Miguel Hidalgo left his mark finishing his debut race over the half distance victorious and that in the 4th fastest winning time in history. The BMC athlete raced in front all day long and made his decisive move in the closing half marathon. The Brazilian won in a blistering time of 3:31:41. Frenchman Casimir Moine (3:32:23) finished second with Luciano Taccone (AR; 3:35:44) completing the podium. An extraordinary debut over the half distance for Miguel Hidalgo who also took his qualifying slot for the IM70.3 Worlds in Marbella later in the year.
Superb on the bike
Hidalgo started the day with a superb swim. A lead group of three was formed during the 1,9km swim, with Miguel exiting the water in second. The leading trio had opened up a gap of 1' on the first chasers. But unfortunately not all plain sailing for the Brazilian as he lost control of his bike running out of transition and fell to the floor. Luckily unharmed but with a deficit of 10", Hidalgo set on his way.
"That was a mistake", Hidalgo added. "I ran out of transition holding my bike by the saddle and lost control. It made I had to chase for few minutes at almost maximal effort to get back on. Once I made the connection, I settled in to let my heartrate drop. When my heartrate had dropped enough, I went to the front and we started to open up a gap".
Just over the halfway mark on the bike the BMC athlete and Frenchman Moine were leading with a 3' advantage on the first chasers. The two leaders kept on extending their lead, entering T2, with a 5'17 lead on Taccone in 3rd. After a smooth transition, Hidalgo set off for his closing half marathon first and had opened up a 10" gap on Moine. In the opening stages of the run Miquel pushed a strong pace and started to extend his lead. At the halfway mark the gap to second had grown to 1'20. From then onwards Miguel started to control, keeping his pace as high as possible until the finish. After an outstanding all-round performance, Hidalgo crossed the finish line in the 4th fastest time ever recorded over the distance. An incredible debut for the young Brazilian.
Very happy
Afterwards Miguel Hidalgo reflected on his performance: "I am very happy. I am so pleased and proud to take my first win for the team and win on my debut over the distance. I made a few mistakes, but all in all I am very happy how the race unfolded. Especially my bike performance. I felt really dialed in with bike. I am over the moon with my first victory over the long distance and very grateful for the believe and support the team has put in me."
