Victory for Adrien Briffod in ITU European Cup
Nineteen-year-old Briffod is part of the team ATLET, which looks after five young triathletes in the Riviera region of Switzerland and which benefits from Scott sponsorship. Briffod had a successful two days of racing in Hungary, qualifying in his semi-final on Saturday for Sunday’s final, which was raced over the distances of 500m swim/12km bike /3.2km run.
After the swim, Briffod found himself in a large group of 14 chasing the five triathletes out in front. By the end of the third lap the two groups had merged to become one big pack with riders jostling for position.
As the pack disembarked into transition and onto the run it was anyone’s game. After Lap 1, Hungarian Kristof Anheuer was ahead with Briffod and Italy’s Delien Stateff giving chase. But an incredible second lap from Grant Sheldon propelled the British athlete from 7th into the lead approaching the final lap, with the Hungarian duo of Istvan Kiraly and Anheuer giving chase.
However, in an astonishing final twist, Briffod, Sheldon and Kiraly were neck and neck sprinting hard on the final 300m stretch and it was Briffod who nicked the win on the line in one second in front of Sheldon, with Kiraly another second further back.
The Swiss athlete was delighted after the race. He said: “I attacked on the run and gave it everything I had. I ran so fast, it was a good sprint – I have never had to sprint like that before and I’m really happy.”
Another member of the team ATLET, Estelle Perriard, was also part of the Swiss selection for the European Cup in Hungary. She qualified for the final and was the first Swiss woman to cross the finish line, in16th place.
Picture Credit: Janos Schmidt/Triathlon.org