Beaugrand and Nieschlag take Arena Games Triathlon London
World Championship remains wide open after second race of Arena Games Triathlon Series
The British contenders might have been numerous and competitive, but they were no match at the end of the day for France’s Cassandre Beaugrand and Germany’s Justus Nieschlag, who dominated the second race of the Arena Games Triathlon series in London on the weekend.
After heats in the morning, the final included three stages: Stage 1 included a 200m pool swim, a 4 km bike using the Zwift platform, then a 1 km treadmill run, also using the Zwift platform. Stage 2 reversed that order with a 1km run followed by a 4 km bike and 200 m swim. The final leg returned to the traditional tri format of a 200 m swim, a 4 km bike and 1 km run.
The race was part of the inaugural esports Triathlon World Championship series, and utilized a non-drafting format for the bike, which will also be used at the final event of the series in Singapore on May 7.
Beaugrand dominates
In the women’s race Beaugrand would lead the way in eight of the nine legs of the three mini triathlons, leaving pre-race favourite Beth Potter to settle for second.
“It was very hard and brutal,” said Beaugrand at the finish. “I struggled this morning in the heats and learnt from my mistakes, and it went much better this afternoon! It was very painful for me and everyone else, so I had to push hard throughout.”
Included in Beaugrand’s impressive performances was a 2:45/ km pace for the run in the second stage.
Potter would eventually take second, with Jess Learmonth rounding out the podium.
You can find full results for the women’s race here.
Nieschlag tops Yee in front of British fans
The sold out London Aquatics Centre was filled with fans looking to see Alex Yee take the men’s race, but Nieschlag powered to his fourth Arena Games medal. Yee took the first of the three stages, but Nieschlag would take the next two rounds to take the overall win.
“It feels amazing,” Nieschlag said. “I’m really happy to be back on top of the podium after bronze in Munich. I didn’t expect a 30sec advantage over Alex Yee today after this morning’s heats, but it was great to have some comfortable seconds on the final run.”
You can find men’s results here.
