Germany’s Lisa Tertsch claimed her first ever WTCS victory with a terrific performance to win in Weihai on Friday.
The 25-year-old capped a brilliant season so far by producing a faultless performance to lead home British pair Beth Potter and Georgia Taylor-Brown.
Tertsch was first out of the water and always in the front rank on the bike. She then claimed an early advantage on the run, and was able to hold off Potter comfortably with a superb run to finish.
Swim – Tertsch blasts off
Tertsch led the field out of the water at the end of the first swim lap, but the field was tightly bunched. British stars Potter and Taylor-Brown were just 9 seconds back at this stage with 2016 Olympic Gwen Jorgensen 13 seconds away.
Tertsch continued to lead the way on the second lap and she exited the water with a 5-second lead over compatriot Lena Meißner, who had US star Kirsten Kasper and Brazilian Djenyfer Arnold right with her. Taylor-Brown and Potter were also right in contention in eighth and ninth respectively with another British star Sian Rainsley just behind them in 10th. Jorgensen was only 12 seconds off the lead as the field headed for transition and then their bikes.
Bike – big guns all poised
Tertsch had a lightning-fast transition and pretty much doubled her advantage as she headed out onto the brutally challenging bike course. It was unlikely to be long though before the chasers bridged up.
As expected, Tertsch was soon caught on the first big hill by a huge chase group which comprised of most of the field. Now things were settling down, but would the nature of this course see the race become fragmented quickly?
By the end of Lap 1 we had a group of 22 athletes separated by just 7 seconds. It featured most of the big guns including Potter, Taylor-Brown, Tertsch, Jeanne Lehair, Kate Waugh and Jorgensen. Another German star Laura Lindemann was not part of that group though – she had fallen around 30 seconds back.
The second lap saw that lead group thin just a little, down to 20 athletes. The big names were all still very much in play with Jorgensen only a couple of seconds off the lead in 19th. Lindemann though was having a tough day – she was now more than a minute away.
Lap 3 saw the lead group cut to 18 as Potter led the field through and it was all boiling up nicely. Lap 4 was more of the same with the status quo maintained at the front. The gap from that front pack of 18 to the chasers was well over a minute.
An injection of pace by a small group on Lap 6 saw Kirsten Kasper dropped off the back of the front pack, but it still comprised of 17 athletes as the field went through transition with just two more laps remaining.
The final stages of the bike saw the big guns biding their time for the concluding run, and it was German pair Annika Koch and Tertsch who led the field into T2. We had 16 athletes separated by just 5 seconds and there was now a thrilling conclusion in prospect.
Run – Tertsch breaks through
Tertsch had produced a terrific run recently to claim an astonishing victory in Valencia, could she carry that form over here to claim a first WTCS success? Well she made an excellent start by claiming an early advantage on the first of 4 run laps – it was fascinating action.
Tertsch gradually turned the heat up during Lap 1 and went through to start her second with an advantage of 12 seconds over the chasers, headed by Potter, Lehair and Taylor-Brown. Jorgensen was back up into the top 10 after losing ground early on Lap 1 – she was some 25 seconds behind Tertsch.
Onto Lap 2 and Tertsch was looking super confident, not surprisingly so on the back of an excellent 2024 season so far. She was continuing to up the pace and it was now Potter and Taylor-Brown giving chase. The advantage for the German at the halfway stage of the run remained at 12 seconds. Could the Brits rein her in? Waugh and Jorgensen were now 39 seconds back and the front three were hot favourites for podium finishes.
Potter put in a big effort early on Lap 3 in an effort to gap Taylor-Brown and make ground on Tertsch. She was achieving both at the next split, now 9 seconds behind Tertsch, and 5 seconds ahead of GTB. Could the Scot claim a famous victory?
The next big landmark in this race was the bell, and when the leaders arrived Tertsch’s lead had been cut to 6 seconds by the charging Potter. Could she hang on for that elusive first WTCS win? Or would Beth tear up the script? Just 2.5k to go now with Taylor-Brown looking relatively comfortable in third and a big gap to another German Tanja Neubert in fourth.
Just when it looked like she might fall at the final hurdle, Tertsch pulled out extra in the early stages of the final lap, extending her lead again to 9 seconds. Potter was giving her all but it now looked like second was her likely finishing position.
Lisa dug in again and once more produced extra reserves as she continued to increase her lead in the final stages, putting an exclamation point on a terrific maiden WTCS victory. Potter came home in second with Taylor-Brown third.
Neubert claimed fourth for Germany, while Waugh was Britain’s third athlete in the top five. Jorgensen finished really well to claim sixth.
WTCS Weihai 2024 Results
Friday September 27, 2024 – Weihai, China
Elite Women
- 1. Lisa Tertsch (GER) – 2:04:42 (20:16 / 1:10:01 / 33:24)
- 2. Beth Potter (GBR) – 2:04:59 (20:26 / 1:09:45 / 33:38)
- 3. Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR) – 2:05:40 (20:25 / 1:09:48 / 34:15)
- 4. Tanja Neubert (GER) – 2:05:55 (20:29 / 1:09:41 / 34:34)
- 5. Kate Waugh (GBR) – 2:06:00 (20:30 / 1:09:45 / 34:35)
- 6. Gwen Jorgensen (USA) – 2:06:08 (20:28 / 1:09:44 / 34:38)
- 7. Rosa Maria Tapia Vidal (MEX) – 2:06:17 (20:27 / 1:09:48 / 34:52)
- 8. Gina Sereno (USA) – 2:06:26 (20:27 / 1:09:44 / 35:00)
- 9. Alice Betto (ITA) – 2:06:34 (20:23 / 1:09:51 / 35:09)
- 10. Jeanne Lehair (LUX) – 2:06:46 (20:29 / 1:09:46 / 35:23)
