Javier Gómez kept his cool in Mexico’s searing heat, twice coming from behind to seal an ultimately dominant victory at Challenge Cancún. The Spaniard finished in 3:46:36, with fellow On athlete Ruedi Wild (3:50:37) claiming silver in conditions of 96 percent humidity.
Gómez’s finish time was almost five minutes ahead of third-placed Andy Potts (3:51:13). And with his next race in Yokohama, Japan, Gómez admitted Challenge Cancún was an important part of his preparations for the Tokyo Olympics.
He said: “I had a training camp in Cozumel, not far from Cancún, to acclimatize to the heat and conditions we’ll find in Tokyo. This race was a good test after a good block of four weeks’ training in the heat.”
Gómez trailed Victor Benages by just two seconds after 1.9km swim, but then fell a minute behind Potts just 16km into the 90km ride. A puncture for Potts saw Gómez temporarily take the lead, only for the American to fight back and regain pole position during the final stages on the bike.
Gómez said: “I managed to stay close to the front of the race, so I could play my cards on the run and hopefully get away from the others. Luckily, that’s what happened. I paced myself pretty well from the beginning.”
The Spaniard – and his On shoes – immediately pulled away from the pack, building a three-minute lead after 15km of running that he eventually stretched to four minutes by the finish line.
Gómez said: “Every time you win a race it feels very special, but winning after a hard day like today is even more rewarding.”
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