Reversing the order of the SLT Arena Games Powered by Zwift contest in London last month, Sophie Coldwell edged fellow Brit Beth Potter by a single point earned by a 5 seconds margin in the final stage of the women’s category. After securing a victory each in Stage One and Two, Brits Coldwell and Potter settled matters in the final bike-swim-run of Stage 3. After a standoff in the opening bike leg, the 26-year-old Coldwell took the lead in the second swim leg at the Zwimcentrum, then Coldwell upset the 29-year-old former Olympic Games runner Potter by 5 seconds against Potter’s formidable run. In the three weeks between the London and Rotterdam Arena Games contest, Potter proved that she maintained her Olympic running form with a second-fastest road running 5km of all time.
Anna Godoy of Spain filled out the women’s podium with a 6th, 3rd and 3rd place finishes in the three Stages, seven points behind Potter.
The shifting tides in this high-speed sprint format race illustrated that endurance and strategy decided the balance of power.
In the men’s contest, Marten Van Riel of Belgium repeated his win at the SLT Arena Games in London with perfect 10-10-10 winning scores in the three stages at Rotterdam, far outpacing runner-up Alex Yee of Great Britain who scored 3rd, 5th and 2nd in the three stages. Notably, super runner Yee posted superbly consistent Arena Games record 2:42 splits in the three 1-kilometer segments. Yee edged Aurelien Raphael of France by one point for third place overall. Yee earned the silver by surpassing Raphael in the final stage as Raphael placed 4th, 4th and 3rd.
The Rotterdam Arena Games Triple Mix format faced entrants with a Stage One 200-meter swim followed by a 1 kilometer run and a 3-kilometer cycling leg. Stage 2 was run-bike-swim and concluded with a Stage 3 bike-swim-run.
Following the 200-meter Pool Swim, the Rotterdam Arena Games indoor arena entered the virtual realm. The competitors jumped on a Stationary Turbo Trainer bikes and their progress was illustrated by avatars racing on a background screen. For the run leg, the competitors jumped on treadmills where their progress was tracked by computerized avatars racing one another in front of a virtual background.
Men
Stage One
French swim experts Aurelien Raphael and Anthony Pujades led the swim just ahead of Jonas Schomburg of Germany. On the run leg Raphael led Schomburg and Pujades with Arena London champ Van Riel in fourth. Raphael led Schomburg and Van Riel by a slim margin. On the bike leg, Brit Alex Yee and Portugal’s Vasco Vilaca joined the leaders. On the cobblestone section, Vilaca surged to the lead before Van Riel flew past at the line with Yee taking the Stage 1 third place.
Stage 2
On the opening run leg, Yee won by 3 seconds over Van Riel and Schomburg. On the bike leg, Van Riel rode shoeless to save time in transition. By the finish the lead six crossed the line in a virtual tie. On the final swim leg, Van Riel surged to the front and held off the swimmers for another 10 points Stage and a perfect 20 for 20.
Stage 3
On the opening bike leg, the group rode in a tight pack with local triathlete Marco Van Der Stel taking the win in equal time. In the 200-meter swim, Pujades led the field with Van Riel right on his heels. On the run, Yee advanced from 5th to 2nd behind Van Riel, who secured another Stage win and the overall men’s Rotterdam title.
Women
Stage 1
Powerful British swimmer Sophie Coldwell led the women’s field out of the water just ahead of Beth Potter and Maya Kingma. On the 1km run, Coldwell led Potter at the 500-meter mark before Potter took the lead. The two duked it out to the line as Dutch athlete Rani Skrabanja trailed by 15 seconds in third. On the bike, Potter led to the line with a 10 seconds margin on Coldwell, ands 15 seconds on Maya Kingma.
Stage 2
In a key move, Coldwell outran Potter and Anna Godoy of Spain by 3 seconds. On the bike, Godoy, Coldwell and Potter charged to a 10 seconds lead on the field with Godoy leading at T1.
Stage 3
All 10 athletes formed a tight pack on the bike which shut down all break attempts with Kingma earning a slender lead at T2. In the final run segment, Coldwell broke out in a 5 seconds lead over Potter and Kingma. With 500km to go, Coldwell maintained her 5 seconds margin and increased it to 6.8 seconds at the virtual tape. Potter toon second overall and Godoy took third place in Stage 3 and earned bronze overall.
Super League Triathlon Arena Games
21 April Rotterdam, Netherlands - Zwimcentrun
Triple Mix: 200 meters Pool Swim/ 3k Turbo Trainer Bike / 1k Treadmill Run
Stage 1 – Swim-Run-Bike
Stage 2 – Run-Bike-Swim
Stage 3 – Bike-Swim-Run
Points per stage:
1st place – 10 points
2nd place - 9 points
3rd place – 8 points
4th place – 7 points
5th place – 6 points
6th place – 5 points
7thg place – 4 points
8th place – 3 points
9th place – 2 points
10th place - 1 point
Women
1. Sophie Coldwell (GBR) Stage 1 – 9 Stage 2 – 10 Stage 3 – 10 - TOT 29
2. Beth Potter (GBR) Stage 1 – 10 Stage 2 – 9 Stage 3 – 9 – TOT 28
3. Anna Godoy (ESP) Stage 1 – 5 Stage 2 8 Stage 3 – 8 – TOT 21
4. Lisa Tertsch (GER) Stage 1 – 7 Stage 2 – 6 Stage 3 –6 – TOT 19
5. Maya Kingma (NED) Stage 1 – 8 Stage 2 – 2 Stage 3 – 7 – TOT 17
6. Kate Waugh (GBR) Stage 1 – 4 Stage 2 – 7 Stage 3 – 7 – TOT 14
7. Ilaria Zane (ESP) Stage 1 – 1 Stage 2 – 5 Stage 3 -5 – TOT 11
8. Alice Betto ITA) Stage 1 – 2 Stage 2 – 3 Stage 3 – 4 – TOT 9
9. Rachel Klamer (NED) Stage 1 – 3 Stage 2 – 4 Stage 3 – 2 – TOT 9
10. Rani Skrabanja (NED) Stage 1 – 6 Stage 2 – 1 Stage 3 – 1 – TOT 8
Men
1. Marten Van Riel (BEL) Stage 1 – 10 Stage 2 – 10 Stage 3 – 10 – TOT 30
2. Alex Yee (GBR) Stage 1 – 8 Stage 2 – 6 Stage 3 - 9 – TOT 23
3. Aurelien Raphael (FRA) Stage 1 – 7 Stage 2 – 7 Stage 3 – 8 TOT 22
4. Jonas Schomburg (GER) Stage 1 – 6 State 2 – 8 Stage 3 – 7 TOT 21
5. Anthony Pujades (FRA) Stage 1 – 5 State 2 – 9 Stage 3 – 6 – TOT 20
6. Vasco Vilaca (POR) Stage 1 - 9 Stage 2 – 5 Stage 3 – 1 – TOT 15
7. Felix Duchamp (FRA) Stage 1 – 4 Stage 2 – 1 Stage 3 – 5 TOT 10
8. Van der Stel (NED) Stage 1 – 1 Stage 2 – 4 Stage 3 - 4 – TOT 9
9. Alois Knabl (AUT) Stage 1 – 3 Stage 2 – 3 Stage 3 – 3 – TOT 9
10. Daniel Bakkegard (DEN) Stage 1 – 2 Stage 2 – 2 Stage 3 – 2 -TOT 6
