Bahrain Victorious 13 raked in an array of silver medals in Europe over the weekend, with Cassandre Beaugrand and Max Stapley becoming esports vice world champions at supertri E in London in the United Kingdom and Kate Waugh placing second at the European Triathlon Cup in Melilla, Spain.
With the esports world championship being contested over a one-day format this year, Beaugrand jumped at the chance to add another title to the supersprint world title she won last year.
The Olympic bronze medalist and current world #1 placed second in her heat to gain automatic entry into the final involving the three-stage supertri E format: a 200-metre swim in a 50-metre pool and 4-kilometre bike leg and 1-kilometre run virtually conducted on Zwift, with the orders reversed in the second stage and a pursuit-style start in the final stage. She went neck-and-neck with eventual champion Beth Potter throughout, with only 25 seconds separating them as Beaugrand battled a calf cramp to the finish.
In the men’s event, Stapley easily won his heat. During the final he finished second in the first stage, slipped to sixth in the reverse-order second stage, then staged a massive comeback in the final stage to snatch second overall.
Meanwhile in Melilla, Waugh kicked off her bid for selection for the Paris Olympic Games, racing over the more traditional sprint format into a finish position that mirrored her start number of 2. She emerged from the 750-metre swim tied in 5th with a 9:35, rode the fastest split of 26:44 over the 20-kilometre cycle leg, then ran five kilometres in 16:52.