Thomas Hall | Sportscene - It was a beautiful though bumpy weekend in Milan for the first canoe sprint world cup of 2014. The first international race of the season is a chance for athletes and coaches to test how effective winter training was, try out new race plans and, of course, send a message to the competition. 

The world cup was also a chance for Milan to get some more practice hosting a world-class event before the next year’s world championships, which, being the Olympic qualifier, is arguably the second biggest race of the quadrennial.

Here are some highlights from the weekend:

New Zealand’s Lisa Carrington dominated the women’s K1.  In the 500m she led from start to finish, winning by almost a full second with a time of 1:51.8. She also won the 200m by three-quarters of a second.

In the men’s K1 Max Hoff set the tone for the season, winning by almost two seconds in a 3:29.37. Hoff was challenged by Portugal’s Fernando Pimenta for the first half of the 1000m, but in the end Pimenta faded and was nipped by Rene Poulsen from Denmark who took the second. Adam Van Koeverden finished fourth, slipping by Francisc Cubelos Sanchez, from Spain.

Sebastian Brendel continued Germany’s domination of the men’s singles winning the C1-1000m by 1.7 seconds over Brazil’s Santos and Canada’s Mark Oldershaw who hung on for third edging out Hungary’s Henrik Vasbanyai. Oldershaw looked comfortable for the first 500m, leading the race until about 600m in, when Santos and Brendal made their moves.  Santos and Oldershaw also finished first and second respectively in the C1-500m with Hungary’s Robert finishing third.

Like Germany in the singles, Poland dominated the men’s 1000m doubles. Murray Stewart and Jacob clear, from Australia’s reigning Olympic champion K4, raced to a second in the K2-1000m, losing to Poland’s Pawel Szandrach and Mariusz Kujawski. Italy’s Giulio Dressino and Matteo Torneo finished third, three seconds off the Poles, but getting a big cheer from the hometown crowd. In the C2-1000m, Poland’s Tomasz Kaczor and Vincent Slominski nipped the Czech crew of Radon and Dvorak, winning in 3:35.6.  Romania’s Lazar and Mihalachi finished third one and a half seconds off the Poles.

In 200m events Germany’s Rauhe and Liebscher won the K2 by a convincing three quarters of second over Russia’s Postrygay and Dyachenko; Italy’s Rizza and Florio finished a tight third. In women’s C1 Anggie Avengo from Ecuador nipped Bulgaria’s Staniliya Stamenova by just eight-hundredths of a second. Uzbekistan’s Yuliya Tsoy finished third two seconds behind Ecuador.  

In fours China finished first and third in the women’s 500m, with Sweden in second, and Poland fourth. In the men’s 1000m Spain, with a big second half, won by about two seconds over Italy, and Slovakia finished third.

Be sure to check in two weeks from now on May 16 to 18, for the second world cup in Racice, Czech Republic. Easily one of the nicest courses in the world and definitely one of the fastest, Racice virtually guarantees great racing. And, of course, the Czech republic is also home to excellent and affordable beer for those in the stands. A week after, May 23 to 25, canoe kayak heads home to Szeged, Hungary, land of excellent paddlers, fans and of course, racing.

For a full list of results from Milan click here: www.sportscene.tv/flatwater/canoe-sprint/result-archive

Event website: http://www.milanworldcanoesprint.com