Felicity Sheedy-Ryan (AUS) & Igor Polyanskiy (RUS) win maiden ITU Triathlon World Cup titles at Tiszaujvaros

Felicity Sheedy-Ryan (AUS) and Igor Polyanskiy (RUS) each picked up their first-ever World Cup titles with wins at the 2015 Tiszaujvaros ITU Triathlon World Cup.

Women’s review

Australian Felicity Sheedy-Ryan timed her race to perfection to win the elite women ´s triathlon final at the Tiszaujvaros ITU Triathlon World Cup. Audrey Merle  (FRA) took the silver medal and Sara Dossena (ITA) the bronze, both making the podium in a World Cup race for the first time.

Having emerged from the swim a minute down, Sheedy-Ryan slowly progressed to reach the final goal and the top podium position.

“All of the race was hard for me, especially in this format and the swimming is my weakness. The girls went really hard on the cycling as well, and I struggled a bit to keep up with the pace,” the Aussie said.

The Australian had reasons to look behind as second-place finisher Merle was very controlled during the entire race. The 2014 Junior World Championship bronze medallist made a lead pack of eight out of the water and enjoyed a front position nearly the entire sprint distance race until her group was caught by the chase midway through the eight-lap bike.

“On the bike was really difficult for me because no one wanted to relay and so we didn’t managed to keep our advantage,” said Merle. “I tried to go really strong on the running as well but Sheedy-Ryan was in really good form and I couldn’t beat her.”

Like Sheedy-Ryan, Dossena was in the chase pack that fought to bridge up on the bike. Despite heavy legs from a tough bike, Dossena joined Sheedy-Ryan and Merle as they broke away from a five-woman lead pack on the run. The three went stride for stride, but Dossena wasn’t quite strong enough as she was edged out and was left with bronze by just one second.

Men’s review

Igor Polyanskiy (RUS) claimed the top podium position in a thrilling race, winning the elite men ´s triathlon final in Tiszaujvaros, clenching his first ever World Cup title. In front of his home crowd, Gabor Faldum (HUN) took second place and  Andreas Schilling (DEN) grabbed the last spot on the podium.

The Russian kept calm and collective during the entire race, despite the constant attacks from Faldum (HUN) to get away from him.

“I sat back in the pack and had a bit of a rest so I could attack in the end, and I managed it,” Polyanskiy said.

The Russian started the day with a strong swim, which saw him get away with a trio of Frenchman that included Anthony Pujades, Raoul Shaw and Aurelien Raphael. The foursome owned a 20-second advantage onto the bike, but their lead was short-lived as a pack of 18 men quickly caught up.

Faldum (HUN) was the most unsettled in the leading pack. After exiting the water in 11th place, Faldum and Schilling both tried several times to get away from the pack, which they managed on the last two bike laps.

“It was really tough race for me, I was not so good in the swimming,” Faldum said. “I reached them on the third lap, and after I realize how it looks like, I was at the front and just tried to break away with Andreas but it didn’t work.”

“Last year I was third and now second, my family was here which is big a motivation for me and I am very happy with my result.”

Schilling set the fasted time for the cycling but that might have cost him in the final run. The Danish could not keep up with Polyanskiy and Faldum and was forced to settle for the bronze medal.

Schilling held on by merely six seconds to deny Tamás Toth (HUN) the last spot on the podium after the Hungarian’s excellent performance with a second fastest time on the 5k run.