Manthey – Hungry for More After Promising Season Opener

Ian Manthey has said he is hungry for more racing after a promising season opener at World Triathlon Cup Lisbon.

He finished 35th – his third best performance at World Cup level but in a field that contained world class athletes including Mario Mola, Kristian Blummenfelt and Gustav Iden.

Also racing today was Russell White, who came home in 41st – a result that sees him hold on to his Olympic Qualifying spot for another week as he counts down the races before the curtain falls for Toyko 2021 next month.

Confidence

Ian Manthey was ranked 66th on the start list and in his first race of the season spent much of the day overhauling competitors after a difficult 1,500m swim through choppy waters.

He said afterwards that although he never felt good during the race, his performance has given him confidence.

“It’s always really tough to start a season with a World Cup race and a standard distance event but I’ve had a lot of consistency this year. The last couple of years I’ve always had some niggles but not this year. “

“I’m hungry now for more racing, I’ll be heading in to next week (when he races another World Cup in Italy) with more confidence – although the fields are so stacked that anything can happen.”

Manthey came out of the water back in 66th position and was in the second bike group for much of the day. He positioned himself well during the bike leg, staying near the front on the dead turns but allowing others to do the majority of the chasing on the straights.

When his group caught the leaders he said he knew the race would come down to the run.

“The bike was really hard, we really worked hard to catch that first pack so on the last lap I felt my legs go and I thought ‘how am I going to run a 10k?” Manthey said at the finish line.

“On the way out of T2, Mario Mola went past me and I thought, ‘should I go full gas and I thought no, just ease in to it.’

“I sat in the back of a pack of three or four and tried to stay in there, I thought I could kick a bit at the end but on the last 400m I discovered my legs had nothing.”

White – Holding His Position

For Russell White, the race represents another hurdle overcome on the road to Tokyo 2021. White’s finishing position of 41st won’t move him up in the Olympic Simulation Rankings but none of his rivals bested him and so he holds firm with a potential four races left before qualification closes.

He swam well, coming out of the water in 32nd with a 28sec deficit but making the lead group of athletes for the bike.

White rode smart the entire day, staying at the front of the race and minimising the accelerations he needed to make as the field negotiated the numerous narrow sections, tight turns and hairpins on the urban course.

At T2 White was positioned in 26th but had a difficult first lap on the run that saw him loose position. He did manage to pick things up as the run progressed but said afterwards that after DNF’ing last week in Yokohama, the mere act of racing through to the finishing line will stand to him.

“I guess Yokohama was an anomaly , I don’t know why the body didn’t fire. This weekend was more positive, I was back swimming in the front pack in a tough swim. It was unfortunate that the bike all came together. I didn’t have a great first lap of the run, which is normal enough for me but I guess that left me out of the pointy end of the race and it was just a case of limiting losses and watching people around me in the rankings from then on.”

White added: “I know from previous seasons, I have never hit the ground running. With not finishing last week, that was the first hard run off the bike for me so hopefully the body knows now going forward for the next few races.”

Both White and Manthey now travel to Italy for next week’s World Triathlon Cup in Azachena.