Team Europe justify favourites tag by defending triathlon's Collins Cup

Gustav Iden admitted it was important for Team Europe to back up their fighting talk after his win sealed their second successive Collins Cup victory in comfortable fashion in Slovakia, writes Josh Graham in Samorin.

The defending champions made no bones about their favourites tag leading into Saturday’s race at the X-Bionic Sphere in Samorin and duly delivered eight victories from 12 matches to rack up 53 points and blow Team International (35) and winless Team USA (22.5) out of the water.

Norwegian star Iden, who won the PTO’s Canadian Open in Edmonton last month, continued his 100 percent record while wearing his lucky Taiwanese hat in the event’s penultimate match and became the first triathlete to pick up the maximum six points, including the full bonus of 1.5 points for finishing at least six minutes clear, in both editions of the Collins Cup.

“The winning streak keeps on going, so I’m happy with that,” said the 26-year-old who finished just shy of eight minutes ahead of America’s Matt Hanson with Canadian Jackson Laundry a further 13:30 back.

“It was my victory that sealed the deal no matter what Daniel [Baekkegard] did and then he also got six points so we won by quite a margin in the end.

“It’s important for Team Europe to win especially when we go out so hard by saying that we are the favourites on paper and in practice, so I’m happy.

“I’m the only 12-point guy which means a lot and hopefully I’m able to do the Collins Cup next year and get a new six points.”

Ten-time world champion Daniela Ryf got Europe off to a flyer and delivered an emphatic redemption after her shock defeat to Taylor Knibb 12 months ago by beating reigning Olympic and Commonwealth champion Flora Duffy of Bermuda in the opening match, taking maximum points.

Ryf said: “I couldn’t be more proud how I’ve come back from last year when I struggled with sickness.

“Last year we won but I wasn’t really part of it because I didn’t contribute much but to start off like that feels really great.”

However, Team International hit back with two wins on the bounce through Ashleigh Gentle and Paula Findlay.

Like Ryf, Switzerland’s 2012 Olympic champion Nicola Spirig, 40, had a point to prove in her final season.

And she silenced the critics who said she shouldn’t have received a captain’s pick by producing a dominant display to beat Brazil’s Vittoria Lopes by 25 minutes and 20 seconds in 3:23:57, the fastest women’s time of the day.

Spirig said: “I’m really happy to have shown I was the right pick and that I deserved that spot. It’s nice to show it with actions and that I don’t have to answer those questions anymore.”

Britain’s Holly Lawrence and Germany’s Anne Haug won their matches to round-off the women’s section before all-conquering Norwegian Kristian Blummenfelt, the reigning Olympic champion, got the better of New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde, who took bronze behind him at Tokyo 2020 but struggled with the step up in distance over the 100km course.

Perhaps Europe’s biggest disappointment on the day was that France’s Sam Laidlow came a distant third in the grudge match with USA’s Sam Long and Canadian Lionel Sanders who he had successfully riled in the build-up.

After leading the swim by over three minutes, Laidlow struggled with a stomach problem and was caught on the bike before making several toilet stops on the run as he finished a touch shy of 30 minutes behind Sanders who pipped Long to the finish.

Despite their war of words, the two Sams embraced before Laidlow said: “I don’t want to make excuses but it just wasn’t my day.

“I appreciate that [the embrace] and their respect. They’ve got more experience than me and achieved a lot more, so it was nice to share some kind words even after my failure.

“I’m definitely hungry to have another shot, it’s just fuel to the fire. I’ll be back.”

Denmark’s in-form Magnus Ditlev, fresh from his Challenge Roth victory in July, was no match for Rudy Von Berg of the USA and Australian Max Neumann as he took maximum points.

Team International’s Aaron Royle put a temporary halt to the European procession with victory in Match 10 before Iden put the result beyond doubt and destructive Dane Daniel Baekkegard put the icing on the cake just before the rain started to fall.

The Collins Cup takes place on Saturday 20 August at the X-Bionic Sphere, Bratislava. For full listings of how to watch go to https://protriathletes.org/events/how-to-watch