"The chain came off on my bike, I sprained my ankle running and I fell, but despite everything I was able to finish second," explained the Bilbao woman at the end of the competition. Of course, she had to fight to the finish line. Because the German Julia Grajer cut in the 21-kilometer race on foot the more than four minutes of rent that Berasategui had and she was about to compromise her second place. Nine seconds separated the two at the finish. Adjusted, but enough for the woman from Bilbao to climb to the second step of the podium. A position worth a square in Kona (Ironman of Hawaii).
With this runner-up, Bilbao takes off from the fourth place in the long distance World Cup two weeks ago in Vitoria. There, an error in the swimming test took her off the podium, something that weighed like a slab in the rest of the test. In goal, despite being satisfied with his place, Berasategui did not forget that, without these problems, he could have been in the fight for the medals.
With that rage, the Bilbao enlisted in the European 70.3, or what is the same, half Ironman -1,9 kilometers of swimming, 90 of bicycle and 21 of running-. She knew that the Wiesbaden route was in her favour, with a very demanding cycling route -more than 1.400 meters of accumulated elevation gain- which "of course is much more suited to my characteristics than the one in Vitoria, where it was pulling growth".
This time, the swimming sector solved it without problems, and came out of the water seventh, just over three minutes behind Jodie Swallow, the British who finished third in Vitoria. But on the bike, Berasategui soon began to demonstrate her skills on rough terrain. By kilometer 20 she was already third, and halfway through the sector, second.
There were 21 kilometers left in the race, which the Biscayan faced 2,40 from the German Anja Beranek, but with more than three minutes over Swalow. A comfortable distance a priori, but Virginia still had miles of suffering left. A trip over a curb midway through the race took her to the ground and hit her knee. She got up quickly, but behind her, the German Gajer came at full speed cutting differences. “The last lap was agony. The cyclist who came with me was telling me about the differences, but I gave everything and he didn't catch me", summed up Berasategui, who admitted that "this second place makes up for all my work and makes up for fourth place in Vitoria. Now it's my turn to enjoy the Aste Nagusia, then I'll think about what I do».
In the men's category, Mikel Elgezabal was eighth, which also serves to regain confidence after a season of injuries. After a good swim, the Biscayan was with the best on the bike, but lost places in the race on foot. «I have regulated because I still don't feel very well, but I am very satisfied with the result, because there was a lot of level. This result gives me a lot of encouragement for the rest of the season », he assured.
elcorreo.com
