Yee battles cramp in Cagliari as gold keeps title hopes alive

It was an epic day for Great Britain’s Alex Yee, after he managed to overcome the cramps on his leg to claim the victory at the 2022 World Triathlon Championship Series Cagliari. The double Olympic medallist proved how much things have changed for him on his return to the Italian beach resort five years after the horrendous bike crash he had in this same place in 2017. The second place on the day was for another astonishing comeback: Jonathan Brownlee, proving once more that he is one to beat when it comes to working hard on the bike. The bronze medal was for a debutant on the Series podiums: Brazilian Manoel Messias.

The men’s race presented a completely different scenario tan the women’s just a few hours before, with the wind picking up some speed and a strong current that made the right side of the beach look like the best spot to be chosen. The luckiest ones with the higher numbers on the day chose those positions on the far right, while the ones like Jonathan Brownlee (GBR), Mario Mola (ESP) or Richard Varga (SVK) ended up on the far left, forced to swim against the current for the first meters.

And considerable waves making the entry to the water not an easy one, it was Australia’s Matthew Hauser who delivered a masterclass of dolphin diving both on the way in and out of the water, with Dorian Coninx (FRA), Pierre Le Corre (FRA), Kenji Nener (JPN) and Jonas Schomburg (GER) following him up to the beach and on the wavy sea for the second lap.

Behind them, Alex Yee (GBR), Jelle Geens (BEL) and Mario Mola were struggling on the back positions, trying to fund the rhythm and not loose contact with the leaders, but their efforts were not very productive. At the end of the 1500m swim, Yee was 32 seconds down from the leaders, Mark Devay (HUN), Matt Hauser and Dorian Coninx, while Geens had lost 47 seconds and Mola almost one minute.

Hauser and Devay were the first mounting their bikes and off they went by themselves, trying to break away from the large pack behind them that had some really horse power on their legs: Brownlee, Coninx, Leo Bergere (FRA), Tom Richard (FRA), Manoel Messias (BRA), David Castro Fajardo (ESP) or Chase MacQueen (USA) taking turns to chase them.

With such a large pack, Yee understood soon enough that not all hope was lost, and he organized a chase group that in six laps managed to contact with the leaders, with Yee, Bence Bicsak (HUN) and Antonio Serrat (ESP) taking turns on the effort. Meanwhile, it was Japanese Jumpei Furuya who decided to give it a go with three laps to go and try to breakaway. Without hesitation, Brownlee followed him not even looking back, and the two of them produced a masterclass of how to break away from a large pack.

Before the large pack even realized it, Brownlee was already 30 seconds ahead when they had to put their running shoes on, half a minute that proved to be decisive for him.

Jonny left T2 with half a minute over Matt Hauser, David Castro Fajardo and Alex Yee, who quickly changed to chase mood and left behind Hauser, Bergere and Castro Fajardo to go on the chase of his teammate.
Half way through the 10km run, Alex passed Brownlee and it all looked under control for him, but when he was leading solo, he started to struggle, cramps on his leg forcing him to stop. He managed to continue, though, and kept the pain under control until he ccrossed the finish line in tears in what indeed was a really emotional win for him, his mum and granddad also in tears near the finish line.

“I had bad cramps, I was in so much pain. I just had to hang onto whatever I could. I was just thinking about this place and how much it means to me,” he said. “We had to work so hard on the bike to get to the front, for me that was full gas and it’s really hot today. Maybe I need to go back and learn something today. I am over the moon and to do it here is just a fairytale, thanks to the people of Cagliari,” explained Yee.

Brownlee managed to keep the second place on what it looked like a gold medal for him, after the disappointment of the crash in Leeds that took him out of the start list for the Commonwealth Games. “I think what I was most proud of today was that I committed to a race, got stuck in and dictated the race rather than just being a passenger. I felt confident on the bike the whole way through. It’s taken my months to get my confidence back. I was actually really enjoying it. My breakaway companion (Jumpei Furuya) was strong on the bike,” said Brownlee, who stayed in the finish line waiting for Furuya to finish and congratulate him.

“I knew I had to pace the run. I knew they would go out fast and I would try and build into it. I can’t remember the last time I was on a WTCS podium, in Edmonton 2019. It’s nice to be back and nice to know I am not past it just yet,” he said.

The fight for the bronce medal was an epic one, with Leo Bergere, Castro Fajardo, Lasse Luhrs and Manoel Messias taking turns on the lead, and the Brazilian finally bringing it home, getting the first ever medal at the Series for his country. “This is my first time on the podium in a WTCS, I am very happy, I am super happy,” he said after crossing the finish line.

Fourth place was for Luhrs, while Spaniard Castro Fajardo finished on a brilliant fifth place, best result of his career on the WTCS circuit.

The Maurice Lacroix World Triathlon Championship Series rankings leader is still Hayden Wilde (NZL), not racing this weekend in Cagliari, but Alex Yee’s hopes for the title are still on point, currently ranked fourth (3000 points, three victories in three races) with one more race to go before the Series finale in Abu Dhabi.