Belgian duathlete Jeanne Dupont won bronze at the World Duathlon Championships in Townsville, Australia, on Friday, in the 4.8km run, 19.4km bike and 2.5km run duathlon sprint. Jeanne Dupont, who became European vice-champion earlier this season and won gold at the European Under-23 Championships in Portugal, was fastest in the chase group in Townsville behind French favourite Marion Legrand and Australian hopeful Richelle Hill, who won gold. She grabbed silver.
The women left on Friday at 3pm. Local time, for us it was 7am. In the morning. With the temperature already above 27 degrees, the race became tough as Marion Legrand immediately picked up the pace. The French led a group of six riders and were halfway through. Only Australian Rachel Hill and British Phoebe Barker could participate. Jeanne Dupont changed at 25 seconds and was joined on the Japanese cyclist Ai Ueda and Australian Asper Anderson. Phoebe Barker had to let the other two go at the front and so we had a French-Australian duo at the front and a chasing group with Dupont within a minute and a half.
In the second round, it quickly became clear that Marion Legrand had the better legs. The two-time European champion claimed her first world title in 58:37, 29 seconds ahead of Rachel Hill, who took silver in her elite division and won the U23 world title. Jeanne Dupont was the fastest in the pursuit group and took bronze in 1:36. She also won silver in the U23 division.
The men are busy with the World Cup on Friday morning, Belgian time. You can follow the race live on the World Triathlon YouTube channel.
Duathlon World Championships Townsville Result
