Antonio Benito and Helene Alberdi MD Triathlon European Champions
Today was held in Bilbao the European Triathlon Championship MD with the presence of 6 champions of Spain.
Albert Moreno, Pello Osoro, Antonio Benito, Judith Corachán, Helene Alberdi and Laura Gómez have competed in the test.
In the men's test victory has been for Antonio Benito and in the feminine for Helene Alberdi where the silver has been for Judith Corachán.
Helene Alberdi, mass bath at home
The Bilbao triathlete Helene Alberdi dominated the event from start to finish. She came out of the water first, after swimming the 1.900 meters along the majestic Bilbao estuary, with the Portuguese Rocha close behind her, and very close, the other two Spaniards, Judith Corachán and Laura Gómez.
Already in the bike circuit, the Portuguese overtook Alberdi to take the lead during a leg-breaking circuit with a great slope but without being able to open a gap to a leading trio that Corachán joined.
In this second segment, Alberdi, Rocha and Corachán alternated positions, entering the second transition all together. From behind, Laura Gómez trying to connect and placing her hopes in the foot race.
Alberdi began to distance himself from his rivals thanks to his good running race. Racing at home gave him a plus to take a mass bath through the streets of his hometown and add another gold to complete the best possible international debut with the Triarmada.
Behind, Judith Corachán earned a well-deserved silver entering the finish line 1:08 behind the champion and ahead of the Portuguese Rocha who entered 5:23 to complete the podium in the Women's Elite.
Antonio Benito's golden comeback
The Spanish Antonio Benito went from less to more in a test where he ended up being crowned thanks to his spectacular foot race.
De Keyser had been the fastest in the first segment, the swimming segment, but he came out glued to the German Bogen. Behind, the Castilian manchego triathlete who left the estuary just six seconds.
In the bike race, the German put the turbo to leave all his rivals behind and lead the Spanish and the Belgian by almost two minutes before facing the bike race.
Behind Moreno and Osoro, they tried to engage but the five minutes of disadvantage with their heads made it an impossible mission.
But in the last segment everything changed and as Benito had already warned in the official press conference, the foot race was his forte and he showed it.
The Castilian-La Mancha man hunted down the German and passed him like a gale to position himself first in the race and head for the Bilbao street circuit, gradually opening a gap until he had a mass bath and hung a historic gold.
De Keyser and Bogen completed the podium by entering 4:47 and 5:42 respectively from the Spaniard. Alberto Moreno was fourth and Pello Osoro finished eighth.
Spain closes the European at the top of the medal table
In this way the Spanish team concludes this European Multisport Triathlon at the top after winning nine golds, seven silvers and three bronzes to add a total of 19 medals.
Italy was second (11 metals, 5 gold) and Belgium, third (10 medals and 2 gold).
This shows that the project is still solid and that it can face the next multisport objective with guarantees, that of the Ibiza World Cup in 2023, where it has earned the right to be the favorite.
