From Neil Chapman…

Christos Tzelis had an early start on Saturday in Pontevedra, Spain, where he was competing in the World Duathlon Sprint Age Group Championship. He had a few issues before the race including bike problems, which could have upset his preparation, but the hilly course did play to his strengths.

As you would expect in a sprint race with a high quality field it means going hard from the start and getting your transitions right. Christos got off to a good start completing the first 5k run in 15:18 finishing with the leading group before jumping on the bike for 19.7k. He broke away on the bike, but got pulled back by the group, so learnt from a previous race to sit in and go with the group and not do all the work himself. He completed the bike in 30:36, averaging close to 25 mph, going into the final 2.5k run with a group of around seven others, all hoping for the win. Christos completed the final 2.5k in 7:54, needing a sprint finish to win by 6 seconds ahead of Pablo Gonzalez-Perez of Spain who took the silver medal.

Those times are very impressive given that it was a hilly course, so Christos should be very proud of his achievement and the gold medal around his neck. Well done Christos.