Brownlee, McQueen And Coninx All Qualify For Supertri E Final
Chase McQueen made clear his intention to defend his Supertri E World Triathlon Championships powered by MyWhoosh title with a hugely impressive qualifying performance.
In a format that saw the first two athletes automatically qualify for the finals with the four fastest losers across the heats, which consisted of two back-to-back rounds of swim, bike and run, joining them, defending champion Chase McQueen totally dominated Heat 1.
The American star took off hard in the first swim and was never in any danger as the field quickly fell back behind him, allowing McQueen the opportunity to conserve some energy and cruise over the finish line.
The race for the second automatic qualifier ended with a dramatic sprint finish as Poland’s Maciej Bruzdziak put in a surge to overtake German star Henry Graf and did enough to just hold him off.
It didn’t really matter though as Heat 1 proved to be so fast that third, fourth and fifth all made it through. Graf was joined by Ian Pennekamp of the Netherlands and Hungary’s Marton Kropko.
Heat 2 was won by an even greater margin by the evergreen Jonny Brownlee. The Brit actually slipped eight seconds back on the first bike, but by the time he finished the first 4km he was in the lead. And that lead grew and grew and grew.
Belgium’s Joris Bassle finished second some 26 seconds back, but still 15 seconds clear of third place Euan De Nigro of Italy, whose time didn’t make it to the finals.
It was an all French affair at the head of Heat 3 as Dorian Coninx and Maxime Hueber-Moosbrugger gapped the field. Coninx took the win by two seconds, but Hueber-Moosbrugger, a former Supertri E podium getter, was safely through 24 seconds ahead of Luke McCarron, with the Irishman picking up the fourth and final fastest loser spot and qualifying for the final.
Qualifiers:
Chase McQueen
Maciej Bruzdziak
Jonny Brownlee
Henry Graf
Dorian Coninx
Maxime Hueber-Moosbrugger
Joris Bassle
Ian Pennekamp
Marton Kropko
Luke McCarron
