Vincent Luis, Jessica Learmonth take SLT Munich
The Men
French short course star Vincent Luis and Jonny Brownlee of Great Britain jumped ahead of the series leader, London Super League Triathlon winner Hayden Wilde of New Zealand, after a Luis-Brownlee duel for the win at the second series event in Munich.
Aided by a Short Chute advantage won earlier by the French star, Luis applied his card just before the finishing chute in the Equalizer to take the Munich event, the series lead and points for his Super League Scorpion team.
“I had to really dig deep on the swim to grab the Short Chute and I was pretty empty on the last bike and run,” explained Luis at the finish. the Short Chute is a free pass earned earlier in the Equalizer format which allows the holder to take a short cut on the final run leg. “I had to steal some points from [London winner and series leader] Hayden [Wilde] and first place feels better than the second I got at London. I even thought about not using the Short Chute to set up a fair sprint with Jonny but he was strong on the run and attacked a few times and I didn’t want to waste what I’d fought for on the swim [the Short Chute advantage].
Following London’s Triple Mix format, the Munich format was the Equalizer, which began with an individual Time Trial bike leg of 2.4km to decide the starting order of the pursuit-style Stage 2. Stage 2 consisted of two triathlons back-to-back and included a 300-meter swim, followed by a 3.6km bike and a 1.8km run. “I had to really dig deep on the swim to grab the Short Chute and I was pretty empty on the last bike and run,” explained Luis at the finish.
TT Stage 1
The Equalizer’s TT bike leg was a toughie which included cobblestones, sharp turns, crests and lumpy asphalt during a muggy, strength-sapping weather. Seth Rider won the time trial with a 3:29 split, 2 seconds ahead of Max Studer of Switzerland and Marten Van Riel 4 seconds arrears. Hayden Wilde, Vincent Luis and Jonny Brownlee were all out of the TT’s top 10.
Stage 2 Tri 1
Despite his low TT placing, Vincent Luis was first out of the Munich Olympiapark lake after the 300m swim ahead of New Zealand’s Tayler Reid, with Luis taking the Short Chute honour. Luis was soon leading the charge on the bike and putting the chasers under pressure, with Brownlee, Yee and Spain’s Mario Mola) all over 10 seconds arrears.
Portugal’s Vasco Vilaca took the lead halfway through the bike. Into Transition 2 and Jonny Brownlee surged to the front after a quick T2, chased hard by Luis, Wilde, Yee and Van Riel.
Stage 2 Tri 2
Alex Yee missed his box in transition to lose the lead and Wilde toppled to the floor before entering the water. Yee and Wilde’s loss was Luis’ gain and the French star was soon controlling the tempo of the swim with Brownlee clinging to his feet
Luis and Brownlee led the swim by 13 seconds, then worked together on the cycling to increase their lead to 15 seconds beginning the run. With Luis holding a Short Chute advantage, Brownlee tried to build a lead on the run. But Brownlee failed to break away and once Luis used his Short Chute advantage, Luis took the win by 4 seconds over Brownlee and 15 seconds over Yee.
