There was chaos, confusion and plenty of frustration at the end of the men’s T100 Triathlon World Tour event in Dubai this morning as officials were forced to delay confirmation of the result due to an ‘athlete protest’.
In quite remarkable scenes, athletes were seen standing around the finish line, questioning what had happened after three of the leaders ended up riding an extra lap of the bike course, and another seemed to set off on an extra circuit of the run.
Kiwi legend Hayden Wilde, Frenchman Mathis Margirier, and Belgian Marten Van Riel were all cruising at the head of the bike section as they headed toward T2; however, first Wilde and then his rivals sped past the exit.
With no other option than to complete another 8km lap, they were effectively ruled out of the podium running, with a clearly upset Wilde seen and heard asking for an explanation both during the run and again at the end of the race.
But the trio were not the only ones to have distance difficulty on the course, as American Morgan Pearson seemed to then set off on an extra lap of the run course, leaving German Mika Noodt, Sam Dickinson (GBR) and Vincent Luis (FRA) to take the podium.
Pearson was also clearly upset as he approached the finish line, still believing that he was in line for a T100 Series win, only to see his fellow competitors already standing there with distinct looks of concern and puzzlement on their faces.
Unsurprisingly, the officials announced more than an hour after the finish that the result was still pending due to an ‘athlete protest’.
Swim – Pearson first out of the water
Frenchman Vincent Luis took early control on the swim as the men took to the water at Jumeirah 3 Beach under glorious Dubai sunshine shortly after 11:30am local time.
With water temperatures nudging the 28C mark, Luis started strong and led the way in near-perfect conditions before he was eventually caught by Pearson (USA).
Pearson was first into T1 with the fastest swim of 25:03, ahead of Luis (+00:02), Belgium’s Van Riel (+00:04) and Germany’s Jonas Schomburg (+00:05).
A leading group of six athletes left the water one minute ahead of the first chasers, with Dickinson (GBR) just seven seconds behind the leader and Wilhelm Hirsch (GER) nine seconds back.
Kiwi Wilde came out of the water in 8th place after a swim of 26:20, and thanks to a lightning transition at T1 of just 00:59, he took to the bike course in 7th, jumping ahead of Noodt.
However, nothing could prepare us for the drama to come.
Bike – Confusion as leading three take ‘extra lap’
An incredible moment in the T100 Series season left competitors and viewers completely stunned as Wilde missed the T2 exit at the end of the final bike lap.
Astonishingly, as he sailed past the turning, he was followed by his fellow competitors Mathis Margirier (FRA) and Van Riel (BEL). The trio had no other option but to complete an extra 8km lap of the course.
It was a remarkable moment from Wilde, who was looking in prime form at the head of the field, having stormed his way up through his rivals to make up a full minute and take the lead within the very first lap of the bike.
By lap four, he was leading a pack of nine riders that included Margirier, Van Riel, Pearson, Dickinson, Schomburg, Luis, Noodt and Hirsch.
However, as the front three sailed past the exit for T2, Dickinson took advantage and, with a slightly confused look on his face, was the first to store his bike and get his running shoes on, with Noodt not far behind.
Run – Pearson the latest to go the ‘extra distance’
Clearly upset and confused as to what had happened, Wilde had a face of thunder as he set off on the run, with the somewhat ironic situation of Dickinson completing his first lap just as the Kiwi joined the course.
As Wilde caught him, he was heard on the cameras asking his rival, ‘What the hell is going on?’ as he set about trying to limit the damage of what was a monumental error on his part.
He immediately set about his task with the fastest run lap time of 06:55 on lap 1, and was running at five seconds a lap faster than the group, but not even this superstar of triathlon was going to recover sufficiently to catch up with the leaders.
The drama, however, was not over, as confusion continued to reign in Dubai.
As the TV cameras followed who they believed to be the race leader, Pearson, they suddenly cut to footage of Noodt crossing the finish line… again with something of a confused look on his face.
While Pearson was still pounding the Dubai streets on what he thought was the final lap of the race, Noodt crossed the line (03:07:30) and was followed by Luis in second place (03:09:19) and Dickinson completing the podium in third (03:09:47).
As Schomberg (03:10:28) came in fourth, he was followed by Wilde, who had worked his way up the field from as low as 12th to finish in fifth position with a finishing time of 03:11:44.
Wilde’s run time of 49:53 was by far the fastest of the day, with Van Riel (51:54) nearest to him.
As he crossed the line, he was clearly angry and upset, asking TV crews to leave him alone and immediately seeking explanations from his fellow competitors and race officials.
The bizarre scene of athletes standing around, unsure of what was going on, and indeed, who had actually won the race, was made even more surreal as Pearson rounded the final bend still believing that he was the race leader.
As he crossed the line, he protested that he had ‘run eight laps’ as he too sought explanation from his colleagues.
More than an hour after the race’s conclusion, there was still no confirmed winner, with an official announcement confirming that the decision was pending due to an ‘athlete protest’.
Dubai T100 results – Pro men
Saturday November 15, 2025 – 2km/80km/18km
Results pending
Latest overall standings (best four races plus Grand Final in Qatar count):
Results pending
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