Olympic champion Cassandre Beaugrand endured a rollercoaster day at supertri Toulouse which ended with her being disqualified.
Racing on home roads for the first time since her Paris triumph, huge crowds gathered to welcome her and the other French athletes, including bronze medallist Léo Bergere. Indeed that duo paraded their medals before the start.
Ups and downs
And the race got off to the perfect start for Beaugrand as she led out the first swim – but things would unravel soon after.
The event is made up of three mini triathlons and on the first bike section she found herself 34 seconds behind the leaders.
A brilliant run almost got her back in the mix and the gap would ebb and flow from then on.
She looked out of it starting the final two-lap run more than 40 seconds adrift of the four-woman front group.
But a dramatic charge saw her overhaul the last of those, Jess Fullagar, to cross the line in fourth.
Helmet was ‘unbuckled’
However it had emerged on the live broadcast that officials were looking at a potential issue in transition and soon afterwards it was announced she had been disqualified.
The supertri statement simply said: “Her helmet was unbuckled during transition.”
Experienced head referee Michael Thompson explained the ruling to Beaugrand and though her Crown Racing team managers Chris McCormack and Michael Gilliam tried to argue her case, it was to no avail.
Rival manager Tim Don was seemingly the first to raise the potential infringement on the live broadcast but he pointed out on Instagram: “The head referee already knew about the penalty it was on live TV, I just broke the news…”
All of which means she lost all her points from Toulouse and would now appear to be all but out of contention for the overall title when the Grand Final takes place in Neom next month.
Are we in a triathlon boom, or hurtling towards burnout? Laura Siddall on the growth of the sport
