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Luis and Potter win final World Cup of the year in Valencia

Sprint finishes were the name of the day at the final World Cup race of 2020

Photo by: World Triathlon/ Tommy Zaferes

France’s two-time world champion Vincent Luis continued his winning ways and solidified his favourite status for Tokyo next year with a fourth consecutive win at the Valencia ITU Triathlon World Cup, while Great Britain’s running sensation Beth Potter took her first world cup win.

Photo: Tommy Zaferes/ World Triathlon

Potter runs clear for the win

Coming off a PB 15:24 5 km earlier this year, it comes as no surprise that 2016 Olympic 10,000 m runner Beth Potter would be the one to beat if the race came down to the run.

Just 16 seconds behind the leaders at the end of the swim, Potter managed to stay with the big lead pack on the bike. Double Olympic medalist Nicolar Spirig (SUI) did her best to break things up on the bike, but wasn’t able get clear, setting up a 5 km run for the win. A lead group of seven, including Spirig, formed on the run and Potter was able to run clear of the group get clear on the last lap of the run, leaving Spirig to outsprint Germany’s Lisa Tertsch and Brazil’s Luiza Baptista for silver.

Women’s top 5

First Name Last Name Country Overall 750 m Swim 20 km Bike 5 km Run
1 Beth Potter GBR 0:56:35 0:09:32 0:29:07 0:16:45
2 Nicola Spirig SUI 0:56:38 0:09:44 0:28:47 0:16:51
3 Lisa Tertsch GER 0:56:39 0:09:47 0:28:44 0:16:53
4 Luisa Baptista BRA 0:56:40 0:09:40 0:28:58 0:16:51
5 Beatrice Mallozzi ITA 0:56:58 0:09:32 0:29:06 0:17:10

Full women’s results

Photo: Tommy Zaferes/ World Triathlon

Luis and Brownlee duel

Alistair Brownlee might be gearing up for the $1 million-plus PTO Championship in just under a month, but he’s still showing lots of speed as he also prepares for a shot at a third-straight Olympic gold in Tokyo next summer. The Brit was on France’s Vincent Luis’ heels coming out of the water, along with South Africa’s 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Henri Schoemann and Luis’ countryman Pierre LeCorre.

Brownlee, LeCorre and Luis were able to stay clear of a motivated chase group led by Norway’s Kristian Blummenfelt, Gustav Iden and Endre Espedal, hitting T2 with a 30-second lead on the chasers.

Luis set the pace for the 5 km run, with Brownlee staying on his shoulder, with Luis holding on right to the line to take his fourth straight win in Valencia. Jelle Geens was able to run his way past LeCorre to round out the podium.

Men’s Top 5

First Last Country Overall 750 m Swim 20 km Bike 5 km Run
1 Vincent Luis FRA 0:50:22 0:08:26 0:26:14 0:14:33
2 Alistair Brownlee GBR 0:50:25 0:08:28 0:26:12 0:14:35
3 Jelle Geens BEL 0:50:33 0:08:46 0:26:15 0:14:27
4 Pierre Le Corre FRA 0:50:37 0:08:29 0:26:11 0:14:51
5 Antonio Serrat Seoane ESP 0:50:45 0:08:58 0:26:02 0:14:36

Full men’s results