Duffy, Coninx Pace the Way in Montreal
It was just weeks since her Olympic triumph in Tokyo, but Flora Duffy powered to the Groupe Copley World Triathlon Championship Series Montreal gold. In the same time span, the talented French men who had been sorely disappointed in their pursuit of Tokyo medals gained a glittering measure of solace with a 1-2-3 podium sweep of the Montreal Super Sprint.
Women
After the first two elimination rounds, the field was reduced to 10 women – those 10 women the only eligible to accumulate season long points.
After 3 laps on the bike, the Race came down to three women – Taylor Knibb, Flora Duffy and Taylor Spivey. Next up were Katie Zaferes, Sophie Coldwell, and Laura Lindemann of Germany.
After a frantic transition from bike to run, Spivey, Knibb and Duffy got out to a leading trio on the run. At first, Duffy fell back to third while Spivey and Knibb battled it out for second. By midway through the two-lap, 2000-meter run, Duffy grabbed a 7 seconds lead while Knibb and Spivey battled in close quarters. With 800 meters to go, Knibb stepped on the gas and opened a 10 seconds lead on Spivey and held on for second.
Trailing the winner by 26 seconds, Zaferes took 4th place (+26 seconds), followed by Leonie Periault in 5th (+30 seconds), Laura Lindemann in 6th, (32 seconds) Sophie Coldwell in 7th (+49 seconds).
In terms of the 2021 World Triathlon Championship standings after the Montreal super sprint race, Flora Duffy’s 1000-point win raised her standing from 2nd to 1st – 1791 points to 2791 points. This puts thee Bermudian on the catbird seat in her pursuit of a third Triathlon World Championship at the imminent Grand Final at Edmonton. Because she chose not to race because of the format, Maya Kingma dropped from 1st to 3rd in the rankings and stayed at 2315 points. After her 3rd place finish in Montreal, Taylor Spivey of the U.S. moved from 4th to 2nd place in the standings at 2236 points. After 626 points for a 5th place finish, Sophie Coldwell of Great Britain stayed at 5th in the rankings with 2159 points. After a 4th place finish today, which earned her 696 points Katie Zaferes remained in 6th place with 1913 points. With 925 points for her second place points today, Taylor Knibb moved from 7th to 4th place in the standings at 2236 points.
Results of the Round Three Women’s Final shootout:
1. Flora Duffy (BER) 23:07
2. Taylor Knibb (USA) 23:14
3. Taylor Spivey (USA) 23:24
4. Katie Zaferes (USA) 23: 33
5. Leonie Periault (FRA) 2:37
6. Laura Lindemann (GER) 23:39
7. Sophie Coldwell (GBR) 23:56
8. Verena Steinhauser (ITA) 24:00
9. Nicole Van Der Kaay (NZL) 24:11
10. Non Stanford (GBR) 24:28
Women’s World Triathlon Championship standings:
1. Flora Duffy (BER) 2791
2. Taylor Spivey (USA) 2324
3. Maya Kingma (NED) 2315
4. Taylor Knibb (USA) 2236
5. Sophie Coldwell (GBR) 2159
6. Katie Zaferes (USA) 1913
7. Laura Lindemann (GER) 1792
8. Leonie Periault (FRA) 1464
9. Jessica Learmonth (GBR) 1461
10. Non Stanford (GBR) 1409
The Men
When the final day was over after the three men’s super-sprint rounds, France swept the podium with Dorian Coninx taking the win, followed by Vincent Luis and Leo Bergere.
After three turns at the 300-meter swim, 7.2 Km bike and 2-km run, Coninx finished the third round in 22:08 with a 1 second margin on fast-closing Vincent Luis who made a last second pass on third place countryman Leo Bergere, who finished was seconds behind Luis.
Marten Van Riel of Belgium followed 5 seconds later in 4th, Antonio Serrat Seoane of Spain took 5th, 2 seconds behind Bergere, and Hayden Wilde of New Zealand finished 6th, 6 seconds behind Wilde. Jacob Birtwhistle of Australia finished 7th, 7 seconds behind Wilde, Tayler Reid of New Zealand took 8th, 10 seconds behind Birtwhistle, and Seth Rider of the U.S. took 9th, 16 seconds behind Reid. U.S. competitor Kevin McDowell withdrew from the race after a stumble late on the run.
Men's Final Round Results:
1. Dorian Coninx (FRA) 22:08
2. Vincent Luis (GRA) +1 second
3. Leo Bergere (FRA) +3 seconds
4. Marten Van Riel (BEL) +8 seconds
5. Antonio Serrat Seoane (ESP) +10 seconds
6. Hayden Wilde (NZL) +16 seconds
7. Jacob Birtwhistle (AUS) +23 seconds
8. Tayler Reid (NZL)+33 seconds
9. Seth Rider (USA) +49 seconds
Current World Triathlon Men’s Championship Standings:
1. Alex Yee (GBR) 2716
2. Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR) 2677
3. Marten Van Riel (BEL) 2438
4. Hayden Wilde (NZL) 2265
5. Leo Bergere (FRA) 2061
6. Vincent Luis (FRA) 1994
7. Morgan Pearson (USA) 1781
8. Dorian Coninx (FRA) 1679
9. Antonio Serrat Seoane (ESP) 1647
10. Kevin McDowell (USA) 1632
