Top Ten finish for Doherty in Antwerp ITU World Cup

Con Doherty proved his staying power in Antwerp this weekend, finishing in an impressive eighth position at the Antwerp ITU Triathlon World Cup. Also representing Ireland were Darren Dunne as well as Chris Mintern and Ailbhe Carroll, both of whom were making World Cup debuts.

Cycling to the front

Exiting the water third of the Irish, Doherty made it through transition and out onto the bike course joining the front pack of riders, as did Darren Dunne. Working hard out on the bike, Con put in the fastest bike split of the race with 32:37 for the 22km technical course.

The large pack of cyclists entered T2 together so it was all to play for during the 5km run and Con exited T2 leading a pack of approximately ten athletes, eventual winner Jelle Geens (BEL) among them. Tayler Reid (NZL) completed in second with Tyler Mislawchuk (CAN) in third. Clocking 15:16 for the run to finish in eighth, Con Doherty recorded his best result at this level in the inaugural running of an ITU World Cup race in Antwerp.

8th at Antwerp World Cup! My best World Cup result so far. Trained like an animal since my last race in Cagliari with a clear vision on what I need to do. Executed the race well but I also see where work needs to be done leading into my coming races. #thirsty @mayo.ie 📸@tzaferes

A post shared by Con Doherty (@con_doherty) on Jun 18, 2018 at 12:42am PDT

Speaking about his race performance, Doherty was confident in his training and is looking forward to the rest of the season;

“I felt confident on the morning of the race to go top 20, but I surprised myself a little bit with an eighth just 10 seconds behind first place.”

“My training has been planned out so that I should only come into top form by late August, so it’s quite nice to see I’m going to be building on this form and go faster in the coming months. I raced smart and executed most of the components of the race well, and if I can do that in coming races, I don’t think it should be long before I can take a podium at a World Cup.”

“I’ve got a couple of continental cups over the next month, as well as the National Standard Distance Championships, after that I’ll hopefully race in a few more World Cups in August/September.”

ITU Race Highlights

racing among the best in the world

With 23 of the top 100 male triathletes in the world racing in Antwerp, the Irish contingent were in good company. Darren Dunne was first of the Irish out of the water and put in a strong performance on the bike to finish the race in 33rd. Darren has been writing a guest blog for our site, keep an eye out for a special race report from him this week.

Both Ailbhe Carroll and Chris Mintern finished their respective races in 58th position.

Disappointing World Cup debut today in Antwerp, sitting in the 2nd pack on the bike before getting a puncture. Got a spare wheel at the neutral service and chased hard but couldn’t get back in the race. Hungry to attack the next one.

A post shared by Chris Mintern (@crimsonmintern) on Jun 17, 2018 at 2:29pm PDT

About sums it up…🏊‍♀️🚴‍♀️🏃‍♀️ I was a bag of nerves before today’s start. First world Cup, I knew I had nothing to lose but I wanted more than that, I wanted to make gains. Having a 5pm start time was different. Going after the boys was again, different, but I was glad of it because when I saw @con_doherty do what he did, my nerves vanished. What a race! It made me excited and ready to go! Non Wetsuit swim. A difficult race start as I was to the far right. I knew the start was going to be mega important and, well I nailed it. I was top 5 or so to this bridge we had to go under. Once I came out the far side of the bridge, I may as well have turned around and swam the other way. I went backwards at a rate of 0 to 100 real quick, but all the time feeling in control. I couldn’t figure out what was going on. I exited very close to the back, in a pack, but when it came to the cobbles, I was riding on struggle street. I was atrocious. No sugar coating it. It ended up being a very solo bike and a very big mental battle. I didn’t come here to DNF. I came to here to gain experience but produce a good account of myself. I didn’t do the latter. That’s not my current form. . . I like reasons. I don’t have a reason for why the swim went downhill so rapidly. I don’t like that I don’t have a reason. . I have another chance next weekend in Wuustwezel. I’ve taken 2 hits now, the last 2 races. Due a good one 🤞 📸 The wonderful @tzaferes #antwerpwc

A post shared by Ailbhe Carroll (@ailbhedoodle) on Jun 17, 2018 at 3:49pm PDT