Portugal’s Vanessa Fernandes earned her unprecedented fifth straight European Championship on her home grounds in Lisbon, while France’s Frederic Belaubre returned to the top of the podium to retake the championship he had earned in 2005 and 2006.

Fernandes ran a race-best 34:17 10k to carve out a 38-second margin of victory over runner-up Nadia Cortassa of Italy and 57 seconds on the third place finisher, up and coming Swedish star Lisa Norden.

Belaubre’s closing 31:19 10k was the fourth best among the men, but after a stellar bike it was enough to give him a 20-second cushion over runner-up and countryman Tony Moulai.

With a stellar bike breakaway and a tough-it-out 32:08 closing run, 2000 ITU World Champion and two-time Olympian Olivier Marceau of Switzerland out leaned Andreas Raelert of Germany for third place in the identical time of 1:53:54, both of them just one second ahead of fifth place Stephane Poulat of France.

While Fernandes and Belaubre earned comfortable victories, some of the sideshows carried more drama.

For the first time since the 2006 ITU World Championship in Lausanne, pre Olympic favorite Javier Gomez of Spain was shut out of the podium. Showing he is at least human, Gomez took an otherwise creditable 7th place finish.

Of immediate concern to the United States men, who could not race at this Continental Cup Championship, were the third place men from the two closest countries dueling with the US for the eighth and final country eligible for three Olympic slots.

Russia’s Dimitry Polyansky, who last weekend at the Richards Bay World Cup vaulted ahead of the US’s third place men’s athlete Hunter Kemper in ITU Olympic qualifying points, did not start. Polyansky was apparently saving himself for the May 25 Madrid World Cup, where more points are at stake.

The gnarly math for the US men’s race for three Olympic starting slots

Olivier Marceau, Switzerland's key third place man in Olympic qualifying points, was passed by Polyansky last week in the 2008 Olympic qualifying standings. Polyansky's seventh place finish at Richards Bay thus relegated Marceau and the Swiss men to 8th place in national Olympic points standings, followed by the US men on the outside looking in at 9th.

With last weekend's finish, Polyanksy increased his Olympic qualifying points total to to 2500, moving the Russian men from 9th to 7th place in the standings. Marceau and the Swiss men thereby dropped back to the eighth, or bubble, position with 2452 points. The U.S. men, represented by the third-ranking US man in Olympic rankings, Hunter Kemper and his 2359 points, temporarily dropped to the 9th position, leaving the US men temporarily with only two men’s Olympic slots.

With his third place finish in Lisbon, Marceau earned 342 Olympic qualifying points, boosting Switzerland’s men from 8th to a seemingly safe 5th place in national Olympic rankings. Thus Switzerland jumped ahead of Canada (6th), Australia (7th) and Russia (8th) with a total of 2794 points.

Going into the Madrid World Cup on May 25, the US men’s hopes for a three-man Olympic team rest with Hunter Kemper and red-hot Matt Reed.

After his runner-up finish and 463-point performance at Richards Bay, fourth-American Reed has 2305 Olympic qualifying points while currentl third-place American Hunter Kemper has 2359.

This puts Kemper 141 points behind Russia’s Polyansky and 148 points behind Australia’s Brandon Sexton, the third man for his country, which stands 7th in national Olympic points standings.

Reed, who now seems to be America’s best bet for a top finish at Madrid and the June 8 ITU World Championship in Vancouver– the last race counting for national Olympic qualifying points – stands 195 points behind Polyansky and 202 points behind Sexton.

Going into the final two Olympic national qualifying points shootouts, Polyanksy has a handicap which will make it harder for him to defend Russia’s chances of bringing three men to Beijing and satisfying his own Olympic quest.

Right now Polyansky has raced 13 events in this qualifying period and ITU rules stipulate that only his top nine performances will count. So, even if Polyanksy scores points at Madrid and Vancouver, he must throw out two of his lowest scoring races, counting 126 and 167 points respectively.

By contrast, Kemper only has three scores and Reed only has eight performances so far, and Reed's two lowest scores in national Olympic qualifying are a mere 18 points. So, anything and everything Reed and Kemper can do at Madrid and Vancouver will count full points.

At Madrid, a win counts 500 points and Kemper can pass Polyansky with a 17th place or better finish -- if the Russian does not finish 18th or better.

Reed, who is more likely to take a top five or podium finish at Madrid, can pass a non-scoring Polyansky with a 13th-place or better finish.

If, as expected, Polyansky scores a just-inside-the-top-ten finish at either or both of the remaining national Olympic qualifying contests, Kemper, Reed -- or both -- must perform at an expected high level at Madrid.

At Vancouver, the stakes are even higher, as the winner gets 1000 points and all subsequent finishers get double points.

Yet another twist may change the expected duel between the US and Russian men for a third Olympic slot. If both nations do well and Aussie Brandon Sexton fails to improve his lot at Madrid and Vancouver, the Australian men could be on the outs for a third Olympic slot. Thus third pick Greg Bennett could be on the outs. Unfortunately for Bennett, he is so far back in the Olympic qualifying points, he must depend upon Sexton to defend his slot.

ETU Triathlon European Championship
Lisbon, Portugal
May 10, 2008
S 1.5k/ B 40k./ R 10k

Results

Elite women

1. Vanessa Fernandes (Portgual) 2:05:46
2. Nadia Cortassa (Ita) 2:06:25
3. Lisa Norden (Swe) 2:06:44
4. Nicola Spirig (Sui) 2:06:44
5. Joelle Franzmann (Ger) 2:06:47
6. Radka Vodickova (Cze) 2:07:05
7. Eva Dollinger (Aut) 2:07:10
8. Daniela Ryf (Sui) 2:07:25
9. Jessica Harrison (Fra) 2:07:38
10. Irina Abyssova (Rus) 2:08:04
15. Magali DiMarco Messmer (Sui) 2:08:27
30. Kate Allen (Aut) 2:12:57
DNF Ana Burgos (Esp) Pilar Hidalgo (Esp) Vanessa Raw (Gbr)

Elite men

1. Frederic Belaubre (Fra) 1:53:03
2. Tony Moulai (Fra) 1:53:23
3. Olivier Marceau (Sui) 1:53:34
4. Andreas Raelert (Ger) 1:53:34
5. Stephane Poulat (Fra) 1:53:55
6. Pavel Simko (Cze) 1:54:02
7. Javier Gomez (Esp) 1:54:44
8. Axel Zeebroek (Bel) 1:54:44
9. Sven Riederer (Sui) 1:55:03
10. Maik Petzold (Ger) 1:55:08
11. William Clarke (Gbr) 1:55:16
13. Reto Hug (Sui) 1:55:25
14. Cedric Fluerton (Fra) 1:55:29
18. Ivan Rana (Esp) 1:56:00
24. Bruno Pais (Por) 1:56:42