WTS Hamburg Non Stanford

WTS Hamburg Race Report

Jake Birtwhistle claimed his second victory of the Season at the 2019 WTS Hamburg over the weekend, having beaten Vincent Luis, from France, in Sprint finish. GB’s Non Stanford also reached a win in the elite Women’s Race, impressively moving up to fifth in overall standings.

A rainy race in Hamburg saw multiple bike incidents, with triathletes Jonathan Brownlee, Tom Bishop and Alex Yee all getting caught up in crashes during the 20km big leg of the Sprint distance race, with Bishop finishing 38th, Yee 43rd and Brownlee’s race resulting in a pull out.

With an impressive win, Birtwhistle sprinted to success even in tough conditions, quoting “it was almost like a training session for us guys out front, playing around knowing it could be a tri crew podium. I knew I had a bit left in the tank when Vince passed me, and I just had to stick with him for the 100m or so”.

With only a mile to go, Spain’s Mario Mola alongside Birtwhistle and Vincent Luis battled alongside each other in tight formation, making it a close call as each triathlete pushed past the other. With 800 metres to go, Birtwhistle led against Mola, with Luis falling close behind. At 500 metres, Birtwhistle and Luis broke away together, leaving Mola behind. Birtwhistle sprinted past Luis within the last few metres of the race, capping a race best at 14:13 run split, finishing with an impressive 55:09 race time.

2013 ITU World Champion Non Stanford, took her first World Series Triathlon victory in just over 3 years, with a finish time of 59:24 with France’s Cassandre Beaugrand finishing just seven seconds behind overall and US triathlete Summer Rappaport came in third, at 18 seconds behind Stanford.

Stanford is sure to be proud of her win, with her last WTS race win being in 2016 in Cape Town. This years WTS results is sure to be a welcomed victory for Stanford, who looks forward to Tokyo selection.

Written by Catharyne Walton-Matthews.

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