Karlovy Vary, Czechia, hosted a World Triathlon Championship Series (WTCS) race for the first time on September 14th, and the debut delivered a showcase of Olympic-distance speed on a wet and technical course.
With series leader Cassandre Beaugrand firmly ahead in the standings and choosing not to start in Karlovy Vary, there was no threat to her position at the top. But her absence did create an opportunity for movement in the battle for second through fourth, with Beth Potter, Jeanne Lehair, and Leonie Periault all in striking distance.
A total of 38 women lined up. Belgium’s Jolien Vermeylen led out of the water, with American Taylor Spivey close behind and Potter emerging in fourth. Tertsch followed in sixth, Lehair in eighth, while Periault faced an early challenge after exiting 28 seconds back in 13th.
On the bike, Spivey, Potter, Tertsch, and Vermeylen set the early tempo. Lehair suffered a spill on the slick roads but recovered immediately, showing grit to rejoin the leaders. By the third lap, the front had swelled to 14 athletes before Dutch rider Maya Kingma launched an audacious solo attack. Kingma and Spivey reached transition with just over a minute buffer over a powerful chase pack that included Potter, Lehair, and Periault.
Spivey led out on the 4-lap 10 km run with that minute advantage over the chase field, which included Potter. Yet the run belonged to Potter. Calm and relentless, she chipped away at Spivey’s lead lap after lap. With 2,500 meters remaining, Spivey still led, but Potter’s charge was unstoppable. She surged past with 1,700 meters to go and never looked back, clocking a 32:42 10km.
Potter crossed the line in 2:02:12 in tears, 15 seconds ahead of Spivey, marking her first WTCS victory of the year after podium finishes in Yokohama and Hamburg. She revealed the emotional weight behind her performance, dedicating the win to Samuel O’Shea, partner of fellow triathlete Lucy Byram, who passed away last week. “The last two and a half kilometers, that is what got me through,” she said.
Spivey held on for silver, a breakthrough result matching her career-best WTCS finish from eight years ago, while Germany’s Lisa Tertsch ran strongly for bronze, her third podium of the season. Lehair, despite her crash, fought hard to finish fourth, while Periault closed well to secure fifth.
The win cements Potter’s consistency with 12 top-five finishes in her last 13 individual races, and lifts her to second overall in the series standings. Lehair remains in third, Periault slips to fourth, while Spivey climbs to seventh.
The series now heads to Weihai, China, on September 26th, the penultimate stop before the Championship Finals in Wollongong, Australia.
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