Spaniard Fernando Allarza, world triathlon bronze in 2016 and runner-up in Europe two years later, who finished fourth at the World Cup event in Leeds, England, told EFE he was “very happy” with the situation more than That is if one takes into account that it was “the last high-profile race before the Olympics” in Tokyo.
“I’m very good, very happy; because this fourth place is a result that I needed, especially to restore confidence that I can fight for the top places in any race at the highest level in the world; and that is very important with a bid for the Olympic Games, because everyone has doubts” Alarza, born 30 years ago in Talavera de la Reina (Toledo), explained in a phone conversation with Effie from Leeds before returning to Spain.
“It’s been hard for me to find the place I think I deserve in the races since the pandemic. But hey, I’m glad I’m once again among the top five in the world,” he said.
“The feelings were very good here, much better than the ones I felt in Japan (where the first round of the World Cup took 15th place in Yokohama). We depend a lot on the work we do, on step-by-step work with a look at the games; this is the result She motivates and gives a lot of confidence,” explained Allarza, who finished third with nine seconds, Belgian Martin Van Riel, a test won by England’s Alex Yee; ahead of the American Morgan Pearson.
Al-Araza commented on his experience with the second round of the World Cup from the inside. “The race was very tough, in every respect. In swimming, the first buoy was a real madness. Someone we all know who he is (referring to England double Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee) was left out by the judges because of the unsportsmanlike work he did; the truth is I have no words I describe it. Although I will say it was wrong. Very wrong. Judges should pay attention to these things.”
“In the end I had to fight on the first buoy. There I took a lot of hits and had to stay calm and confident that I could come back in the second round of swimming,” the fierce athlete Talaveran told Efe of England.
“I relied on that. With the bike I tried, above all, to control it. There was a moment when I wasn’t very interested in standing up front. There was a lot of tension in the leading group, and I wanted to avoid falling, as unfortunately happened to Javi (Gomez Noya, Champion). world five times), ”referring to his highly successful compatriot, Alarza, who will be an Olympian in Tokyo for the second time.
“I wanted to avoid falls that could weigh on game preparation. With two or three laps left, I had legs to position myself well before moving on. In the end, I chose the protection strategy on the bike, because we played a lot in about a month and a half; And any mishap can weigh you down,” he told Effie Alarza, referring to the test that will take place in the Odaiba beach area of the Japanese capital, at the end of July.
“I got off really well in the second transition and in the end ran with a lot of intelligence, I think. I didn’t pay much attention to the pace the early ones set, it was too fast for me. I knew the bike was tough and the track was on foot too.”
“Little by little I was putting myself about the fifth kilometer (from the last 10 of the race on foot). I fought in fourth, fifth and third to the finish,” he explained.
“I lacked a little bit of strength at the end to catch Martin (van Riel), the Belgian; but I am more than happy with this fourth place and to be among the leaders again. And even more than knowing it was the last max race before the Olympics.”
Champion Talavera praised another Spaniard’s Antonio Serratt of Vigo who finished eighth in Leeds. “He made a career out of it,” he said, “and each time he’s getting more and more established in the elite. We have many years of Spanish entertainment in the world championships.”
“I hope that Javi (Gómez Noya, who fell in the bike category) will recover soon, because I think that, fortunately, there was nothing, I think it was a question of ‘sheets and paint.’ And that the captain will recover from this predicament. We wish him to recover faster as soon as possible,” Fernando Allarza told EFE.
