuits on choppy waters with a challenging beach star, followed by four laps of 5km each on the bike course, flat as it can be but quite technical, to round up the day with a 5km run along the coast.

After navigating smoothly through the choppy 750m swim, the British duo of Alden and Mathias led the group out of the water and they were able to make it to the first transition with some meters of advantage over the small chase group, but it was shortly after mounting on their bikes when both of them were caught by the chasers, a group that included Eva Goodisson (NZL), Sophie Linn (AUS), Emma Jeffcoat (AUS), Paulina Klimas (POL), Melanie Santos (POR) and Zsanett Kuttor-Bragmayer (HUN).

The group managed to stay on the lead for the 20km bike ride and they made it to the second transition with over thirty seconds with the chase pack, a massive group that included some of the pre-race favourites like Gina Sereno (USA), Valerie Barthelemy (BEL), Natalie Van Coevorden (AUS) or Ilaria Zane (ITA).

Out of T2, Linn managed her way to the lead of the small group and started a magnificent run that will end up with the young Aussie claiming the gold medal in style, first-ever of her career.  “It feels amazing to come out in an Olympic year and get my first win at a World Cup, I couldn’t have asked for a better start. The season prep has been really good, I have just been based in Boulder, that’s where I am happiest with all of my friends, my dog and my partner so it’s been a really good winter of training. I came down here two weeks ago, just to get a bit of warm weather and it definitely paid off, ” she explained. “I am going to stay in New Zealand for another week and then head to Abu Dhabi and then back to Boulder to prepare for Yokohama and Cagliari”, said the Aussie, that is focusing on trying to get a spot on the Australian team for Paris 2024.

Behind her, the Brit duo of Alden and Mathias put on a show for the crowd in Napier, sprinting on the blue carpet to finally Alden just beating Mathias to claim the silver medal by less than a second. “I knew I was in good shape coming into it but it’s the first race of the season and you never know what you’re going to get but I just exceeded expectations and am just so happy, ” she said.  “The bike was hard, it was a solid ride and the group worked so hard together to pull away so that was really good and then sometimes you never know what you’re going to get running off the bike but I took it off hard. I am glad I did, I committed and I am just super happy,” she explained after what was also the first podium on the World Cup circuit for the Brit.

“It feels good. I really didn’t know what shape I was in coming in here, we didn’t push anything into this race and I knew I was racing the relay tomorrow so it kind of was like, just see where you are in the individual but I am pleased with that. We haven’t done any kicking into gear training yet but I think that’s kicked me into gear”, said Mathias after finishing the race.

In fourth and fifth, Melanie Santos of Portugal and Kuttor-Bragmayer were able to hold off two fast finishers, Ilaria Zane of Italy, while USA’s Sereno had the fastest run split on the day to round up the day with a sixth place.

Welcome to The Apex, your regular round-up of all that’s happening in swim-bike-run…

And we can say it again at last - It’s race week!!

COMING UP - Napier World Cup

The 2024 World Cup circuit blows into New Zealand on Saturday, when Napier makes its debut as host and fans will be hoping for more of the fireworks we saw in New Plymouth at the start of last season. Hayden Wilde leads the men’s race, Gina Sereno wears the women’s #1, plus Vasco Vilaca’s Portugal and a strong Hungary team chase Mixed Relay glory on Sunday - watch it all on unfold over on TriathlonLive.tv from 16:15 local time, with the Junior Oceania Cup to get the action underway! Catch up on what’s been happening down under.

TUNE IN FOR LIVE COVERAGE: TRIATHLONLive.tv

COMING UP - Pragelato Winter World Championships

Italy steps up to host the Winter Triathlon World Championships for the first time since Asiago 2021, with Pragelato-Sestriere - home of the 2006 Winter Olympic Nordic Ski racing - hosting the run/mountain-bike/ski on the snow from Friday to Sunday. Sandra Mairhofer is the Italian multisport maestro looking for her third world title, Norway’s Hans Christian Tungesvik likewise, both champions last year, both favourites to leave with the titles this year. Check out the Winter Duathlon World Championship gallery.

RACE PREVIEWS: TRIATHLON.ORG

RACE NEWS - Continental Cups heating up

Continental Cup action this weekend includes some intriguing racing in Havana, Cuba, where 2016 Olympic Champion and Paris 2024 hopeful Gwen Jorgensen has chosen to start her season, while Julie Derron (SUI) races Putrajaya, Malaysia. Felix Duchampt (ROU) continues his pursuit of an Olympic berth as he also heads to Cuba a week after victory in Venezuela. Kazakhstan’s Ayan Beisenbayev looks to follow up his Africa Triathlon Conti Cup win in Troutbeck last week with more points in Egypt’s Sharm El Sheikh.

eNEWS - E World Triathlon Championships hit London in April

Triathlon’s unique eSport series Arena Games has been replaced by a one-day E World Triathlon Championships, and the atmosphere inside the London Aquatics Centre is going to be more electric than ever as 60 athletes battle through the heats to reach a 10-deep final. With the start lists still one month away and so many eyes on Paris, expect some young guns eyeing up the chance to claim a world title and precious World Triathlon ranking points.

