Alex Yee pulled out a fine performance to take the tape at the Olympic Games Test Event in Paris. Here’s how the action unfolded…
GB’s Alex Yee made light work of the Paris Test Event course today as Team GB once again triumphed over the home side after Beth Potter’s win yesterday.
What happened in the swim?
Paris put on another belle backdrop for the second test event race of the four-day schedule. Under a dusky pink sky, the world’s best short-course male elites (sadly minus Aussie Matt Hauser who tested positive with Covid yesterday) dove into the Seine for the two-lap, 1.5km swim.
Vincent Luis gave the home crowd something to cheer about as he took control of the race during the second lap, overtaking Hungarian swim maestro Mark Devay to exit the Seine in first.
Yee came out 20secs down, Vasco Vilaca 51secs, Kristian Blummenfelt 1:03mins and Hayden Wilde 1:06mins.
What happened on the bike?
Luis led out a quintet, which included Devay, Brock Hoel (CAN), Jonas Schomburg (GER) and Tayler Reid (NZL).
But not even halfway through the first lap of seven and that five had swelled to 22, bringing up Yee, Henri Schoeman (RSA), Léo Bergere (FRA), Pierre Le Corre (FRA), Jonny Brownlee (GBR) and Dorian Coninx (FRA).
By lap two, five more, inc. Norway’s Caspar Stornes and Tyler Mislawchuk (CAN), had joined them to make a large leading peloton of 27.
Halving the swim deficit came the chase group of 29, now 37secs back, with Wilde, Vilaca and Blummenfelt doing their best to bridge the gap even further over the 40km course.
Halfway into lap three and the deficit was halved again; before the end of the lap it was a group of 55 out of 66 athletes who started.
So slow was the group at one point that athletes could be seen stretching out at the back of the pack.
What happened on the run?
Coninx was first off the bike, but it was Schomburg who was first on the run course for the final 10K.
The first shock of the day came soon after, though, as Wilde was seen falling over, sitting on the ground momentarily before jogging on, but he soon called it a day. More on this to come.
USA’s Morgan Pearson soon overtake at the front, stretching out a few seconds’ lead over Jelle Geens, Vilaca, Bergere, Le Corre, Yee and Blummefelt.
It was only a matter of yards, though, before Yee found his happy place at the pointy end, looking incredibly relaxed along the Parisian cobbles.
Brownlee meanwhile was down in 43rd, some 40secs down.
Over the next few laps, Yee’s lead just continue to extend, sitting at 23secs on lap three. The race for the remaining podium slots was anyone’s guess at this point, though, with seven men all jostling for position.
By the bell lap, Yee had a 27sec cushion. The race was his.
Top image credit: Ben Lumley/World Triathlon