First it rained and then it poured glorious German beer as New Zealand secured a second successive medal at the World Triathlon Relay Championships in Hamburg overnight.
This time it was bronze for Tayler Reid, Ainsley Thorpe, Dylan McCullough and Nicole van der Kaay following a four-seasons in one day performance that will carry the Kiwis into the Paris Olympic Games Mixed Relay on August 5 in great heart.
Hosts Germany repeated as champions with Switzerland scooping the silver – as Radix Nutrition Team NZL had done 12 months earlier with Hayden Wilde in the team.
The Kiwi No.1 has bypassed Hamburg this year to concentrate on his Paris prep at altitude in Andorra, making Monday’s medal even more meritorious even if a number of big names were missing, including France who opted not to enter a team.
After agonizingly missing selection for Paris, Reid had a point to prove in the relay and did just that, trademark swim and bike legs leading to a home straight kick on the run that allowed the Gisborne scrapper tag Thorpe in pole position after leg one.
Thorpe came out of the water 5th and held that position with a clever tail-of-the-lead pack ride and strong run, handing McCullough the chance to prove his readiness for his upcoming Olympic debut.
“It was a strong field out the front so just hang on tight and try to get Dylan tagged so he could be a little fish and swim up to the guys in front,” Thorpe said.
McCullough clearly knew the script, impressively swimming his way from 5th to 1st before riding and running aggressively – no small feat in a downpour that made the 3rd and anchor legs particularly treacherous.
It saw van der Kaay tagged first with a narrow lead from Germany and Switzerland. The Taupo 28-year-old swam well to exit the water second and didn’t allow a sticky T2 bother her as she set out to bridge the gap to Cathia Schar on the run. The Swiss anchor hung tough but van der Kaay will draw confidence from the third fastest final leg to keep Team GBR comfortably at bay in 4th place. Critically, there were no falls on roads made slippery by what the locals referred to “liquid sunshine” that is a norm at this time of the year in Hamburg,.
“Great, great, great end to the weekend,” Reid said afterwards.
“As always [we] bleed through it, everyone emptied the tank and, yeah, really proud to represent team Kiwi this weekend.”
McCullough opted to bypass Saturday’s individual race and unleashed his stored energy on cue. After unluckily missing out on a series of relay starts due to event cancellations and even wildfires, it was a timely dress rehearsal with this Olympic debut on the horizon.
“It’s a really special feeling to get a medal with the team and yeah, good sensations leading into Paris in a few weeks’ time,” said McCullough who now has an elite bronze in Hamburg to go with the U23 bronze he helped New Zealand capture here last year.
Van der Kaay will likewise draw confidence from another world championship medal.
“It’s great to have a good hit out two weeks out from the Olympics. We haven’t done a relay for a long time [so] it’s a good run through and [a chance to] dust off any cobwebs and really hit home hard.”
The Kiwis now head to Banyoles in north-east Spain to complete their final prep for Paris.
Roll on the XXXIII Olympiad.
