Kristian Blummenfelt of Norway proved to be ready for Rio with dominating bike and run splits to finish with a 1:14 margin of victory at the sprint distance Montreal World Cup.
Flora Duffy of Bermuda also served notice she is in Rio medal-contending form as she unleashed a women's-best swim, a dominating bike split and a women’s 3rd-best run to edge Australian Olympian Ashleigh Gentle by 24 seconds at the Montreal sprint.
Men
After exiting the swim in 11th position about 20 seconds behind swim leader William Huffman of the U.S., Blummenfelt turned on the jets with a race-best 31:10 split for the 20km bike leg and led the pack into T2.
As they hit the second transition zone, Blummenfelt exploded out of the gate and immediately broke away. Blummenfelt well and truly shut the door on the field with a race-best 15:04 5km run that was 42 seconds better than the next best efforts of Kevin McDowell of the U.S. and Diogo Sclebin of Brazil, who were struggling to improve to 7th and 9th overall to make up for deficits on the swim and bike.
“We have been doing a bit of training in the last couple of weeks and my body is responding well,” said Blummenfelt. “One day after altitude it can be good and the next it can be crappy, especially after so close to coming down, so I am pleased to see that it was a good one today.”
The remaining two spots on the podium were taken by two World Cup podium first timers. Canada’s Matt Sharpe combined a 4th-fastest swim, 4th-best bike split and a 10th-fastest 16:18 run to finish second, 4 seconds ahead of 3rd-place Eric Lagerstrom of the U.S.
“I am pretty shattered right now,” said Sharpe, “in all aspects, physically, emotionally, spiritually. But it was beautiful out there, amazing crowds. I am just stunned right now. I haven’t raced much in Canada in the last few years. I’ve had a bit of a struggle, so for me it is just nice to have a good performance.”
Women
In the last major competition before the Rio Olympics, Duffy grabbed her first World Cup win of the season and her first since 2012.
On the swim, Duffy trailed swim leader Summer Cook of the U.S. by 2 seconds and hit T1 a just a few seconds in front of a hungry pack of 15 women.
Duffy then took charge with her famous cycle strength, unleashing a women’s-best 33:25 bike split that was 17 seconds better than the next-best effort of U.S. rising star Taylor Knibb and a minute better than a pack of 11 led by Gentle.
Duffy held on for the win with a 3rd-best 17:43 run split that gave back 50 seconds to Gentle. But with a 1:12 lead in the bank at T2, Duffy finished in 1:03:00 with a margin of 24 seconds on runner-up Gentle and 44 seconds on 3rd-place Knibb, who earned her first World Cup podium.
“It came as a bit of a surprise,” said Duffy, who said it didn’t come easy. “I came in here pretty tired from a big block of training for Rio. But I wanted to get one last hit out, so I knew it could go either way. It definitely hurt out there - it did not feel too pretty.”
Gentle said this race set her up well for Rio.
“I have not raced since Yokohama, but I knew that coming here was good timing for Rio,” said Gentle. “So I am pretty relieved that I put up a good result.”
After Gentle caught her on the second lap of the run, Knibb manages to hold off the other passing threats and claim her first World Cup podium in her first World Cup race ever.
“It is my first World Cup,” said Knibb, “so it is all a big surprise!”
ITU Montreal World Cup
Montreal, Canada
August 7, 2016
S 750m / B 20k / R 5k
Results
Men
1. Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR) 57:29
2. Matthew Sharpe (CAN) 58:43
3. Eric Lagerstrom (USA) 58:47
4. Maximilian Schwetz (GER) 58:54
5. Jumpei Furuya (JPN) 58:57
6. Franz Loeschke (GER) 59:09
7. William Huffman (USA) 59:12
8. Kevin McDowell (USA) 59:16
9. Diogo Sclebin (BRA) 59:20
10. Simon De Cuyper (BEL) 59:24
12. Manuel Huerta (PUR) 59:29
16. Matthew McElroy (USA) 59:53
18. Hunter Lussi (USA) 1:00:09
31. Robby Webster (USA) 1:02:28
33. Josh Izewski (USA) 1:03:15
39. Andrew Roos (USA) 1:05:15
Women
1. Flora Duffy (BER) 1:03:00
2. Ashleigh Gentle (AUS) 1:03:24
3. Taylor Knibb (USA) 1:03:44
4. Emma Jackson (AUS) 1:04:16
5. Lindsey Jerdonek (USA) 1:04:24
6. Jolanda Annen (SUI) 1:04:33
7. Kirsten Kasper (USA) 1:04:43
8. Yuka Sato (JPN 1:05:04
9. Taylor Spivey (USA) 1:05:27
10. Paula Findlay (CAN) 1:05:39
12. Kaitlin Donner (USA) 1:05:56
13. Erin Jones (USA) 1:06:11
14. Erin Dolan (USA) 1:06:17
23. Sarah Alexander (USA) 1:07:55
24. Kirsten Sweetland (CAN) 1:08:21
26. Summer Cook (USA) 1:08:59
31. Kyleigh Spearing (USA) 1:10:48
DNF Erin Densham (AUS)
