Breakthrough Gold medal for Beth Potter in Holland
Still playing catch-up after a few days away on livestream duties at The Championship in Samorin, Slovakia, there was good news over the weekend for the British Elite and Age-Group teams at the ETU Triathlon European Championships in Weert, Holland. That was kicked-off on Friday by Beth Potter in the Women’s Elite race, taking Gold to add to the recent run of GB success at this Championship following India Lee in 2016 and Jessica Learmonth in 2017.
Former international track athlete, Potter struck gold in The Netherlands, claiming her first international triathlon title since making the switch to the sport in 2017.
She exited the water alongside compatriots Olivia Mathias and Sophie Alden, all within the top 10. A large bike pack formed, led by Mathias, which remained fairly stable throughout the duration and come T2, the chase group were over 90 seconds back.
Once out onto the run, Potter had the race in her hands. The 2016 Olympic 10,000m athlete clocked by far the swiftest split to take the tape nearly a minute ahead of Sandra Dodet of France. Mathias was 8th after being caught on the run by a number of fast-finishing chasers. Former Paratriathlon Guide, Jenny Manners finished 19th, with Sophie Alden in 22nd place.
Congratulations @beth_potter… 2019 European Triathlon Champion 🏆 Your hard work has paid off 👍🏻 pic.twitter.com/jAipFHIvME
— Leeds Triathlon Centre (@LeedsTriCentre) May 31, 2019
Beth Potter, 2019 ETU Triathlon European Champion, said:
“That was pretty much the perfect race for me, which is something you can rarely say. I had a good swim and placed well coming out and my aim was making the front pack of the bike as I knew that if I could help control the race, it would leave me in a strong position coming out onto the run. I knew going into the final discipline that I was the quickest on paper on, so I wanted to do as little work as possible to ensure I had something left in the tank.
“I’m learning a lot with every race. I’ve got three weeks off now and them I’m back at it in Antwerp for the World Cup. It hasn’t been an easy transition from track into triathlon, but it’s starting to pay off.”
Weert ETU Triathlon European Championships – Friday 31st May 2019
ELITE WOMEN
1.5km / 37.8km / 9.9km
1st – Beth Potter (GBR) – 1:45:55
2nd – Sandra Dodet (FRA) – 1:46:42
3rd – Claire Michel (BEL) – 1:46:55
8th – Olivia Mathias (GBR) – 1:48:20
19th – Jenny Manners (GBR) – 1:49:22
22nd – Sophie Alden (GBR) – 1:50:05
JUNIOR WOMEN
750m / 18.6km / 5km
1st – Beatrica Mallozzi (ITA) – 54:46
2nd – Nora Gmür (SUI) – 54:57
3rd – Magdalena Früh (AUT) – 55:06
5th – Erin Wallace (GBR) – 55:20
13th – Libby Coleman (GBR) – 55:30
34th – Sophia Green (GBR) – 57:30
42nd – Annabel Morton (GBR) – 58:47