London, UK: Australian Ashleigh Gentle returned to winning ways at the London T100 Triathlon, to claim her second T100 race of the season and take her back to the top of the series standings. She finished ahead of Swiss star Imogen Simmonds and Britain’s Kat Matthews.
Gentle enjoyed the victory and said it put her performance at the previous leg of the T100 Triathlon World Tour, where she finished seventh in San Francisco, well and truly behind her.
She said: “That feels pretty good. London put on some beautiful weather and gave us great support and I am pretty happy I can put San Francisco behind me now. It was so painful but actually really enjoyable, too.”
“I am really happy with my swim and bike, but the last couple of laps on the bike were super tough. I actually started to get a bit blurry eyes at one point and was a bit worried but, overall, I was pretty happy after the bike and then just had to focus on finishing strong.”
Second-placed Imogen Simmonds had a fantastic bike leg and led going into the run. She said: “It was a career best performance. I have, in the past, been a bit more hesitant and cautious, but today I thought, ‘let’s go for it and see what I can do’. I had a lot of fun on the bike. The course suited me quite well, it was a bit technical but also allowed you to put your head down and go. I thought let’s push this and then hope the running legs turn up today and they were OK and I was able to hang on to second place.”
Kat Matthews finished third overall and was the first Brit home, after a thrilling battle with Germany’s Laura Philipp on the 18km run.
Matthews said: “I actually owe my performance to Laura, she was excellent all day. I feel like we have an ongoing battle both at T100 and the long distance scene and it is really exciting to race. She actually held me together I think this whole race so I owe my performance to her because she was so feisty and I am so in awe of her and the other competitors.”
“At no point in the day did I think ‘I can’t do this’. I just kept seeing another face, another family member, a best friend, all who had come a long way to support me and that kept me going. In fact, it felt like everyone was supporting me out there today. The only thing in my mind was I had to finish having given absolutely everything. I had a horrible day but I’m so proud!”
There was disappointment for another Brit, Lucy Charles-Barclay, who was forced to pull out early on into the run while in second place.
She said: “I’d had a pretty rough build into this race with a few issues that maybe could have put me not on the start list but I really wanted to be here at my home race with these amazing fans.”
“I was feeling pretty good on the swim and the bike but rolled my ankle on the run and felt something in my Achilles and, given the huge injury I’ve had on that leg, I thought I couldn’t risk this. It was incredibly tough to pull the pin given it was a home race and the crowd was amazing, but unfortunately I had to make the smart decision today and not make it worse.”
How the race unfolded
A warm day in London – the temperature was just over 20 degrees – ensured a quick race for the 20 pro women who took the London T100 start line. The action-packed afternoon played out in front of a large and patriotic British crowd, making for a fitting stage of the four leg of the T100 Triathlon World Tour, the race starting with a sun-bathed swim in the Royal Victoria Docks, followed by an eight lap technical bike course and a fast, flat six lap run route adjacent to London City Airport.
Home favourite Charles-Barclay – who very rarely has company in the water – was threatened in the swim by short-course-triathlete-turn-T100-Wildcard Sophie Coldwell, hot on her heels for the entire 2km leg.
The pair headed out of the water across the blue carpet and up the stairs into T1 over 1 minute clear of third place US athlete, Haley Chura.
With 8 laps of the 10km bike course ahead, Sophie ran out of T1 just in front of Lucy after a tight turnaround in transition.
Athletes were in for a bumpy ride on the bike. Regardless of the infamous London potholes, the drama of the day unfolded on two wheels. Notoriously strong Charles-Barclay, currently rated #1 on the bike, was overtaken by Switzerland’s Imogen Simmonds, who stole the lead over Lucy into T2.
Half way through the run came the news that T100 series leader Lucy Charles-Barclay had stopped. But whilst it was heartbreak for Charles-Barclay, Kat Matthews and Lucy Byram fought hard to keep British hopes alive.
In true Gentle fashion, Ashleigh accelerated with 9km to go. She overtook Imogen to dominate the final stretch of the 18km run, ultimately taking the tape indoors on the second floor of London’s ExCel Centre in a rapid 3:36:17, almost three minutes ahead of Simmonds in second-place.
