Olympic stars dominated the Karlovy Vary spa centre, where the Olympic Triathlon World Cup race took place on Sunday 11 September. Hungary’s Csongor Lehmann and France’s Leonie Periault, bronze medallist at the Tokyo Olympics, were victorious. The best Czechs were Tereza Zimovjanova (10th) and Jan Volár (24th).
The Karlovy Vary spa centre welcomed the prestigious World Cup race in Olympic triathlon for the sixth time. Thousands of fans who surrounded the course considered to be the most beautiful and the most difficult in the World Triathlon calendar, were driving forward not only the Czech representatives. “The fans were great and helped me a lot, especially on the hard climb,” said Jan Volár. “The whole race had an amazing atmosphere,” confirmed Leonie Periault.
Zimovjanová in the TOP10
After the 1500m swim, which took place in the Rolava Lake, the only Czech participant in the women’s race was only 41st. She lost one minute forty-five to the fastest swimmer. A group of five female triathletes, including Periault and World Championship race winner Summer Rappaport, entered the 40 km long cycling course first.
Zimovjanova got into the third group, which she then managed to chase up the riders in front of her to form a large second group. “The beginning of the bike was very tough, but then it was a more relaxed pace and I could save a bit of energy for the run,” Zimovjanova described. Her group of 19 was unable to erase the gap to the leaading pack during the seven laps leading through the beautiful spa centre and entered the second transition area one minute down.
With an excellent run, Zimovjanova then moved forward. On the ten-kilometre course leading around the Carlsbad colonnades she even attacked the eighth place! “The last of the four laps was very difficult, I was getting cramps and two rivals overtook me. But in the end I am satisfied because I had the top ten as my goal,” she smiled. “I also really enjoyed the race thanks to the great spectators, who are always amazing in Vary. The spectators were shouting, banging on the barriers, so much that you couldn’t hear anything over the noise,” she added. French triathlete Leonie Periault took the victory, Italian Bianca Seregni took silver and American Summer Rappaport took bronze.
“It was a wonderful race! Karlovy Vary has a beautiful course and the whole city is amazing. The course here is very difficult due to the seven challenging climbs, but that’s exactly what suits me,” Periault smiled.
Volár best among Czech triathletes
A packed field of 70 competitors entered the men’s race, which also included four Czechs. Varga from Slovakia was the first to run out of the water of the Rolava Lake after the swimming section. David Martin was 27th, Jan Volár 31st, Tomas Zikmund 45th and Radim Grebik 59th.
In the first laps of the cycling course, a group of 21 riders formed in the lead, which seemed to be at a close reach for Jan Volár. “I cycled the whole opening passage on the flat alone, but because of that I didn’t have enough strength left for the climb where we could catch them. I’m sorry because if I had got there, I would have fought for completely different positions in the rest of the race,” said Volár.
He joined the second large group, which held positions 22nd to 45th. There he worked together with Martin and Grebik – they arrived at the second transition area with a loss of about 40 seconds. Tomáš Zikmund gradually dropped off during the bike section and rode with a big loss at the back of the field. He withdrew from the race before the run.
Hungary’s Csongor Lehmann was the first to fire into the running section, and he stayed in the lead with American Matthew McElroy and Germany’s Lasse Lührs. It was only in the last hundred metres that the Hungarian triathlete decided his triumph. McElroy took the silver and the bronze went to the German triathlete.
“I dreamed of this moment. I really like the Karlovy Vary course, that’s why I’ve been racing here for the third year in a row,” Lehmann smiled at the finish line. “We worked really hard on the bike to keep our lead over the second group. Then I knew that in the run it was going to be really hard against McElroy and Lührs because they are great runners. That’s why I thought I would try to start in the last hundred metres, which I did.”
