KING’S School, Worcester, pupil and under 16 national marathon champion Jonny Tye finished a strong season with an international victory against stiff competition at the Tour de Gudena, a major Danish marathon race.
Racing for the full GB team, Tye finished the first 17km stage in third place, 10 seconds down on the race leaders.
He had a lot of work to do against high quality opposition, including the under 16 1,000-metre world cup winner, and the Scandinavian marathon silver medallist, both from Denmark.
Day two saw Tye work well with his fellow junior from GB, Peter Wilkes, alongside the Danes in a group of four for the start of the second 24km river stage.
After a few kilometres, Tye got away on his own, seeking to make up the deficit, and successfully completing the stage 10 seconds ahead of his nearest rival.
After a 20-minute break, Tye started the final 16km river section knowing he was leading with the tightest of margins and that he had to keep the pressure up on the chasing pair.
Starting on his own, he was able to keep his cool and effectively fight off a strong challenge, completing the gruelling 57km four minutes ahead of the Danish competition. It was a particularly impressive victory as Tye is only completing in his first year in under 16 international competition.
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