Claire Michel battling for 10th (picture: ITU/Wagner Araujo)
Home athlete Flora Duffy was out of league in the WTS at Bermuda. She came first out of the water, went solo on the bike and took a lonely win. She had an impressive 2 minute gap on the runner-up, Claire Michel came 13th, Valerie Barthelemy 26th.
Duffy visibly enjoyed the home victory. Vicky Holland (GBR) came second after a sprint against Katie Zafares. Kasper finished 4th and takes the overall ranking lead.
Flora Duffy starting the party at Bermuda (picture: ITU/Wagner Araujo)
After a solid swim, Claire emerged 20th from the water, only 10 seconds behind Valerie. They were in the same bike pack, but Valerie lost touch after a near crash. Claire tried to cling on, but the second lap went a tad too fast. She dropped from the group a found herself in a battle for 10th place. Fell short in the sprint, but does obtain some very needed points with her 13th place. Valerie was on her own and merely avoided getting lapped by Duffy, allowing her to finish in 26th.
Maya Kingma leading the way (picture: ITU/Wagner Araujo)
Maya Kingma came on hard on the bike and did her best to keep the pace up high. This effort had to be paid cash during the run, where she would only finish 16th.
"Keep on going despite cramps"
Claire Michel had to face her demons during the race. "I was disoriented coming out of the water, but I saw a large pack in front of me and gave it all to join them. I continued my streak and tried to close the gap with the lead pack. The effort caused me to drop on the second climb, leaving me to slow down and conserve energy for the run. I was all cramped up from the effort, but managed to place a solid run."
"Valerie against the back wheel"
Valerie Barthelemy finishing 26th (picture: Rudy Geens)
"It's impressive how she kept going on character. On the climb she slammed against my wheel, so I fear she crashed due to me, but Valerie ensured me that this was not the case. Apparently she was pushed by another falling athlete. She did lose contact with the group, but kept on fighting," says Claire.
Original article posted on 3athlon.be by Gert-Jan D'haene on 29/04/2018
Translation by @T0v3