Australia's Ashleigh Gentle continued her dominance in the T100 series, claiming victory in London and becoming the first triathlete to win two races in 2024.
The 33-year-old from Brisbane, following her win in Singapore and seventh-place finish in San Francisco, now sits atop the standings in the inaugural world title chase.
Gentle's triumph was particularly sweet after a disappointing afternoon for home favourite Lucy Charles-Barclay, who was forced to withdraw from the race due to a flare-up of the Achilles injury that hampered her in the Ironman World Championship in October.
The race, held in the heart of London's Docklands, witnessed a packed field of elite triathletes, with notable absences including Taylor Knibb, who was competing in the women's Olympic time-trial in Paris.
However, the absence of Knibb didn't diminish the excitement, as a host of British athletes delivered impressive performances. Lucy Byram secured fifth place, wildcard and debutant Sophie Coldwell finished in seventh, India Lee in ninth and Emma Pallant-Browne rounded out the top ten.
The Swim:
Charles-Barclay, greeted with a rousing reception by the cheering crowds, led the first lap of the 2km swim, closely followed by Coldwell. The Loughborough-based athlete, a regular in short course events, took the lead for most of the second lap, before Charles-Barclay emerged from the water first in 24:40.
Behind them, Hayley Chura swam a solitary third, while Simmonds led out Gentle and Lee to complete the top six. A group of 11 athletes, including Matthews, Anne Haug, and Pallant-Browne, trailed the leaders by 2:45.
The Bike:
Charles-Barclay and Coldwell set the early pace on the eight-lap bike leg through the Docklands, but Simmonds quickly emerged as a force to be reckoned with, posting the only sub-2hr split and reaching transition first in 1:59:44.
Charles-Barclay, just 20 seconds behind, was followed in third by Byram. However, Gentle, less than 2 minutes back, was poised to challenge for the lead.
Philipp and Matthews entered transition together, almost 3 minutes behind the leader, followed by Coldwell and Lee, who seemed to be the only other contenders for the podium.
Despite being a pre-race favourite, Haug, who set a new iron distance fastest time of 8:02:38 in Challenge Roth three weeks ago, struggled to keep pace. The German, participating in her first T100 series start of the season, entered transition almost 8 minutes behind Simmonds.
The unforgiving east London roads took their toll, with Chura and Denmark's Laura Madsen having to change wheels, while Sweden's Lisa Norden, who punctured and was riding on the rim, felt every bump for the latter part of the race.
The Run:
Gentle began the 18km run with incredible pace, swiftly eroding Simmonds' lead and setting her sights on victory.
Unfortunately, Charles-Barclay, the series leader with two second-place finishes, was forced to pull out early on the flat, six-lap circuit after twisting her ankle and feeling a strain in her Achilles.
With Charles-Barclay out, the battle for the remaining podium places intensified. Matthews and Laura Philipp pushed each other hard, catching Byram, while Canadian Tamara Jewett, with the day's fastest run (1:04:29), climbed six places from the bike leg to finish sixth.
However, Gentle, under the guidance of her new coach, Australian Jordan Kerby, looked calm and collected as she secured another 100km victory in 3:36:17, with a gap of almost 3 minutes.
Quotes:
Gentle: "It definitely wasn't easy, but I'm really happy with how strong I raced: swim, bike and run. I was really proud I held strong all day. The last few weeks of training have been really good. I've had a new training stimulus with a new coach and I exceeded my expectations today. It makes me excited for the next couple of months of work before Ibiza."
Simmonds: "I'd say that was one of my top results. Second in a field like today is insane and I had a lot of fun. On the bike I got a little bit carried away because I just felt so good. I wasn't even looking at my [power] numbers, just going by feel. The course was slightly sketchy in parts, but this is where I started cycling [when studying at university in London] so it wasn't surprising. Going into this race I thought that if I finish top 10 I'm having a good day, top five a really good day and a podium is unreal. I studied in London for four years and a lot of my family are from London, so I had a few supporters out there which was really awesome to see."
Matthews: "That's the best I could have hoped for. The fields at these T100 races are the absolute best and I can't really believe I managed to scrape on to the podium. I think Laura Philipp gave me that performance. With her tenacity on the bike and then coming through on the run, I feel like I sucked her energy â and not in a bad way! Since 2020, I've had a bit of a chip on my shoulder that I've been labelled as an âIronman athleteâ and haven't been able to perform over the middle distance. At the 70.3 world champs [where Matthewsâ finished second], I showed that actually I am ok at this and these races are giving me good energy again to keep cementing my ability to get faster. I really think it helps across the board."
Coldwell: "Talk about a baptism of fire. I threw myself in at the deep end and kind of loved it in a weird way, but I'm in so much pain right now. I had no idea what 20m was [the legal draft distance]. But I'm proud of my efforts, and proud of what I've achieved after a s*** few weeks and three weeks on a TT bike. I don't say I'm proud of myself very often, but I'll take that."
Charles-Barclay: "In all honesty I've had a rocky build into this race with a few issues so actually making the start-line looked really unlikely, but given it was a home race with a home crowd and all the amazing stuff my brands were doing around this race, I just really wanted to be here. I felt alright on the swim, alright on the bike and then on the run I twisted my ankle on one of the uneven bits and felt something in my Achilles and given where we are in the season, I thought I'm not going to push it here. It was the same side as I had the big calf injury and it was just not worth the risk. It was really tough to do with a home race and amazing crowds, but we made the smart choice on this one."
T100 London: Women's Final Standings:
1. Ashleigh Gentle
2. Imogen Simmonds
3. Kat Matthews
4. Laura Philipp
5. Lucy Byram
6. Tamara Jewett
7. Sophie Coldwell
8. Chelsea Sodaro
9. India Lee
10. Emma Pallant-Browne
T100 San Francisco: Women's Overall Standings:
1. Ashleigh Gentle 86pts
2. India Lee 61pts
3. Lucy Charles-Barclay 56pts
4. Imogen Simmonds 54pts
5. Lucy Byram 54pts
6. Kat Matthews 53pts
7. Laura Philipp 47pts
8. Paula Findlay 40pts
9. Amelia Watkinson 39pts
10. Hayley Chura 36pts
(Top picture credit: Ryan Sosna-Bowd)