Volár entered the 10km race in great style as he was able to move quickly through the field ahead. “It wasn’t quite the same in the last lap, so I lost one position again, but I still feel that I couldn’t have done more in the run today,” said Volár, who was the best Czech triathlete for the second time in a row in Karlovy Vary. After last year’s 15th place, he is now 24th.
Two other Czech athletes finished right behind him – Grebík crossed the finish line in front of a packed grandstand as 41st, David Martin was 42nd at the finish line on Theatre Square.
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Results
Triathlon World Cup, Karlovy Vary, 11th September
Men: 1. Csongor Lehmann (HUN) 1:51:10, 2. Matthew McElroy (USA) 1:51:20, 3. Lasse Lührs (GER.) 1:51:42 … 24. Jan Volár 1:54:18, 41. Radim Grebík 1:57:49, 42. David Martin 1:58:20
The CITY TRIATHLON Karlovy Vary was a wonderful end to the cup season, where on Saturday, September 10, the age groups raced for points for the Czech Olympic Triathlon Cup. The absolute winners of the race were Filip Václavík and Kateřina Hadravová, who also won the title of national youth champions.
The Karlovy Vary race traditionally ended the cup season. In the beautiful spa centre, young triathletes were racing for the cup points in the age groups, but also for the championship titles in the youth and junior categories.
Among the women, the absolute winner of the Karlovy Vary race was already decided in the first start wave, which was for women and also for all triathletes in the youth and junior age groups competing for championship titles. The fastest among them was junior Kateřina Hadravová, who, like several other competitors, managed to erase the lead of Kateřina Mičková during the cycling part. After a successful second transition area, these two triathletes went onto the running course together, with Hadravová deciding on her triumph in the last hundred metres.
With a time of 1:10:30 she secured not only the position of the overall winner of the race, but also the national youth champion. “I tried not to exhaust myself completely today, because in six days I have the Junior European Championships,” added Hadravová, for whom it was the third Cup race this year in which she managed to beat the women.
The second Kateřina Mičková took the title of junior champion from Karlovy Vary. Tomáš Knejzlík triumphed among the youth and David Korous among the juniors.
The overall winner of the Karlovy Vary race is Filip Václavík, who took the start in the second wave together with men from 20 years old. After the 750 m long swimming part in the Rolava leisure time areal he exited water and entered the transition area together with Jakub Lahoda. Very soon, however, he was alone in the lead and continued on his own in the 20km bike and 5km run. “After that I was just guarding the lead, but I didn’t know what times the others achieved in the previous races so I was fighting an internal battle between giving a good performance and the need to save my strength for tomorrow’s World Cup, because it is still theoretically possible that I will get on the start list,” said Vaclavik, who triumphed in 1:02:11. The second best time of the day belongs to Tomáš Knejzlík and the third to another junior Lukáš Plic.
Results
CITY TRIATHLON Karlovy Vary, 10th September 2022
Men: 1. Filip Václavík 1:02:11, 2. Tomáš Knejzlík 1:04:00, 3. Lukáš Plic 1:04:48
The 2022 CITY TRIATHLON Karlovy Vary has started. The busy weekend opened on Friday, 9th August with the Czech Pupils’ Cup, in which 167 children took part at the Rolava Lake!
Even though the sky over Karlovy Vary clouded over an hour before the start and rain began to fall, the sun was already shining on Rolava during the races. Thanks to this, the pupil categories were able to enjoy the last cup races of the season.
The first to jump into the water of the Rolava Lake were eight- and nine-year-old competitors, who had to swim 100 metres, cycle 2.2 km and run 1 km. Even on the shortest courses, there were great battles to be seen. The happiest after them were the winners Veronika Křížová and Antonín Rolný.
The same distances were also prepared for pupils in the 10-11 years category. The fastest among them was Alžběta Malochová. Adam Šiška was the winner in the boys´ category.
In the category of the 12-13-year-olds, longer distances were waiting for the Czech Cup participants, particularly 0.3+ 6.8 km + 2 km. Ondřej Plic and Nela Markova ranked first.
