Frenchman Aurelien Raphael and Polish Agnieszka Jerzyk became champions of the 2014 edition of the European Triathlon Cup, which took place this Saturday in the city of Quarteira, in front of thousands of people watching, in what was the edition with the most entries ever in the history of the test.
The emotion of the races, disputed until the finish, infected the large audience that was in Quarteira this weekend.
Frenchman Aurelien Raphael, with 01:49:24, became the first triathlete to win this first stage of the European Union Triathlon circuit twice, after the triumph in 2012 and the second place in 2013.
His compatriot Aurélien Lebrun was second, with the same official time, and Briton Gordon Benson third, 11 seconds off (01:49:35).
In the Elite Women's competition, the Polish
was ranked 11th at the end of the cycling segment, but made an excellent recovery in the race, winning the race with a time of 02:02:39 hours. In 2012, it was ranked 9th in Quarteira.
French Emmie Charayron was one of the favorites at the start and ended up winning second place (02:03:03), 24 seconds behind the Polish. The podium closed with the Belgian Katrien Verstuyft, 40 seconds away (02:03:20).
Miguel Arraiolos, 15th place, with 01:51:12, and Melanie Santos, 10th place, with 02:06:14, were the best Portuguese in the competition.
Junior Cup dominated by French athletes
In the European Juniors Cup, Frenchman Maxime Hueber cut the goal in first place, with a time of 00:57:08. The Spanish Antonio Serrat Seone (00:57:12) and Roberto Sanchez Mantecon (00:57:17) were, respectively, the 2nd and 3rd place.
Also at the female level, the French got the better of their opponents. Cassandre Beaugrand (01:03:11) and Audrey Merle (01:03:24), were ranked 1st and 2nd, respectively, ahead of German Laura Lindemann (01:03:47).
Among the best ranked Portuguese were David Luís, with a time of 00:57:52, and Madalena Amaral Almeida, with a time of 01:06:07, both ranked 10th.
On Sunday took place the tests counting for the Cup of Portugal. Benfica player Bruno Pais achieved another victory in this Algarve city, with a time of 00:56:22. Estefania Calvo, from Garmin Olímpico de Oeiras, was the best among the women, when she cut the goal with 01:02:55.
In terms of teams, Sport Lisboa e Benfica reached the first place in Men's, ahead of Garmin Olímpico de Oeiras, 2nd place, and Kainagua, 3rd place. In women's teams, Garmin Olímpico de Oeiras was ranked 1st, followed by Sporting Clube de Portugal, ranked 2nd, and Alhandra Sporting Club, ranked 3rd.
2015 edition will be in March
The Municipality of Loulé has already submitted the candidacy of the dates for the realization of the Triathlon Prof. Carlos Gravata – City of Quarteira next year. This sporting event once again brings the best athletes from Europe and the world in this sport to the Algarve.
The anticipation of the event for the month of March will allow more world class athletes to participate in this competition, as, in this way, it will not collide with other world competitions that also take place in the month of April.
Despite being a competition counting for the European Cup, athletes from all over the world find in the Quarteira Triathlon a way to score for the World Championship, in addition to being a competition considered of excellence in organizational terms, both by the athletes, as well as by participating teams and by the Federation itself.
For those in charge of Loulé City Council, an entity that, in partnership with the Portuguese Triathlon Federation and the European Triathlon Federation, organizes the event, this event has been consolidated over the years and is today a world reference in this sport.
On the other hand, it has an important weight in tourist activity and in the local economic dynamism at this time of year, due to the number of foreign fans it brings to the county.
This will be one of the events of the “Loulé, European City of Sport 2015” application, a project that aims to integrate the municipality into a European sports network.
Comments