After battling with Laura Philipp, a grinning Kat Matthews powered through to take 3rd place, leaving Philipp in fourth and Byram in 5th.
The current women’s standings after the fourth-leg of the T100 series are led by Gentle on 86 points, ahead of India Lee on 61pts – who finished 9th in this race, followed closely by Charles-Barclay in 3rd with 56pts.
The pro men and 4,500 amateurs get their turn tomorrow. To ensure you don’t miss a beat, here’s a list of the key timings, how you can come down and watch for free or take in the action on TV:
Sunday 28 July
Age Grouper/Amateur Races
0630 – 100km (2km Swim, 80km Bike, 18km Run)
0730 – Olympic Distance (1.5km Swim, 40km Bike, 10km Run)
0930 – Olympic Relay
1050 – Sprint – (0.75km Swim, 20km Bike, 5km Run)
1130 – Sprint Relay
1200 – Super Sprint (0.4km Swim, 10km Bike, 2.5km Run)
Some famous names competing include: Harry Judd, Tom Grennan, Sam Holness, Anya Culling, Helen Thorn, Dr Hussain Al-Zubaidi
Pro Men’s Race
1400 – Pro men’s race starts with the swim in Royal Victoria Dock
1420 – Pro men exit swim and head for Transition 1 to get onto bikes
1600 – Pro men leaders approach Transition 2 to head out on the run
1700 – Pro men leaders approach the finish
1745 – Pro men’s medal ceremony
Pros To Look Out For
The men’s T100 race features double Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee taking on T100 series leader American Sam Long and third-placed Dane Magnus Ditlev. For the full pro start list visit here and to check out the pro course visit here.
No Ticket Required
The London T100 Triathlon weekend is entirely free for spectators, and includes a dedicated T100 Watch Party venue at the ExCel London Exhibition Centre for the very first time. That will enable fans to see the world’s best triathletes up to 16 times in the flesh during the entertaining 100km race format (2km swim, 80km run, 18km swim). It will also feature a giant screen, complete with live commentary from the global broadcast feed, keeping everyone up to date with every moment and every overtake as the best endurance athletes on the planet hurtle around the twists and turns of the city-centre course.
How To Watch On TV
The broadcast for the women’s pro race begins at 1345 local time on Sunday 27 July, with the race starting at 1400. On Sunday 28 July the men’s pro broadcast is set to start at 1345 with the race similarly commencing at 1400. You can watch live in the UK on TNT Sports as well as on Discovery+ across Europe and the rest of the world. You can also watch live from anywhere in the world on PTO+ and the T100 YouTube channel as well as the usual range of national and regional broadcasters around the world such as CCTV (China), Sky New Zealand, SpoTV (Asia-Pacific). Sam Long will also be streaming the race live on his YouTube channel.
The London T100 Triathlon is the fourth leg on the new 8-stop T100 Triathlon World Tour, which has already visited Miami, Singapore and San Francisco and will climax in Ibiza (28-29 September) Lake Vegas (19-20 October), Dubai (16-17 November) and then the T100 World Championship (29-30 November). For more details visit: www.T100Triathlon.com
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For Further Information:
Anthony Scammell E: [email protected]
About Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO)
The PTO is a sports body that is co-owned by its professional athletes, seeking to elevate and grow the sport of triathlon and take it to the next level. The T100 Triathlon World Tour is the new name for the PTO Tour and has been designated by World Triathlon as the ‘official World Championship for long distance triathlon’. It is a season-long schedule of eight T100 races during 2024 that will be competed over 100km (2km swim, 80km bike and 18km run) and will feature the world’s best triathletes going head-to-head in Miami (9 March), Singapore (13-14 April), San Francisco (8-9 June), London (27-28 July), Ibiza (28-29 September), Lake Las Vegas (19-20 October), Dubai (16-17 November) and at the World Championship (29-30 November). There will also be racing opportunities for amateurs at all the events, including the new 100km distance at six stages, including: Singapore, London, Ibiza, Lake Las Vegas, Dubai and at the Grand Final. The global broadcast shows the races live around the world in 195+ territories, courtesy of the PTO’s partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery as well as a range of other international, regional and local broadcasters.