Super League Triathlon
Munich Results – Men
Vincent Luis – FRA – Munich Rank 1 – Munich Points 15
Jonathan Brownlee – GBR – Rank 2 – Points 14
Alex Yee GBR – Rank 3 – Points 13
Hayden Wilde NZL – Rank 4 – Points 12
Vasco Vilaca POR – Rank 5- Points 11
Kenji Nener JPN – Rank 6 – Points 10
Marten Van Riel BEL – Rank 7- Points 9
Matthew Hauser AUS – Rank 8 Points 8
Shachar Sagiv ISR – Rank 9 – Points 7
Max Studer SUI – Rank 10 – Points 6
Jannik Schaufler GER – Rank 11 – Points 5
Simon Henseleit GER Rank 12 Points 4
Jacob Birtwhistle – AUS – Rank 13 – Points 3
Seth Rider USA – Rank 14- Points 2
Aaron Royle AUS – Rank 15 Points 1
Overall ranking after two events
Vincent Luis – FRA – Rank 1 – Points 29
Jonathan Brownlee GBR – – 2 – 27
Hayden Wilde – NZL – 3 – 27
Alex Yee – GBR – 4 24
Vasco Vilaca – POR – 5 – 23
Shachar Sagiv – ISR – 6 – 15
Jacob Birtwhistle – AUS – 7 – 12
Seth Rider – USA – 8 – 12
Max Studer SUI – 9 – 11
Kanji Nener JPN – 10 – 10
Marten Van Riel BEL – 11-9
Matthew Hauser AUS Rank 12 Points 9
Aaron Royle AUS Rank 13 Points 7
Alessandro Fabian ITA Rank 14 Points 7
Jannik Schaufler GER Rank 15 – Points 5
The women – Learmonth takes series lead with Munich win
The women – Learmonth takes series lead with Munich win
After winning gold in the Olympic Team Relay in Tokyo and winning the 2021 Super League Triathlon opener in London a week ago, Jessica Learmonth won again at Munich to solidify her SLT series lead.
After taking third in the opening TT bike leg behind Emily Morier of France and Maya Kingma of Netherlands, Learmonth wrested the lead in Stage 2, Tri 1 with a strong swim and left just ahead of Brazil’s Vittoria Lopes. Learmonth then claimed the Short Chute at the mount line after Transition One, giving her a wild card advantage starting the final run leg.
In the first two 3.6km bike legs of Stage 2, Learmonth stretched her lead to 15 seconds and maintained that gap leading into the run. With Great Britain compatriots Beth P:otter, Vicky Holland, and Georgia Taylor-Brown in pursuit, and USA’s Katie Zaferes hot on the chase.
Stage 2 Tri 2
Learmonth’s lead was down to 10 seconds when she started the swim leg, then rose to 22 seconds after exiting the water. The lead was up to 25 seconds after a tight, technical bike leg. With such a big lead, Learmonth waited until the final corner before taking her Short Chute advantage and Learmonth could relax in the final meters. Learmonth won by 11 seconds over Taylor-Brown, and Beth Potter rounded out a 1-2-3 Great Britain podium.
Super League Triathlon
Munich Results – Women
Jessica Learmonth GBR – Rank 1 – Points 30
Georgia Taylor-Brown GBR – Rank 2 – Points 14
Katie Zaferes USA – Rank 4 – Points 12
Beth Potter GBR – Rank 3 – Points 13
Taylor Spivey USA – Rank 5 – Points 11
Sophie Coldwell GBR – Rank 6 – Points 10
Vicky Holland GBR – Rank 8 – Points 8
Leonie Periault FRA – Rank 10 – Points 6
Rachel Klamer NED – Rank 7 – Points 9
Maya Kingma NED – Rank 12 – Points 4
Yuko Takahashi JPN – Rank 11 – Points 5
Cassandre Beaugrand FRA – Rank 14 – Points 2
Non Stanford GBR – Rank 9 – Points 7
Valerie Barthelmy BEL – Rank 15 – Points 1
Annabel Knoll GER – Rank 13 – Points 3
Overall SLT series ranking after two events
Jessica Learmonth GBR – Rank 1 – Points 30
Georgia Taylor-Brown GBR – Rank 2 – Points 28
Katie Zaferes USA – Rank 3 – Points 24
Beth Potter GBR – Rank 4 – Points 22
Taylor Spivey USA – Rank 5 – Points 21
Sophie Coldwell GBR – Rank 6 – Points 21
Vicky Holland GBR – Rank 7 – Points 21
Leonie Periault FRA – Rank 8 – Points 14
Rachel Klamer NED – Rank 9 – Points 13
Maya Kingma NED – Rank 10 – Points 11
Yuko Takahashi JPN – Rank 11 – Points 8
Cassandre Beaugrand FRA – Rank 12 – Points 8
Non Stanford GBR – Rank 13 – Points 8
Emilie Morier FRA – Rank 14 – Points 5
Valerie Barthelmy BEL p- Rank 15 – Points 3
