Eneko Llanos won at the Onditz Memorial followed by Francesc Godoy
Donostia hosted one of the most important events of the international triathlon yesterday. No less than 704 athletes took part in the twenty-seventh edition of the Onditz Memorial - Great Caja Laboral Award - organized one more year by Atlético de San Sebastián, in collaboration with Gipuzkoako Triatloi Federazioa and Euskadiko Triatloi Federazioa.
The Alava triathlete Eneko Llanos He took his fifth consecutive victory in this epic test that was marked by good weather and pleasant temperatures. The Catalan Francesc Godoy, winner of last year, and the Australian Ryan Bailie, another of the favorites to win the race, completed the podium in a very competitive triathlon and in which the name of the winner was not decided until the last stages of the race. same.
The women were the first to leave at 9.15:1.500 a.m. from La Concha beach and fifteen minutes later the federated men did so. The last start, corresponding to the non-federated, took place after five minutes. The competition, scoring for the Basque triathlon circuit and also coinciding with the Gipuzkoa Olympic Triathlon Championship, was played precisely over Olympic distance. The athletes swam 40 meters with the ascent to Mendizorrotz. In Zubieta street, the transition from the bike (10 kilometers) to the running race (XNUMX kilometers) was carried out. As a novelty, this year the participants took a tour of the boats anchored in the San Sebastian bay.
The men's race was undoubtedly the most exciting. The athlete Francesc Godoy led the competition but in the last kilometres he was overtaken by the athlete from Alava Eneko Llanos (1:57:00). The Catalan dominated the swimming and bike and entered the two pits first. It seemed that Godoy would repeat his victory until he could not keep up with the Vitorian's frenetic pace on the running section. Finally, he came in second, nineteen seconds behind the Alava athlete.
Eneko Llanos, for his part, came out of the water sixth and fourth in the bike race. But in the section on foot, the athlete from Vitoria gave the surprise and managed to overtake the leading group thus becoming the victory.
Behind both entered the Australian Ryan Bailie (1:57:45), the Galician Uxío Abuin (1:58:01) and the Alicante Pedro Miguel Reig (1:58:57). Zarauztarra Jon Unanue was once again the first Gipuzkoan to cross the finish line and did so in seventh position, five minutes behind the winner. Among the list of participants, the presence of Mikel Garmendia stood out, sixth in the Paratriathlon World Championship and third in the Paraduathlon World Championship in 2011.
Maider Gaztañaga, third
In the female category, the young Australian Ashlee Bailie (under 23) was proclaimed champion with a time of 2:13:57 and, a few seconds behind, her compatriot Natalie Van Coevorden (2:14:23), winner of the previous edition, reached the goal The athlete from Ordizi Maider Gaztañaga, from the Tolosaldeko Triatloi Taldea, completed the podium with a time of 2:16:32.
The Gipuzkoan once again demonstrated her great talent as a swimmer and was the second woman to come out of the water, after Van Coevorden. But in the bike race, the winner shortened distances and managed to take the lead, maintaining those positions until the end of the competition.
From early in the morning, more than a thousand people enjoyed the excellent atmosphere in the city center and on the La Concha and Ondarreta promenades. Atlético de San Sebastián led the reins of an excellent organization and everyone enjoyed the show. Now we will have to wait until next year to return to enjoy the magnificent scenes that were experienced yesterday by sea and land in Donostia.