The category of older pupils aged 14-15 was the best attended, with 61 of them taking part! After 400 meters of swimming, 8.2 kilometers of cycling and 3 km of running, Matěj Procházka, who managed to break away from Michal Švarc in the run, was happy with the victory. Karolína Rutarová did the best in the girls’ race.
On Saturday the racing program will continue in Karlovy Vary. In the morning, the Geis Baby Duathlon for the youngest children and their parents will be held. In the afternoon there will be Age Groups races, which are included into the Czech Cup. Youth and junior triathletes will fight for the national titles at the championship.
Complete results of Friday´s races can be found at:
Due to the location of the venue in the historical centre of the spa town, the organizer is not able to ensure parking lots for participants. We recommend using municipal transportation or parking lots on the town outskirts:
> parking lot Kouzelné městečko – KOME, Slovenská 2003/2A (near Richmond Hotel and Post Yard Hotel)
> park house Libušina, Libušina 2120/21 (near the Imperial Hotel)
> parking lot near the Marttel Hotel, Lidická 447/12
> parking lot at the Lower Railway Station, Západní 2080/2A
BUS SCHEDULE BETWEEN ROLAVA AREAL AND THEATRE SQUARE:
Important: The cable car stop on Divadelní náměstí (Theatre Square) is on the corner between the old Savings Bank and the Olympia Hotel – the cable car then follows the bus. The times given are always the times of DEPARTURE from the given stop. The journey time is about 20 minutes.
Dear fellow citizens, Dear visitors, We would like to inform you that the World Cup in Olympic triathlon will be held in Karlovy Vary on 9th September – 11th September. This is the most significant event of its kind in the Czech Republic and Central Europe. Our aim is to ensure the highest standard and security for world elite athletes and the general public, there will be some traffic restrictions related to the event in place.
Our goal is to reduce as much as possible its impact on life around the venue. Please, therefore follow the instructions of the Municipal Police, the Police of the Czech Republic and the organizers, who are fully informed about the entire sporting event.
Thank you very much for your understanding and we invite you to watch the top triathlon race.
In a case of any questions or suggestions, please contact us on the contact below.
Road closures and restrictions:
Theatre Square/ Divadelni namesti
Friday, September 9th from 6 am – Sunday, September 11th to 12 midnight – closures of the main part of Theatre square, public transport stop is moved to Spa House I, there will be no possibility to park at Theatre square, it will be possible to go around the Theatre square – Divadelni Street – Vridelni Street.
Complete closures of the Theatre square will be:
Saturday, September 10th: from 1:30 pm to 8pm
Sunday, September 11th: from 9:45am to 12:45pm and from 2:45pm to 4:40pm
Marianskolazenska Street (from crossroad close to Spa House I), Nova Louka Street – entrance only for vehicles with special permission. There will be no parking possibility at Nova Louka Street in dates:
Saturday, September 10th from 10 am to 9 pm and Sunday, September 11th from 6 am to 12 midnight
Friday, 9th September
From 12:15 pm to 3:50pm – closure of Mlynska Street, Trebonska Street and cycling path around Rolava at Cankovska housing estate
From 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm – closure of Mlynska → Trebonska → Cankovska → Zeleznicni → Sokolovská (shuttled) → 17. listopadu Square → Pozarni → Cankovska
Saturday, 10th September – Czech Cup AGE Groups race
bridge 17. Listopadu → I. P. Pavlova → Karla IV. → Vridelní → Theatre Square → Trziste → Zamecky vrch → Petra Velikeho → Krizikova → Krale Jiriho → Dr. Davida Bechera (part) → T.G. Masaryka → nabrezi Osvobozeni
2 pm- 4:30 pm and 6 pm – 8 pm
Marianskolazenska (crossroad close to Spa House I) → Goethova stezka
The Olympic stars will shine again in Karlovy Vary, where the most beautiful and at the same time the most demanding course in the World Triathlon calendar awaits them. “We are happy that the start list is packed with great names! Just taking the last two World Cup races in Valencia and Bergen, we have both women’s winners and the winner of the men’s race from Spain heading our way,” says race director Vladimír Malý.
