Pontevedra Euro Champs - June 26th

Startlist here

A WCS calibre startlist, these Euro Champs will be hosted in Pontevedra, the training grounds of Gomez (ESP) on the NW coast of Spain.

As a side note, last year Gomez dominated the field as a CC leading wire to wire (solo bike). Winning by three minutes over worthy opponents such as Mola (ESP) and Zipf (GER) put the locals into a frenzy. This field is quite a bit different however and heroics such as these will not be taking place.

This Euro Champs will not boast a 'Country Spot' for the victor. That will come next spring in Eliat, Israel. As a result we may not see a lot of 'team strategy' unfolding. However, a dry rehersal for London couldn't hurt. Teams strong enough to do so include: FRA, GBR,RUS, and POR. Russia, Portugal, and/or France forming a coalition to beat the B Boys and Gomez? There is always a chance.

Like a standard WCS event this swim should be lead out by a Russian or Frenchman with essentially all the main players in the front group.

Madrid strategy may be deployed again here with a leg shattering T1 and first 5k on the bike. All main players will be there however and within this group the attacks will be minimal. Many of these athletes raced last weekend on a cold Kitzbuhel course and will be looking to leave it to the run.

Gomez (ESP), J.Brownlee (GBR), Belaubre (FRA) and Silva (POR) are the main players who have targeted this race more than the others. Their legs should be more ready for the blistering 10k that will be unleashed.

In an upset we see Silva (POR) take the win with Gomez(ESP) and one of the B Boys (GBR) grabbing silver and bronze.

Darkhorse: Buchholz (GER)