The PTO European Open lived up to expectations today as the tri world finally got to see Alistair Brownlee (GBR), Jan Frodeno (GER) and Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR) go head-to-head in the same race.
Blummenfelt won that battle, crossing the finish line ahead of the trio, but it was another man that took all the plaudits, the top step of the podium and $100,000 in prize money.
Max Neumann (AUS), who finished fourth at the Ironman World Championship in Kona, put in a controlled but inspired performance to take a statement win ahead of Blummenfelt and Magnus Ditlev.
What happened in the swim?
The athletes emerged from the tunnel to the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack, and despite the focus on three key athletes, could someone else pull off an upset? It was time to find out.
After a short run across the sands of Figueretas Beach the athletes were off, and it wasn't long before Jan Frodeno made his way toward the front of the pack.
Conditions were calm, but there was no clear breakaway for most of the first loop of the the two-lap swim, with only a minor gap between the lead pack of around eight people and those further back.
That small gap started to grow toward the end of the lap, though, and as the athletes emerged for the Aussie exit and a short run to start the second lap, a clearer picture emerged.
Australia's Aaron Royle, arguably one of the sports strongest swimmers, was in the lead followed closely by Frodeno.
Hot on their tails were Brownlee, Kyle Smith (NZL), Florian Angert (GER) and Britain's Tom Bishop, who was having a great swim and was only 8secs down on the lead.
Blummenfelt, meanwhile, was down in 14th some 28secs back.
Over the course of the second lap the field stretched out further with that lead pack increasing their lead.
Ten athletes arrived into T1 within 20 seconds of each other, with Royle, Frodeno and Brownlee the first three to hit the blue carpet.
And we had confirmation of how much that gap had grown back to the chase pack, too, with Blummenfelt emerging roughly a minute behind.
What happened on the bike?
While Frodeno perhaps showed a little but of rustiness as he struggled to get his right foot into his shoe, it didn't hamper him too much, with the German staying within seconds of the lead.
Smith was first to take point at the front, but was soon passed by Brownlee. Also staying as part of that front pack was Royle, Ben Kanute (USA), Angert, Bishop, Daniel Baekkegard (DEN) and Neumann.
Further back, Ditlev was really pushing the pace, making 10 passes in quick succession, including Blummenfelt. After 15km the pair were roughly 1:30 down.
At the front, there were a couple of casualties as the pace stayed high, with Angert and Baekkegard dropping back and later being passed by Ditlev and Blummenfelt.
However, the rest of the front pack stayed close together, with the lead changing several times between Smith and Brownlee.
There was a storm coming from behind, though. Ditlev continued to be the fastest athlete on course and by 34km he was just 21secs down on the lead. He'd made 15 passes by this point but that number looked set to grow as he approached the back wheel of Kanute.
To make matters worse for those frontrunners, he'd brought Blummenfelt with him.
By the halfway mark on the bike Ditlev and Blummenfelt had joined that lead pack. Would the guys at the front respond?
Within 10km we had an answer, as Brownlee, Neumann and Smith attempted to make a small breakaway, quickly forming a 14sec gap to Frodeno and co.
It wasn't long before Ditlev joined them, however, and as the bike entered the latter stages the foursome continued to grow their lead. By the 70km mark there was a 36sec gap back from Brownlee to Bishop and Royle, and over 50secs back to Frodeno and Blummenfelt.
The gap stretched a little further in the final 10km to transition, with Blummenfelt and Frodeno arriving roughly a minute further back.
What happened on the run?
Smith and Brownlee flew through transition and came out together. At the first turnaround point Brownlee started to push the pace, pulling away from the Kiwi imperiously.
By the 3km mark the Brit had 13secs over Smith, while Neumann and Ditlev were 24 and 35secs back respectively. Further down the road, Frodeno and Blummenfelt were running side by side and had a 90sec deficit to make up.
After a solid swim and bike, Smith appeared to be fading somewhat as the run developed and as he dropped back he was passed by both Neumann and Ditlev.
Smith wasn't the only one seemingly feeling the pace, though, and by the 7km mark Brownlee had also lost some of his advantage, with the charging Neumann just 10secs back.
One kilometre later the Australian took first and started to etch out a lead of his own.
There was another threat coming from behind, too, and it had a familiar shape. At the 9km mark Blummenfelt was 53secs down, but was the fastest on the course.
Meanwhile, three-time Ironman world champion Frodeno was an additional 40secs back.
Brownlee continued to drop back as the run evolved and was gradually passed by Blummenfelt, Ditlev and eventually Frodeno. With just a few kilometres to go he was 2mins back in fifth, his impressive pace on the swim, bike and early part of the run perhaps catching up with him.
Frodeno was running well, but Blummenfelt was running better two places up the road. The question was, did he have enough road and energy to catch Neumann up front?
With 2km to go he was just 23secs back and catching, but Neumann wasn't going to let his lead slip, kicking on in the final stretch to take the biggest win of his career in a time of 3:13:46.
Blummenfelt crossed the line 27secs down and was followed by Ditlev, Frodeno, Jason West, who'd put in an exceptional run, and Brownlee in sixth.
Fellow Brits David McNamee and Bishop finished in 11th and 12th respectively.
PTO European Open men's results
- Max Neumann; 3:13:46
- Kristian Blummenfelt; 3:14:13
- Magnus Ditlev; 3:15:36
- Jan Frodeno; 3:16:02
- Jason West; 3:16:05
- Alistair Brownlee; 3:17:03
- Daniel Baekkegard; 3:18:02
- Ben Kanute; 3:18:08
- Kyle Smith; 3:18:32
- Aaron Royle; 3:18:53
Top image credit: PTO
