Beth Potter delight after ticking off season’s big goal with EPIC victory in Paris Test Event

“It was actually really fun,” was Beth Potter’s immediate reaction after her impressive victory in the Olympic Test Event in Paris on Thursday.

The race boiled down to a head-to-head battle on the run between two of the sport’s best, with the Scot kicking clear in the closing stages to see off home favourite Cassandre Beaugrand.

And Potter said: “I just couldn’t quite go with the pace out of transition, but I just thought I’d work my way back up to her and yeah, it was actually really fun – I enjoyed that four-lap battle with Cassandre.

‘Glad I had something left’

The performance puts Potter in pole position for an Olympics spot in a second sport after representing Team GB in the 10,000 metres on the track at Rio 2016.

And she added: “I think I was just slowly winding it up and kept telling myself, you come from a track and field background, you’ve got this.

“I felt like if I got in front of her I could put the pressure on a little bit and I was just biding my time.

“I was like, don’t go now, don’t go now – I had in my head I was going to wait until the last bit.

“I was just trying to run fast at the end and yeah, I’m just glad I had something left in the tank, to be honest.”

World title up for grabs

Reflecting on the race as a whole, Potter will take out some learnings from the swim especially, which saw her come out of the water in 20th place, with 36 seconds to make up.

She explained: “It was an interesting swim but I don’t think it was brilliant for me. I would never, ever choose middle of the pontoon and I went for middle today, to try something new. 

“But, yeah, I enjoyed every moment of that. It was great. This was my main goal for the season and I ticked it off, so I’m super happy.”

She has now won three times this season and will be crowned World Champion too if she wins the WTCS finale in Pontevedra.