Crown Racing’s Georgia Taylor-Brown has continued her thrilling 2024 supertri form in London, England, today, with the Brit striding to victory in front of packed crowds in the city’s historic docklands.
The 30-year-old didn’t have it all her own way, however, and survived a late scare by the Paris 2024 Olympic Games champion Cassandre Beaugrand on the finishing chute to win by just one second over her Crown Racing teammate. Podium Racing’s Jeanne Lehair would finish third, with Taylor Spivey and Emma Lombardi of Stars and Stripes rounding out the top five. Having spent much of the day bravely racing at the front, Brownlee Racing’s Olivia Mathias would finish sixth.
The win was Taylor-Brown’s second of the 2024 supertri series having taken gold in Chicago and silver in Boston, and places her top of the leaderboard with two races to go in Toulouse (6th October) and Neom (3rd November).
On her back-to-back success, Taylor-Brown added post-race. “That was really hard. It gets to a point in the middle of a race when you don’t think you can push it anymore, but somehow you found something a bit extra. I needed that Short Chute today. I could feel Cassandre [closing in] at the end and I heard the crowd get louder so I knew something was happening, so I looked back and she was right there. I knew I had to get a sprint on. The noise was incredible and it really drags you around the course.”
After the thrilling American double header in Boston and Chicago, another stellar line-up of athletes was competing in London, including two medallists from the 2024 Paris Olympics, Beaugrand and Beth Potter of Brownlee Racing (who’d finish 10th, over 90secs back). The crowds had come out to line the historic West India Quay, with athletes having to navigate a chilly dockland swim, tight and technical turns and cobblestone sections on the course.
Georgia Taylor-Brown’s win saw her rack-up 44 points in the series so far, five points ahead of Lehair, seven ahead of Spivey and eight ahead of Beaugrand, the result making it a good women’s race for Crown Racing, who are managed by tri legend Chris McCormack
Today’s event was the supertri format, formerly known as the Enduro, which saw athletes face a 300m dock swim, a 4km bike on cobbled sections before a 1.6km run three times in a row, all without a break between stages.
STAGE BREAKDOWN
STAGE 1
Into the chilly 18C waters of West India Quay and Podium Racing’s Vittória Lopes were quick to the front, the Brazilian hoping to scoop the Short Chute for the race contenders in her team. The diminutive swim powerhouse again did the business, but every team was in the mix at the front of the field.
The first 4km bike saw Stars and Stripes’ Kirsten Kasper and then Brownlee Racing’s Olivia Mathias take to the front flanked by packed crowds in London’s Docklands. Onto Lap 2 and Mathias had extended her lead to 7secs on the twisty, slippery and cobble-strewn route over Stars and Stripes’ Kasper and Taylor Spivey. Crown Racing’s Georgia Taylor-Brown and Kate Waugh soon fronted the chase pack, with pre-race favourites Léonie Périault, Beth Potter and Jeanne Lehair falling behind, and Stars and Stripes’ Katie Zaferes (after a crash with Jeanne Lehair) and Podium Racing’s Fanni Szalai posting DNFs in the frenetic race mix.
Mathias’ lead was still 10secs at the start of the 1.6km run in her bid to block others teams from gaining a Short Chute. That lead was 5secs at the halfway stage with Taylor-Brown leading the charge and making the pass just before the start of Stage 2 to take the Short Chute for Crown Racing. Her Crown Racing teammate and Paris Olympic champ Cassandre Beaugrand had also run her way back into the mix.
STAGE 2
The second 300m dock swim of the day began with series leader Taylor-Brown at the front ahead of Mathias and Stars and Stripes’ Lombardi, Spivey and Kasper. Mathias was the first out of the water ahead of Taylor-Brown, with the Stars and Stripes trio rounding out the top five.
Slippery and twisty, the opening laps of the technical 4km bike leg were again dominated by Mathias, but Taylor-Brown and the Stars and Stripes stayed in her slipstream. Lehair, Beaugrand and Potter were all around 20secs in arrears. Taylor-Brown and Lombardi also shared pack-leading duties with Mathias, with the five all arriving into T2 together.
Kasper led onto the 1.6km run after a slick transition, but Taylor-Brown, as the Brit has been so often in this 2024 series, was soon to the front and with a Short Chute up her sleeve, too. Mathias and Lehair in sixth would have the other Short Chutes, but Lehair was fast closing in on the leaders. Running in their swimming hats in classic supertri style, the leading five would again enter transition together for the final leg of the day.
STAGE 3
The race’s final 300m dock swim saw the sunshine come out in London and Lombardi enter the water first. The smooth stroke of Mathias returned her to the front, with Lehair now into the mix and Beaugrand 9secs back.
Onto the 4km bike and Mathias knew she had to gain an advantage, establishing a 5sec lead at the start of lap two and 6secs at the start of lap three over the six chasers. That lead was 6secs by T2, would it be enough?
The 1.6km run saw Beaugrand and Taylor-Brown leading the chase pack, instantly halving the deficit. All of the Short Chutes were played at once, sending Taylor-Brown to the front with 1km to go with Lehair and Beaugrand her chief rivals. The Brit looked to have victory in the bag but Beaugrand made it a thrilling finale, coming to within a second of Taylor-Brown but just running out of time.
