Europe Triathlon Cup Tiszaujvaros: Bragmayer, Lehmann dominate

Home advantage and local support saw Hungarians Zsanett Bragmeyer and Csongor Lehmann totally dominate on Sunday at the long-running and popular final of the Europe Triathlon Premium Cup Tiszaujvaros, the latest round of the European Cup series.

While the final was on Sunday, athletes had also raced on Saturday to secure their qualification slot.

No stopping Zsanett

Winner earlier this year of the Arena Games Triathlon Finale in Singapore, nobody was going to beat Zsanett Bragmayer in the Elite Women’s event.

The multi-lap, 750m swim for the Sprint distance event saw Bragmayer lead the way. Gaining a small gap solo in the very early stages of the bike, a group of 11 soon formed at the front of the flat, 20km bike course, from which the first seven finishers would come.

Bragmayer hit the front on the run early and it was game over on the very compact, four-lap course which took in a circuit of the same lake they had swam in, the ‘Tiszy’ venue one that has taken triathlon to its heart over many decades.

She was a full 22 seconds clear of Selina Klamt (GER) at the finish, her best European Cup finish of the season to date, with Anja Weber (SUI) completing the podium for perhaps her best result so far, beating Zuzana Michalickova (SLO) and Emma Jeffcoat (AUS) in a close battle for the bronze medal.

Zsanett Bragmayer - Europe Triathlon Premium Cup Tiszaujvaros 2022 — Photo Credit: János M. Schmidt

Home town hero

Csongor Lehmann was World Junior Champion (2018), U23 World Champion (2021) and the defending champion in Tiszaujvaros, the town he calls home. No pressure – but this was a set to be a race for silver for everyone else. Lehmann didn’t let down his many local fans with a classy display.

Like Bragmeyer had done, Lehmann was up at the front in the swim, and the gaps he helped create were key to the rest of the race.

Initially there was a group of five on the bike, with Matthew Roberts (AUS) joined by a quartet of Hungarians, comprising of Csongor, his younger brother Bence Lehmann, Gergely Kiss and Gergo Dobi.

Five was soon three as Bence Lehmann and Kiss dropped off the bike pace set at the front, which left the remaining trio with a lead of almost 40 seconds by the time they reached the dismount line.

Csongor Lehmann quickly departed to a solo lead and a relatively comfortable 5km to take the win, but there was plenty going on behind. As the bike efforts began to tell on Roberts and Dobi (who would finish eighth and 18th, respectively), the chase group were closing in. At one point, Great Britain’s Ben Dijkstra has moved through to second place on his return to racing, looking to build on his recent fourth place in Holten.

Csongor Lehmann - Europe Triathlon Premium Cup Tiszaujvaros 2022 — Photo Credit: János M. Schmidt

Those efforts, and a lack of racing after a long time out with injury perhaps came back to bite in the final stages however, which saw Radim Grebik (CZE) and Gergely Kiss (HUN) move past Ben on the final lap to complete the podium. Another step in the right direction for Dijkstra, who with a clear run of injury-free racing and training still has plenty of opportunities ahead to display his undoubted talent.

The chasers had reduced the Lehmann lead to 19 seconds by the end, but that didn’t matter, this was a dominant victory for the home town hero.