THE ATHLETES LOUNGE

SPOTTED - Training Camp fever is spreading like wildfire ahead of the season start, with some athletes retreating to far-flung corners for some top-secret sessions, others joining the merry throng getting blown around the Canary Islands. Here’s a handful our spies have spotted:

+ David Castro keeping the chat flowing in Lanzarote with Vincent Luis and Jake Birtwhistle
+ Sophie Coldwell, Alex Yee and a posse of GB faces open water swimming in Oz
+ Brazilian duo Miguel Hidalgo and Djenyfer Arnold hitting Dubai ahead of WTCS Abu Dhabi
+ Laura Lindemann and Nina Eim among the German crew in Namibia along with Dutch star Jetze Plat
+ Csongor Lehmann’s training group is in La Nucia, where they came across Beth Potter, Alistair Brownlee and a Leeds crew heading south for the winter.

LISTEN AGAIN - He may have missed out on a World Cup medal by the finest margins in New Plymouth last year, but it kickstarted a season that propelled him to Olympic contention - listen to Dylan McCullough discuss form, focus and team tactics on the World Triathlon Podcast.

WATCH - Want to see Gwen Jorgensen caked in mud racing the Old Man Winter Bike Rally with Jens Voigt? Look no further!

DIVE IN - Want to know the secret to preparing for your first open water swim? Here’s some tips from those that know.

Overnight snow and glorious sunshine made for a beautiful first day of competition at the 2024 World Triathlon Winter Championships Pragelato-Sestriere, with the duathlon titles the first on the line for the weekend in Italy.

A two-lap 3km run, two-lap 5km ski course was repeated twice, and after narrowly missing out on gold on home soil last year, it was the Norwegian athletes who took revenge on their Italian rivals as first Ine Skjellum and then Hans Christian Tungesvik got to grips with the icy conditions to take the titles.

Skjellum delivers run-ski masterclass

It was Slovakia’s Margareta Bicanova and returning Czech talent Natalie Brlicova setting the early pace, but it was Brlicova with a brilliant transition to head out onto the first ski in front.

From there, the Norwegians began to show their cross-country prowess, defending U23 champion Julie Meinicke and Ine Skjellum hauling their way back into the reckoning on the fast, icy downhill.

It was on lap one of the second run that Skjellum’s patience paid off, passing Brlicova and from there she never looked back. Another fluid Czech transition kept her in the hunt, but even a ten-second equipment penalty for the Norwegian just before the finish chute couldn’t derail her title charge.

“I think the opening pace was too hard,” said Skjellum. “I know it’s always hard to pace the start and then the ski can be tiring, so I wanted to hold the pace the whole way. The uphill was really tough and it was pretty icy today so you use a lot of energy just to stay up, but we Norwegians are used to that and we have practiced that loop a lot this week. The course suited me well and it’s great to get gold at the third effort.”

Tungesvik takes title after Italian battle

The early momentum looked all Italian as the men took to the course, Franco Pesavento hoping to dilute his Norwegian rival’s ski power early on and after putting 15 seconds into Tungesvik over the first run lap, the lead was doubled by the time he and Endre Wigaard hit the skis.

Wigaard’s compatriot then set about hauling in the leaders, his technique on the flat seeing Pesavento’s lead dissolve and as Wigaard fell back and Romania’s Viorel Palici hit third, it began to look like a two-way battle for the title.

Tungesvik was able to stick with Italy’s 2022 Winter Tri champion to the conclusion of the second run and that made the result almost a forgone conclusion. First the Norwegian sat on Pesavento’s shoulder up the draining ski climb, then he managed to pull clear over the second half, soaring clear to the tape to win by nearly 30 seconds, Palici with the bronze and Italy’s Guglielmo Giuliano crossing in fourth and earning the U23 world title in the process.

“I thought if I was within half a minute off the first run I was okay, but I also felt I could make up ground on the ski,” said Tungesvik. “The long uphill section really took its toll, the altitude as well, and it was a really tight battle so really happy to bring it home. On the flats was where I made up time today but he was really strong uphill, so I had to try and be smarter. I have two triathlon titles already, but it was fun to take the duathlon today.”

For the full results, click here.

Místo písku sníh, místo pláže hory a místo plavek teplé oblečení a kopačky. Tento víkend (konkrétně v sobotu od 9:00) se ve Špindlerově mlýně uskuteční další mistrovství republiky ve snow volejbalu. Kurty budou postavené na dojezdu sjezdovky ve Svatém Petru, turnaj pro dvanáct týmů mužů a žen bude rozšířen o kategorii U20. Bojovat se na něm bude také o nominace na březnové mistrovství Evropy.