Kathrina Matthews took the victory in IM70.3 Tallinn after an impressive performance. For Matthews, it was her very first triathlon race in the BMC-Vifit colours. Controlling the race from start to finish, she dominated all race long to cross the finish line in a winning time of 4:08:14. Maja Stage-Nielsen (DEN; 4:13:15) and Kaidi Kivioja (EST; 4:16:50) completed the podium.
Strong allround performance
Only a few weeks ago Matthews had shown that she was nearing her top shape when she took the National 100 mile time trial title in England. On Saturday it was clear from the start she brought her best legs to Estonia. Katrina started the day with a very strong swim as she led the pack out of the water. Together with Kivioja and Stage-Nielsen, the BMC-Vifit athlete formed the front group of the race with the trio having a comfortable gap of 2’ after the swim.
On the bike, Matthews set the pace from the very beginning. In the first part of the bike leg, only Stage-Nielsen was able to match Katrina’s pace, but after the halfway mark also Stage-Nielsen couldn’t keep up with Matthews. The British athlete kept pushing hard and was able to extend her lead over Stage-Nielsen and entered T2 with an advantage of 1’28. During the run, Katrina kept controlling the race. Halfway through the run, her lead had grown to 3’35. That advantage only grew in the closing stages of the half marathon. With a dominating performance Matthews crossed the finish line in winning time of 4:08:14. Posting the fastest swim & bike split of the day and just 10” shy of the fastest running split as well, it was a nearly perfect race of Kathrina Matthews to clinch her very first pro victory in her first race for the BMC-Vifit Pro Triathlon Team powered by Uplace.
Very very pleased
Afterwards Katrina Matthews reflected on her outstanding performance: "It was my first race for the BMC-Vifit Team and I am so grateful to be supported by such a brilliant team. Today went really well obviously. Swim, bike and run were exactly what I hoped for and I am really pleased that I have been able to show what I have been doing the past eight months".
