Bergere, Waugh Prevail at SLT Toulouse
Men's Race Recap
With the slam-bang nature of Super League Triathlon sprint racing, incredibly mixups and snafus can be the order of the day. And so the elite men’s category at the Toulouse race followed that script once again.
Heading into the final swim and run segments of the Stage 3 Triple Mix, returning to action Hayden Wilde of New Zealand and 2022 World Triathlon Champion Leo Bergere of France were dueling for the Toulouse SLT crown. But Wilde lost his usual navigational prowess and started an unnecessary fifth bike lap that threw him from contender to also ran.
At the end, Bergere held off Jonny Brownlee and Henri Schoeman for the gold while Wilde scrambled back from oblivion to fourth place.
Triple Mix Stage 1 – Swim-Bike-Run
As it played out in the women’s race, the Warriors Team led the top three places of the opening swim with Chase McQueen leading a trio of U.S, stars. Meanwhile the usual top contenders – Hayden Wilde, Leo Bergere, Kristian Blummenfelt and Jonny Brownlee – were close on his heels.
With no one breaking away, the top 15 riders made a pack tightly into a 15-seconds grouping. On the run, Leo Bergere slipped into the lead ahead of Brownlee, just 4 seconds ahead of Blummenfelt and Wilde. Sadly, Matt Hauser had not fully recovered from his case of Covid and lost 28 seconds to the leaders.
Triple Mix Stage 2 – Run-Bike-Swim
On the run to bike transition, powered to the front solo, while his Scorpion Teammate Tayler Reid crashed out on the bike and would have no opportunity to repeat his London podium.
Wilde surged further to the front creating a 10 seconds lead on Bergere Leo Bergere, accompanied by Brownlee, Blummenfelt of Norway, Kenji Nener of Japan, Seth Rider of the U.S. Henri Schoeman of South Africa, Donald Dixon, Max Stapley of Switzerland, and Hauser.
In the final swim, Wilder led Bergere by six seconds, and 14 seconds over Bergere, then swim stars Stapley and Rider. Rider gained the lead at the swim finish, just in front of Wilde. With the top eight within seven seconds, the pursuit gaps for Stage 3 would be squeaky tight.
Triple Mex Stage 3 – Bike-Swim-Run (pursuit start)
French favorite Bergere started first, but 7th place Blummenfelt just 14 seconds back, there was no real advantage on offer. Sadly, Seth Rider crashed in the first minute of the bike. One On the first lap of the bike, Bergere and Wilde led at the front, with Jonny Brownlee and Henri Schoeman hot on their heels. Approaching the bell lap, the gap grew 10 seconds with the 300-meter swim and 2km run left to settle matters.
Crazy time hit for Wilde as he suffered brain fade and rode through transition to start an unnecessary fifth lap. Bergere was beneficiary as he proceeded alone at the front. Olympic swim stars Henri Schoeman and Jonny Brownlee surged frantically in pursuit. But Bergere prevailed as he took advantage of his team’s short chute advantage on the final 2km run.
In the hunt for gold, Brownlee moved past Schoeman into second place, but Bergere, with 1km remaining, held a lead of eight seconds over the Brit. Bergere thrilled the home country crowd with his victory this day in Toulouse. But back-to-back second place finishes in the two Super League Triathlon events this season gave the triple Olympic medalist the lead in the Series standings.
Men's Results
1 Leo Bergere FRA
2 Jonathan Brownlee GBR
3 Henri Schoeman RSA
4 Hayden Wilder NZL
5 Dan Dixon GBR
Series Standings after two races
1 Jonathan Brownlee GBR – 28 points
2 Henri Schoeman RSA – 22 points
3 Daniel Dixon GBR – 21 points
4 Roberto Sanchez Mantecon ESP – 18 points
5 Alex Yee GBR – 15 points
5 Leo Bergere – 15 points
5 Chase McQueen USA – 15 points
Women's Race Recap
While Great Britain stars Beth Potter and Sophie Coldwell were missing, the British 2022 Under 23 World Champion Kate Waugh picked up the flag and dominated dominated the Triple Mix format of the Super League Triathlon at Toulouse by over a minute over French stars Leonie Periault and Emma Lombardi. The win gave Waugh the lead in the Championship Series standings after two of the four round series.
Triple Mix Stage 1 – Swim-Bike-Run
The U.S.-based Team Warriors stars Vittoria Lopes of Brazil and Taylor Spivey of the United States took the lead in the Garonne River swim, and this earned the short chute bonus.
Things changed quickly on the four-loop bike course through the tight and technical over the streets of Toulouse. Kate Waugh pushed hard and opened a 12 seconds lead over the chasers of Lopes, Spivey and SLT London winner Jeanne Lehair of Luxembourg on the halfway point. By the end of the bike leg, Waugh extended her lead. Meanwhile, Olivia Mathias of Great Britain, Jessica Fullagar and Verna Steinhauser of Italy caught the first chasing trio and formed a lead pack of six.
Leaving T2, Spivey pulled out with injury. Waugh began the run with a 16-seconds margin over her chasers, while London winner Lehair leapfrogged ahead of all chasers to take second place after a lap of the 1.6k run.
After a redlined run, Lehair sliced Waugh’s lead to 12 seconds by the end of the Stage. While Nikcole Van Der Kaay, Periault, and Lombardi formed the main chasse group 22 seconds arrears. Crowed favorite 15-year-old Fanni Szalai of Hungary stayed in touch.
Triple Mix Stage 2 – Run-Bike-Swim
As the disciplines were in reverse order, Lehair quickly advanced to the front of the 1.6k run and arrived at the transition with a tiny lead over Periault, Lombardi and Waugh. After a botched transition, Lehair’s lead evaporated. Beginning the bike leg, Waugh shot to the lead over Lehair, Periault and Lombardi.
Waugh’s RTP Sharks teammate Jessica Fullagar bridged up from the chasing group to make a leading quintet with one lap remaining. On the 200m swim, Waugh led most of the way until Lehair nipped ahead by half a second. But, Lehair ran afoul of the rules as she received a disqualification for a helmet violation at T2. So, Waugh began the pursuit start on Stage 2 with a 30 seconds margin.
Triple Mix Stage 3 Bike-Swim-Run (pursuit start)
With Lehair out of the race, Waugh suffered no loss of energy and increased her lead over home country chasers and SLT debutants Periault and Lombardi. Further back, Nicole Van Der Kay crashed out of the race, bumped by teammate Alice Betto.
Buoyed by her increasing lead, Waugh cruised to a one-minute margin for her first Super League Triathlon victory.
Women's Results
1 Kate Waugh GBR
2 Leonie Periault FRA
3 Emma Lombardi FRA
4 Olivia Mathias GBR
5 Verena Steinhauser ITA
Series Standings
1 Kate Waugh GBR – 26 points
2 Olivia Mathias GBR – 22 points
3 Jessica Fullagar GBR – 18 points
4 Jeanne Lehair LUX – 15 points
4 Verena Steinhauser ITA – 15 points
Team Standings after two races
1 SLT Sharks – 230 points
2 SLT Scorpions – 169 points
3 SLT Eagles – 160 points
4 SLT Warriors 141 points
Photos: Super League Triathlon
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