SLT Jersey: Yee, Brownlee Finish in Frantic Sprint; Learmonth Earns Three-Peat
Alex Yee and Jonny Brownlee authored one of the most dramatic finishes in Super League Triathlon history as the GBR gold medal-winning teammates fought to the nail-biting end.
Coming into the Jersey edition – the third of four races in the 2021 Super League Series – Vincent Luis took victory in Munich to move to the top of the overall Championship Series standings. Despite earning the Short Chute wildcard, it availed him nothing as he was too far behind in points to challenge for the Jersey lead.
Instead, Alex Yee moved from 5th in London to 3rd in Munich to ascend the top step of the podium after his win in Jersey.
The race went back and forth until the final run lap of the last leg when race leader Hayden Wilde of New Zealand was passed by Yee and Brownlee with 200 meters to go. Stretching for the tape, Yee’s famed closing speed stole the show, adding another feather in his cap to go with his Olympic individual silver and team gold.
Thus Brownlee holds a one point lead over Wilde at the top of the Championship Series leader board going into next weekend’s fourth and final race at Malibu next Saturday.
“I am absolutely buzzing,” Yee told Super League Triathlon media. “The first triathlon I was really on the back foot to be honest and I was just hanging onto the race for most of it. I saw Aaron Royle crash just in front of me in the first bike stage and it really shook me up. By the end I was starting to get my confidence back and move well and I am so pleased to come away with a win in a really exciting race.”
Jonathan Brownlee GBR – Rank 1 – Points 41 – 13 – 14 – 14
Hayden Wilde NZL – Rank 2 – 40 Points – 15 – 12 – 13
Alex Yee GBR – Rank 3 –39 Points – 11-13 – 15
Vincent Luis FRA – Rank 4 – 37 Points– 14-15- 8
Vasco Vilaca POR – Rank 5 – 33 Points – 12-11-10
Marten Van Riel BEL – Rank 6 – 21 Points – 0 – 9 – 12
Kenji Nener JPN – Rank 7 – 21 Points – 0-10-11
Seth Rider USA – Rank 8 – 21 Points– 10 – 2 – 9
Shachar Sagiv ISR – Rank 9 – 15 Points – 8 – 7- 0
Max Studer SUI – Rank 10 – 14 – 5-6 – 3
Matthew Hauser AUS – Rank 11 – 13 Points – 0 – 8 – 5
Alessandro Fabian ITA – Rank 12 – 13 Points – 7 – 0 – 6
Jacob Birtwhistle AUS – Rank 13 –9-3 – 0
Aaron Royle AUS – Rank 14 – 11 Points– 6 – 1 – 4
Tayler Reid NZL – Rank 15 – 9 Points – 2 – 0 – 7
Jess Learmonth makes it a Three-Peat at SLT Jersey
Jess Learmonth made it three straight wins in the 2021 Super League Triathlon Series while Georgia Taylor-Brown successfully appealed a disqualification after crossing the line in second place.
After securing wins at the first two rounds of SLT 2021 at London and Munich, Learmonth continued her domination by grabbing two Short Chute advantages with powerful swim and bike performances in the Enduro Format which takes competitors over three continuous rounds of 300-meter swim, 4 kilo meter bike and 1.6km run. However, Learmonth’s mastery of the sprint format left her not needing to play either Short Chute card.
The only rival who could keep Pace with Learmonth was fellow Brit Georgia Taylor-Brown. But Taylor-Brown’s crash in the final transition gave Learmonth a free pass to a third straight victory. However, Taylor-Brown mistakenly thought she had been awarded a Short Chute and took what she thought was a get out of jail free card and took it. Having been informed of her error she chose to make up the distance she had incorrectly cut off.
At that point, Taylor was disqualified, but a meeting of the Super League Technical Committee reinstated her and planned to clarify the rules before next week’s finale in Malibu.
French athlete Cassandre Beaugrand, ascended to the podium for the first time in the Series after slicing through a pack to take 3rd place.
Learmonth has a perfect 45 points to lead the women’s series, but with extra points available at Malibu, and Taylor-Brown already possessing 42 points for her three second place finishes, Learmonth has to outduel Taylor Brown to assure a Championship Series victory.
“I’m not nervous and I don’t feel the pressure,” Learmonth told SLT media. “I am just having fun. If she would stop decking it, it would be Georgia here and not me. I swear, before Super League she has never fallen off her bike, never had any issues and then since Super League she decks it or does something in transition.”
2021 Super League Triathlon Jersey – Women’s Results
Jessica Learmonth GBR – Rank 1 – 45 Points – 15-15-15
Georgia Taylor-Brown GBR – Rank 2 – 42 Points 14-14-14
Vicky Holland GBR – Rank 3 – 33 Points 33 – 13 – 8 – 12
Beth Potter GBR – Rank 4 – 33 Points – 9-13 – 11
Katie Zaferes USA – Rank 5 – 33 Points – 12-12-9
Taylor Spivey USA – Rank 6 – 29 Points – 10-11-8
Sophie Coldwell GBR – Rank 7 – 27 Points – 11-10 – 6
Leonie Periault FRA – Rank 8 –24 Points – 8 – 6 – 10
Cassandre Beaugrand FRA – Rank 9 – 21 Points – 6 – 2 – 13
Rachel Klamer NED – Rank 10 –18 Points 4 – 9 – 5
Non Stanford GBR – Rank 11 – 15 Points 1 – 7 – 7
Maya Kingma NED – Rank 12 –15 Points – 7 – 4 – 4
Yuko Takahashi JPN – Rank 13 –11 Points 3 -5 – 3
Emilie Morier FRA – Rank 14 –7 Points – 5 – 0 – 2
Anabel Knoll GER – Rank 15 – 3 Points – 0 – 3 – 0
Photos courtesy of Super League Triathlon
