Published September 5, 2010 11:10AM
Switzerland’s Olivier Marceau and France’s Christel Robin took the inaugural TriStar111 Monaco titles today. The unique cycling-heavy event, made up of a 1km of swimming, 100km of cycling and 10km of running, also featured several Formula 1 race car drivers.
Read the race recap, provided by TriStar, below:
Shortly before 8:00 the Mediterranean was calm when the 628 individual athletes rushed into the waters offshore Larvotto beach. It was Olivier Marceau who came out of the water first in 12:10 minutes – only four seconds ahead of Hervé Banti from Monaco. Chris McCormack (AUS) and Romain Cadière (FRA) were the first to follow to the transition area. Christel Robin was the first of the female professionals to touch solid ground (14:41), leaving Sara Tavecchio (ITA) and Charlotte Loaring (CAN) behind.
While the first individuals already finished swimming, the Team Relay Challenge start gun went off at 8:15. Gregory Mallet running in the Livestrong Team No. 2 (12:13) was the first out of the water and handing over his timing chip to his team’s cyclist, Geoffroy Lequatre from the Radioshack Team. 1min30 behind, Fred Sultana from the Livestrong team No. 3 came out of the water one minute and 30 seconds later. On the third place after the swim course: Paul Lanat (ACF Tri Team), one minute and 46 seconds down.
The bike course from the Larvotto area –2km through the Principality of Monaco in the direction of Roquebrune Cap-Martin, then to the hinterland on French territory, is a very demanding one. Climbs alternate with very technical downhill sections. Olivier Marceau was leading on the bike for the whole race and managed to increase the advantage on the chase group to 2 minutes and 29 seconds. The second athlete in the bike park to change for the run was Mikel Elgezabel of Spain. Third was Regis Maniora (LUX), 6:16 minutes down.
On the women’s side Christel Robin made a sovereign race. She virtually ran away of the remaining female field and finished impressive 17 minutes and 18 seconds before Coralie Lemaire (BEL) and Annika Segg from Germany. Livestrong Team No. 2 with Geoffroy Lequatre on the bike could keep the lead.
The Mirabeau hairpin bends, the Rascasse and the Tunnel Louis II are the key locations of the Formula 1 Grand Prix circuit in Monaco. On the 2 and a half loops run participants had the opportunity to experience how steep the climbs and the descents are on the track. Olivier Marceau kept his lead throughout the whole course and finished in 3:44:51. The chasers Mikel Elgezabal and Regis Maniora crossed the finish line in 3:47:38 and 3:53:56 respectively.
On the women’s side Christel Robin crossed the finish line first in 4:07:40 leaving Coralie Lemaire (4:30:26) and Annika Seeg from Germany (4:40:02) behind.
The best Relay Team was the Livestrong Team No. 2 (Gregory Mallet, Geoffroy Lequatre, Marcel Zamora) in 3:34:48, followed by Azur Perf Cycles Antipolis 1 (Raphael Smolin, Cedric Barret, Didier Roux) and the 4vita team (Marion Hillenbrand, Fred Philippe, Brice Gauffier).