Last Sunday, the finals of the Lotto Premier League Triathlon ended the Challenge Almere-Amsterdam 2015 weekend. The best Dutch teams competed for the national championship. The athletes participated in a relay series with a 380 meter swim course, a 7 kilometer bike course, and a 2,5 kilometer run course. Rings Specialized Forte Triteam Rotterdam won the male finals, and Hellas Utrecht was strongest in the women final.
National championship
Squadra Kalas from Eindhoven and the women from Hellas Utrecht became national champions with yesterday’s results. Hellas achieved its third victory in a row in Almere, while Squadra won its first national championship.
Surprises
The race was full of surprises for the male teams. Triteam Van Wijnen from Goor opened the race very strong and gained on the favorites from Squadra Kalas in the first series of the relay. Bowers ZSC Oceanus from Aalsmeer was also a strong contender in the beginning of the race. After a while, Rings Specialized Forte Triteam Rotterdam gained strength, and started the final series of the race with a one minute lead. Squadra Kalas was fastest on the run course, but eventually had to let the team from Rotterdam win. Davilex Nijmegen became third in the finals but also on the national podium. The team from Rotterdam became second in the national championship, congratulating the team from Eindhoven with their first time achievement of the Dutch championship. Three teams are relegated to the 1st Division after Sunday.
Getting things in order
Hellas received a penalty early on in the race, which almost cost them first place. The women from Utrecht watched Ferro Mosae and Runnersworld Triteam Groningen gain time on them. TC Twente and Trivio Long Distance Team started with difficulties, and were able to come back only in the second part of the race. Hellas had already gotten things in order by then, and safeguarded their fourth victory of this season. Ferro Mosae held on and was crowned second. Trivio Long Distance became third. This final victory of Hellas Utrecht was already a given before the finals started. TC Twente became second in the national championships and Trivio Long Distance pushed to third place. DTC Heerhugowaard relegates to the 1st Division.
Fourth season Lotto Premier League at an end
The finals during the Challenge Almere-Amsterdam ended the fourth season of the Lotto Premier League Triathlon. This competition consists of five races, held between May and September. The competition ended in Almere for the 4th time in Almere, and the other races of the competition were held in Weert, Amsterdam, and Veenendaal. Due to extreme high temperatures, the planned race in Didam was cancelled. The Lotto Premier League offers races at the highest level of competition in the Netherlands. The national champions will also compete at European level during the ETU Team Finals, 4 October 2015 in Nice, France.
Source: Dutch Triathlon Union