Super League Triathlon Grand Finale in NEOM
Georgia Taylor-Brown defended her Super League Triathlon series title and led a 1-2-3 British women’s sweep of the Grand Finale Saturday in NEOM. Coming into the final, Taylor-Brown was tied with Taylor Spivey of the U.S. at 56 points apiece. Taylor-Brown combined a 3rd at London, a win at Munich, a 3rd place at Malibu and wins at Toulouse and NEOM in Saudi Arabia to total 76 points. Spivey finished an off-form 4th at NEOM to take second in the series with 70 points.
On the day, Sophie Coldwell took 2nd and Beth Potter 3rd. For the series, Coldwell took 3rd with 57 points and Potter was 4th with 52 points.
Hayden Wilde of New Zealand became the 2022 Men’s Super League Triathlon Champion by finishing third in the Grand Final and rounding won the 5-race series with 3 victories and two third place finishes. Matthew Hauser of Australia won the Grand Final round in NEOM and second in the series with two wins, a 2nd, a 4th and a DNF at Malibu. When the series was standings were totaled, Wilde led Hauser 74 points to 61. Finishing the series with a flourish, Jonny Brownlee of Great Britain took second at NEOM and 3rd in the series with 50 points.
The races were conducted in the Enduro Format –three straight super-sprint triathlons with no breaks in between. Each stage consisted in a one lap 300-meter swim, a one-lap 4-kilometer bike leg, and a two-lap 1.8 kilometer run.
Race recaps
The Women
Stage One – Coldwell Grabs the Lead
Emma Jeffcoat of Australia, Sophie Coldwell and Cassandre Beaugrand of France led the opening swim, earning the first Short Chute for the Scorpion team. This was enough to secure the $15,000 swim leader series title.
Unique in the Super League Triathlon venue, the 4-km bike leg was conducted on a one-lap outdoor course in a mixture of tarmac and gravel in the nearby desert. While a group of 9 women formed in the lead, Sophie Coldwell broke out front and was the first to arrive at T2, earning a 6-seconds advantage and securing the second Short Chute for her Team Cheetah.
Coldwell ran well on the two surfaces chased by Beth Potter and Taylor-Brown, with Taylor Spivey close behind in 4th.
Coldwell arrived first at the run-to-swim transition.
Stage 2 – Contenders trimmed to five.
On the second swim, Coldwell, Potter, Taylor-Brown, Spivey and Nicole Van Der Kaay formed a breakaway lead pack. On the bike, Beth Potter broke away into the lead, The chasing four dug in and worked together, preventing Potter from creating a serious gap. Moving through the bike to run transition for the second time, the top quintet were separated by just 7 seconds. Tied for points after the first four rounds, Taylor-Brown and Spivey r amained elbow to elbow.
While her career run reputation was impeccable, Potter got caught by the four chasers leaving the fabulous five all together at the end of the second triathlon.
Stage 3 – Taylor-Brown takes command to the finish of the race and the series
At the swim, the lead pack of five led the3 swim from start to finish. With Sophie Coldwell owning the Short Chute advantage, Coldwell had a chance at her first SLT race-win. But the spotlight remained on the Taylor-Brown vs. Spivey duel.
Coldwell took the short chute, with Potter, Spivey, GTB and Van Der Kaay chasing hard. Despite the Team Scorpion decision not to defend the interests of Taylor-Brown, she pulled clear of Taylor Spivey and thus secured the race win and the series title.
Neom 2022 results
Elite Women
1. Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR)
2. Sophie Coldwell (GBR)
3. Beth Potter (GBR)
4. Taylor Spivey (USA)
5. Nicole Van Der Kaay (NZL)
6. Miriam Casillas Garcia (ESP)
7. Verena Steinhauser (ITA)
8. Cassandre Beaugrand (FRA)
9. Jeanne Lehair (FRA)
10. Kate Waugh (GBR)
Final standings after Neom – round five of five
1. Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR) – 76
2. Taylor Spivey (USA) – 70
3. Sophie Coldwell (GBR) – 57
4. Beth Potter (GBR) – 52
5. Verena Steinhauser (ITA) – 44
6. Miriam Cassilas (ESP) – 42
7. Jeanne Lehair (FRA) – 41
8. Cassandre Beaugrand (FRA) – 36
9. Nicole Van Der Kaay (NZL) – 33
10. Kate Waugh (GBR) – 30
The Men
Stage 1 – Brownlee takes the lead
The Enduro Format leaves no room to hide, and so double Olympic medalist Jonny Brownlee
returned to form in Stage 1.
Jamie Riddle of South Africa led the swim and crossed the bike mount first to take the first Short Chute advantage for his Eagles team. Riding into a strong headwind on the first 4km lap, Jonny Brownlee led the field at the front.
Vasco Vilaca of Portugal earned the second Short Chute for his Rhinos as the first triathlete on the run. While Shachar Sagiv of Israel took a nerve-wracking fall over a barrier. Maintaining his recent form, which included a second place at WTCS Cagliari, Brownlee returned to the front and led Matt Hauser into the water as they started the second swim, earning Team Cheetahs the next Short Chute short cut.
Stage 2 – Brownlee maintains the lead
Emerging together after the second swim, a quartet including Hauser, Brownlee, Tayler Reid, and Wilde led over 10 triathletes bunched together within single digits. Midway through the bike, a quartet of strong triathletes surged into a lead. They were led by Wilde, intent on making his SLT 2022 record 4 out of 5 wins. As they started the second run 15 seconds ahead, it was four triathletes chasing the podium. Two kilometers on, Tayler Reid dropped out of contention, leaving Brownlee, Hauser and Wilde four seconds apart to duke it out for the medals.
Stage 3 – Hauser grabs for the day’s glory
With just the final bike and run to go, the podium was assured and only the order to be sorted out. With all top cyclists riding together, it would be a mile shootout for the big dough. With no Short Chute advantage to mix up the quartet, Hauser increased the pace in the first quarter mile and gapped Brownlee and Wilde. With Hauser regaining his late race Munich form, the Aussie beat Brownlee to the tape while Wilde took third place and earned the Super League Triathlon Championship crown.
SLT Neom 2022 results
29 October 2022 – Enduro – Elite Men
1. Matt Hauser (AUS)
2. Jonathan Brownlee (GBR)
3. Hayden Wilde (NZL)
4. Vasco Vilaca (POR)
5. Tyler Mislawchuk (CAN)
6. Kenji Nener (JPN)
7. Sergio Baxter Cabrera (ESP)
8. Richard Murray (NED)
9. Emil Holm (DEN)
10. Tayler Reid (NZL)
Final standings after Neom – round five of five
1. Hayden Wilde (NZL) – 74
2. Matt Hauser (AUS) – 61
3. Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) – 50
4. Vasco Vilaca (POR) – 46
5. Tayler Reid (NZL) – 45
6. Kenji Nener (JPN) – 44
7. Emil Holm (DEN) – 33
8. Chase McQueen (USA) – 33
9. Shachar Sagiv (ISR) – 31
10. Richard Murray (NED) – 29
