SuperTri kicked off its first of five races in Boston last week, with Jeanne Lehair of Luxembourg and Alex Yee of Great Britain taking the wins. Lehair was able to redeem himself after a disappointing Olympics. Yee beat friendly rival Hayden Wilde in dramatic fashion, folding his arms as he crossed the finish line, mimicking the same move Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe is famous for. It looked like Wilde took issue with the celebrations, although the two congratulated each other shortly afterward. Some in the triathlon community didn’t seem to like the move either, but I would love to see a little more personality in our sport. In the major sports leagues, players are celebrated for much less (sometimes for a routine move that only takes a few seconds). Our athletes are incredible. It’s OK to show emotion!
The second stop of the SuperTri tour took place in the United States, where athletes headed to Chicago’s lakefront to compete. The race ran alongside the Chicago Triathlon, which welcomed more than 8,000 athletes in their age groups over the weekend. The women’s race came down to a five-athlete decision in the final heat. Olivia Mathias and Taylor Spivey took advantage of short distances to move into the lead and take the win. However, it was Britain’s Georgia Taylor-Brown who eventually caught the leading duo and took the win. Olympic champion Cassandra Beaugrand moved up to second place. American Taylor Spivey held on to third. Taylor-Brown said: “It’s really nice to be back on top. I’d forgotten what it was like to lift the tape. It’s a nice feeling, but it’s so hot out here. All the girls have put in incredible performances.” Spivey added: “It feels so good. I always seem to finish fourth, so it’s really satisfying to just be in the top three.”
Short slides and penalties were the theme in the men’s race. Wilde and Vasco Vilaca broke away early in the final run and took advantage of their short slides, while two of Tim Don’s Podium Racing athletes were serving penalties. Wilde encouraged Vilaca to ride in the lead towards the end of the first of two laps. Vilaca, who appeared to be on the limit, was unable to move to the front and Wilde continued ahead of him. That move proved crucial as Wilde opened up a small lead from then on and crossed the finish line first. Frenchman Leo Bergere overtook Vilaca late to take second. Vilaca completed the podium after missing the time limit in last week’s race. Wilde was delighted with the win, saying: “(I’m) totally stoked to finally be back in the lead. It’s been a long time.” He said he had changed his tactics since last week, settling on a more conservative race strategy that sees him spend less time behind the front of the race.
Women’s race
Temperatures at today’s race reached nearly 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Water temperatures were around 75 degrees Fahrenheit and some wind made swimming conditions choppy in Lake Michigan. Kirsten Kasper, competing on home soil, led the swim, earning Stars & Stripes Racing a short run-out. Beaugrand and Taylor-Brown, her teammates, pushed the pace on a very technical bike leg that traversed the shoreline. Leonie Periault fell behind early. Brownlee Racing took the second short run-out. Mathias and Jessica Fullagar were first to hit the run leg. Some of the pre-race favorites worked their way back into the main group. Beaugrand took the final short run-out for Crown Racing, creating a small gap going into the second swim leg. Nine athletes were separated by ten seconds going into the second bike leg. Mathias, Beaugrand and Spivey were assigned the short run-outs by their team captains. Brownlee Racing had to choose between Beth Potter and Mathias.
A group of four athletes battled for victory on the final bike leg. It looked like the winner would emerge from a group consisting of Mathias, Taylor-Brown, Spivey and Fullagar. Mathias and Spivey used their short runs to overtake Fullagar and Taylor-Brown by a few seconds at the start of the final run leg. Beaugrand moved up to 5th place and led the chasing group. Taylor-Brown quickly closed in and took the lead. Mathias and Spivey closed behind her and let her set the pace. However, the pace was too much for the pair and Taylor-Brown was able to pull away from them. Beaugrand came close and finished second, but she ran out of space to catch Taylor-Brown, who won the race. Spivey completed the podium in third.
Men’s race
Much like the first swim leg last week, this week started with what we could call a full contact swim leg. Matt Hauser and Chase McQueen were first out of the water and ran back and forth several times, pushing and shoving each other to catch the first short chute. McQueen struggled to find his bike in transition and Hauser took the first short chute for Podium Racing. One of the commentators noted that “bumping is racing.” Vilaca took the next short chute after the first bike leg. Eleven men were within eight seconds of the lead. Notably, Alex Yee was not in that group. Wilde, looking to keep it that way, forced the pace on the first run and took the final short chute for Crown Racing.
On the second swim-bike-run, Yee fell further behind. He was now more than twenty seconds behind. Tim Hellwig fell on the bike and landed in a hay bale, but was able to rejoin the group. A large group of eight competitors was in the race on the final swim. Kenji Nener reached the bike first, but was quickly caught by the group. It would come down to a running battle. Tim Don expressed frustration with Crown Racing manager Chris McCormack, whom he blamed for fixing Wilde’s bike chain at transition and taking care of a problem with another athlete’s cycling shoe. Wilde, who had time to put on a Red Bull cap at transition, and Vilaca took their short slides and left the field behind at the start of the final run. Wilde and Vilaca ran the first of two laps together. It didn’t look like Wilde had pushed the pace, but rather that Vilaca had reached his limit and fallen back. Wilde took the win. Bergere moved up to take second place, with Vilaca completing the podium with a hard-fought third place.
(Not so) Summary: Today’s race, just like last week’s, was entertaining. We see some of the best short course triathletes competing in a fast paced environment. The first two races were in major US cities, but generally away from residential areas. The shores of Lake Chicago are actually a bit difficult to get to. You have to cross a major highway (Lakeshore Drive) to get to the race location. It can be difficult to find parking on the lakeshore. The race course did not pass any residential buildings. There seemed to be people around the start and finish, but much of the course looked empty. I don’t know what the solution is, because other than Lake Michigan in Chicago itself, there is no clean body of water to swim in. It looked like a lot of age group racers did not stay for the race. When pros race at the same time as age group racers, you benefit from having all their families and friends present at the event. Watching today’s race, I again thought that this format is made for TV and that a casual sports fan could watch it in the summer in August without many other options to choose from. I watched it on TriathlonLive. To watch it directly through SuperTri you still have to log in. SuperTri can help grow the sport. It just feels like something is missing. More people should see these incredible athletes racing like this straight after the Olympics.
Photos: SuperTri
