Swiss triathlete Julie Derron returned to impressive form with an emphatic victory at the Dubai Triathlon World Tour T100 – but Britain’s Kate Waugh holds her position at the top of the overall rankings.
In this, the final event of the regular Tour season, all attention will now turn to Qatar next month when the athletes will compete in what promises to be a thrilling championship finals.
Waugh will still go into that event as the current standings leader, but she will know only too well about the threat that Derron will now pose, as this victory saw her jump above the absent Lucy Charles-Barclay (GBR) into second place.
On a day of huge drama and confusion in the men’s race – which saw a number of riders and runners seemingly miscount the number of laps they needed to complete – the women’s race was relatively straightforward, with Derron in commanding form.
Having missed the IRONMAN World Championships in Kona last month due to the injuries she sustained in a bike accident in France earlier this year, this performance was proof that she is now very much back to her best and will be a major concern for Waugh when they meet again in December.
Derron was followed home by four British athletes, with Waugh in second, Jess Learmonth third, Georgia Taylor-Brown fourth, and Holly Lawrence in fifth.
Swim – Learmonth impresses with strong swim
The women entered the water slightly later than planned after a short delay but were quickly into their stroke under the scorching afternoon sun in Dubai.
With water temperatures around the 28C mark and air temperatures well into the 30s, it was clear from the off that the women were going to have to battle with the conditions as much as against each other.
Indeed, the water conditions were also posing problems, with Derron stating after the race that it was ‘super choppy’.
An initial breakaway group of six was whittled down to just four as Learmonth exited the water first with a time of 27:03, two seconds ahead of Taylor Spivey (USA) and three seconds in front of Waugh and Sara Pérez Sala (SPA)
The chasing group of three saw the British pair of Lawrence and Taylor-Brown enter T1 alongside Derron, finishing within a second of each other with times of 27:34 and 27:35.
Bike – Derron starts to take control in the saddle
Pérez Sala came out of T1 first to lead the bike leg ahead of Learmonth, Waugh and Spivey.
However, it quickly became clear that Derron, Learmonth and Waugh were preparing to make their move on the bike as they steadily pulled away from the field and created a sizeable gap.
With this being the section where the men’s race turned into utter chaos – with Kiwi Hayden Wilde, Frenchman Mathis Margirier, and Belgian Marten Van Riel setting off for what seemed to be an extra lap of the course – there was plenty of advice and information being relayed to the riders with regard to how close they were to the end of the stage.
However, there was no issue this time, as Derron took the lead from Learmonth late on and came into T2 first with a bike time of 01:55:05, 23 seconds ahead of the British star (01:55:28) and 26 seconds ahead of Waugh (01:55:31).
Taylor-Brown, Lawrence and Pérez Sala finished in fourth, fifth and sixth, with the Spanish athlete more than five minutes behind the leader Derron; she would eventually pull up in the run and record a DNF.
Run – Imperious Derron eases to emphatic victory
A swift transition of just 39 seconds set Derron off as the race leader for the run, and in truth, she never really looked in any danger of giving up her advantage as she calmly strode away in the Dubai twilight.
Learmonth and Waugh left the T2 station together, but it was Waugh who looked to be the stronger as she started to focus on the final 18km and the prospect of picking up crucial points ahead of the Qatar finals next month.
With an impressive average pace of 3:02 minutes per kilometre, Derron was in imperious form, and not once did she look to be tiring in the now sultry Dubai late evening conditions.
Waugh, who admitted later that she simply could not stick with Derron and was feeling the heat on the bike, seemed to settle for second place as she eased away from Learmonth and accepted that the leader was too far ahead to catch.
Derron crossed the line to secure an impressive win, with Waugh two and a half seconds behind her. Learmonth, who had looked to be struggling a little in the closing stages, was delighted to finish in third place, with two further Brits in Taylor-Brown and Lawrence finishing fourth and fifth.
Dubai T100 results – Pro women
Saturday November 15, 2025 – 2km/80km/18km
| Position | Athlete | Swim | Bike | Run | Overall time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Julie Derron (SUI) | 27:35 | 1:55:05 | 1:03:22 | 3:27:50 |
| 2 | Kate Waugh (GBR) | 27:06 | 1:55:31 | 1:06:18 | 3:31:03 |
| 3 | Jess Learmonth (GBR) | 27:03 | 1:55:28 | 1:09:09 | 3:33:46 |
| 4 | Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR) | 27:34 | 1:58:56 | 1:06:55 | 3:35:55 |
| 5 | Holly Lawrence (GBR) | 27:34 | 1:59:36 | 1:08:13 | 3:37:42 |
| 6 | Taylor Spivey (USA) | 27:05 | 2:01:50 | 1:07:24 | 3:38:33 |
| 7 | Lisa Perterer (AUT) | 29:42 | 1:58:11 | 1:09:22 | 3:39:38 |
| 8 | Lizzie Rayner (GBR) | 29:46 | 1:58:46 | 1:09:57 | 3:41:02 |
| 9 | Hanne De Vet (BEL) | 29:45 | 2:01:56 | 1:10:47 | 3:44:59 |
| 10 | Megan McDonald (GBR) | 29:41 | 1:59:34 | 1:13:31 | 3:45:26 |
Latest overall standings (best four races plus Grand Final in Qatar count):
| Position | Athlete | Series Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kate Waugh (GBR) | 128 |
| 2 | Julie Derron (SUI) | 122 |
| 3 | Lucy Charles-Barclay (GBR) | 119 |
| 4 | Ashleigh Gentle (AUS) | 107 |
| 5 | Jessica Learmonth (GBR) | 96 |
| 6 | Taylor Knibb (USA) | 90 |
| 7 | Lucy Byram (GBR) | 73 |
| 8 | Hannah Berry (NZL) | 71 |
| 9 | Paula Findlay (CAN) | 66 |
| 10 | Taylor Spivey (USA) | 66 |
