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World champions in 2018, the French Team raced masterfully this morning to retain their world crown in the mixed relay with a team composed of Émilie Morier, Léo Bergère, Cassandre Beaugrand, and Vincent Luis.
In the streets of Hamburg, the event, which will be Olympic for the first time next year in Tokyo 2020, was held in a very short format of 300 m swimming, 7 km cycling, and 1.5 km running.
First relay swimmer, Émilie Morier (17th yesterday in the WTS Hamburg Sprint event) exited the water in 8th place, 14 seconds behind Belgium, Spain, and Australia. At the start of the bike leg, Germany joined the leading trio, a few seconds ahead of a second group composed of the United States, the Netherlands, and Canada. France was then stuck in a 3rd group in 10th position with Japan, Italy, Russia, and New Zealand, 16 seconds behind at the end of the first lap and then 17 seconds at T2. Germany’s Laura Lindemann took the lead in the run and handed over the relay in the lead with an 8-second advantage over the Netherlands and 11 seconds over Spain. Émilie Morier handed over the relay in 7th position, 20 seconds behind.
Championnat du monde de #Triathlon Relais Mixte. #TriMixedRelay #WTSHamburg
Passage de Relais @Moriertri => @LeoBergere ?? en 7ème position à 20″ @triathlonlive pic.twitter.com/CKEn3jP7eu— F.F.TRI. (@FFTRI) July 7, 2019
Second relay swimmer, Léo Bergère (5th yesterday in the WTS) was 10 seconds behind after the 300 m swim and joined the United States, Australia, Spain, the Netherlands, and Belgium. This chase group worked well together and quickly caught the German breakaway, while American Hemming was dropped. Eight nations arrived at T2 in the lead: Belgium, Canada, Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain, Australia, and New Zealand. After the first lap, Léo Bergère made an effort and brought the Belgian and New Zealander with him. At the end of the 2nd 750 m running lap, only Belgium's Marten Van Riel followed him, and the two men handed over the relay with a 4-second lead.
Championnat du monde de #Triathlon Relais Mixte. #TriMixedRelay #WTSHamburg
3ème Relais ?? @LeoBergere => @CassandreBeaugr part 2ème derrière la ???@triathlonlive #RoadtoTokyo pic.twitter.com/BcPoCnYlmf— F.F.TRI. (@FFTRI) July 7, 2019
An excellent swimmer, Cassandre Beaugrand, the 3rd French relay swimmer (2nd yesterday in the WTS), dropped the Belgian and exited T1 with a 3-second lead over Australia and 8 seconds over Belgium. A general regrouping on the bike after the first lap saw 7 nations in the lead: Belgium, France, Australia, Germany, Spain, Canada, and New Zealand, while Katie Zaferes for the United States was closing in from behind. The 7 nations arrived at T2 grouped together. After catching her opponents in the first few meters of the run, Cassandre Beaugrand made her effort with a continuous acceleration. After 750 m, she had a 4-second lead over her pursuers, Belgium, Germany, and New Zealand, and handed over the final relay to Vincent Luis with a 5-second lead over New Zealand.
After the final 300 meters of swimming, Germany had caught France, Canada was 6 seconds behind, and New Zealand was 12 seconds behind. Australia and yesterday's WTS winner Jacob Birtwhistle were more than 15 seconds back. On the bike, Germany's Justus Nieschlag and Vincent Luis collaborated to widen the gaps. The two men had a 20-second lead after the first lap over their pursuers, led by Australia's Jacob Birtwhistle, who knew he had to reduce this gap if he wanted to consider a comeback on the run to achieve a WTS/Mixed Relay double.
The two leaders reached T2 still with their 20-second lead. The victory would be decided between France and Germany, who were racing at home. The German started running first, but Vincent Luis caught and passed his opponent 1250 m from the finish line. At 750 m from the line, Nieschlag was still following Luis, but his stride became increasingly labored. Vincent Luis accelerated and definitively dropped Justus Nieschlag.
France retained its world champion title and qualified directly for the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Germany finished 2nd at 4 seconds, and Australia completed the podium at 25 seconds.
#TeamFRA ?? show their strength to defend the title & WIN 2019 #TriMixedRelay in #WTSHamburg
Brilliant performances by Emilie Morier | @LeoBergere | @cassandrebeaugrand | @vincentluistri @FFTRI
? @bensnapsstuff
? https://t.co/dToUk2NP1E
? @germantriathlon
? @TriAustralia pic.twitter.com/0W0avEKh2D— World Triathlon (@worldtriathlon) July 7, 2019
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