Tereza Zimovjanova will be the only Czech female triathlete in the women’s race. Petra Kuříková was sidelined by a shoulder injury, Alžběta Hrušková and Michaela Štěrbová will represent the Czech Republic at the Academic World Championships in Brazil, and Vendula Frintová is saying goodbye to her career. She now has a completely different challenge ahead of her – maternity duties await her. “Two of us wouldn’t be able to go up the steep climb of the Chateau hill,” says the Czech triathlete who won the World Cup race in Karlovy Vary twice.
Only Zimovjanova will face the world competition this year. “I will go into the race with the same ambitions as a year ago, when I wanted to finish in the top ten. Unfortunately, I didn’t finish the race last year after a fall on my bike. Hopefully I will meet the goal this year,” said the Czech national team member, who ranked 7th at the World Cup in Mexico this season.
Her rivals at the Karlovy Vary World Cup are among the world’s top triathletes. On the start list there are, for example, France’s Leonie Periault (5th at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, 2nd at the World Championships in Yokohama 2022), American Summer Rappart (8 times winner of the WC race, 1st at the World Championships in Edmonton 2016) or the defending champion and last year’s European champion Julie Derron from Switzerland. Six athletes who are ranked in the world top 30 will come from Germany!
Czechs Radim Grebík, Jan Volár, David Martin and Tomáš Zikmund, who preferred the Karlovy Vary race to the World Championships in Brazil, will take part in the men’s race. “The goal is to finish in 33rd place to qualify for the final race at the World Championships in Abu Dhabi,” he said.
Radim Grebik, who finished seventh at the World Cup in Arzachena and 18th at the World Championships in Hamburg, will be looking to repeat his great results from the start of the season. Since then, however, his life situation has changed – since August he has been doing triathlon in addition to his new profession, as he started working as an engine driver.
The Brazilian Manoel Messias, who dominated the World Cup race in Valencia a few days ago, will go into the race as the biggest favourite with the starting number 1. Young Hungarian Csongor Lehmann, last year’s U23 World Champion, is gaining ground. American Matthew McElroy has silver in the World Championship and three World Cup wins. Switzerland’s Max Studer has an interesting collection of World Cup medals, but is still waiting for gold. Will he win it in Karlovy Vary?
As usual, the race will start at the Rolava Lake, where participants will swim 1500 metres. They will continue on a 40km cycling course. The triathletes will approach the spa centre and complete seven circuits past the beautiful colonnades, but also with a challenging climb to Chateau Hill, which is unprecedented in the triathlon world. Finally, they will run 10km in the valley of the Teplá River.
The centre of the race will be located on the Theatre Square, where a grandstand for several hundred spectators will be built near the finish line, from which it will be possible to watch a live broadcast on a large screen. You can also watch the entire race live on Czech TV channel Sport and on the triathlonLIVE.tv website.
Children and hobby triathletes will be competing in Karlovy Vary
The day before, the Age Groups race, which is the last race of the Czech Olympic Triathlon Cup, will take place on the same venue but at half the distance. It is intended for hobby and professional triathletes who will enjoy the same beautiful courses and professional conditions as the World Cup participants.
The programme also includes races for children – on Friday, the Czech Pupils’ Cup will take place at Rolava, and on Saturday morning, the Geis Baby Duathlon, which combines running and cycling and is intended for children from one to 12 years old, will take place at the same venue. They can also take part in the race on bicycles or tricycles.
The weekend in Karlovy Vary can also be varied by a cultural programme – on Friday and Saturday, the spa buildings will be lit up after dark thanks to the VARY°ZÁŘÍ festival, during which they will be illuminated by video mapping.
