Wildcard Youri Keulen shocked the field at the Singapore T100 Triathlon World Tour, as the Dutch pro took a famous win at the second stop of the tour after finishing in fourth last month at the Miami T100.
Breaking away on the bike and never looking back, Keulen was able to hold off a fast moving Sam Long and Pieter Heemeryck to take the biggest win of his career thus far.
In a day full of disappointment for some but joy for many, the race was entertaining throughout, with some big names faltering in the heat and humidity in South East Asia.
Swim – Aussies set the pace in Singapore
Out of the gates, it was Olympians Aaron Royle and Alistair Brownlee who led the way, with the front group of eight opening a two minute lead over American contender Sam Long in the first 1000m of the swim.
Over the second half, Royle was joined up front by fellow Australian Josh Amberger, with the pair keeping things honest at the head of the race and whittling the group down to seven athletes within a +0:10 spread as the leaders entered T1.
In that group was Brownlee, plus Kiwi Kyle Smith, Danish athlete Daniel Baekkegard, IRONMAN World Champion Sam Laidlow and American Ben Kanute, with Jason West and Mika Noodt the only other athletes within +0:20 of the front.
At the back of the pack, Long was +3:58 exiting the swim, with Leon Chevalier, Clement Mignon and Frederic Funk the only athletes within two minutes of the Tucson based pro.
Bike – Laidlow drops out as Keulen puts the hammer down
On to the bike, a strong front pack were jostling for position through the first 10km, with Laidlow leading a pack of eight athletes including the likes of Brownlee, Keulen and Noodt as the gaps started to grow back to the rest of the field.
For the next 15km, the group remained relatively unchanged, with Heemeryck and Kacper Stepniak bridging the gap to the lead pack as several of the top contenders looked content to sit up and wait for their rivals to make the first move. Soon after, Laidlow called it a day after struggling with stomach cramps and dropped out.
Seizing the initiative, it was Dutchman Keulen, a wildcard athlete for this race after finishing fourth at the Miami T100, who made the first big move. Putting his foot down with 50km to go, his gap quickly ballooned out, and was up to half a minute by the halfway mark.
Back in the pack, half the field were over three minutes behind, with Sam Long now up to 13th but still with a mountain to climb, as Brownlee, Noodt and Smith started to gap the rest of the front pack in the hunt for Keulen.
Continuing to grow his gap, Keulen had over a minute with two laps to go, which held steady over the final 20km, as he came into transition up +1:06 over Noodt, Smith and Brownlee, with Stepniak and Heemeryck a further ten seconds back in fifth and sixth.
Back in eighth after a brilliant bike, it was Long who looked the biggest contender to the front, coming off the bike at +3:22 but with a 30 second penalty for a violation in T1, as West lagged a further 45 second behind his fellow American in 10th.
Run – Keulen holds strong as Long storms to second
Showing no signs of his bike leg exertion over the opening stages of the run, Keulen continued to consolidate his lead over the opening kilometres, with his gap to Brownlee in second growing to +1:39 by the 5km mark.
Unfortunately for the Brit, he was forced to serve a 30 second penalty after the first lap for missing the mount line in T2, and soon after restarting the run pulled up on the side of the course, eventually pulling out of the race.
With Keulen up +2:00 through the 10km mark, his biggest threat from behind looked to be Long, as the American cruised through the field and picked off Heemeryck, Smith and Noodt before setting his sights on the Dutchman, but still had a penalty to serve.
After serving his penalty, Long swiftly moved back into second place, +2:30 down on Keulen with a lap to go, as the battle for third seemed to be coming down to Heemeryck and Noodt, with the Belgian seeking to pick up a second consecutive podium in Singapore.
Holding on strong in the closing stages, Keulen took an emphatic victory after a brilliant bike-run, winning in style ahead of Long, who produced a magnificent run to take back-to-back T100 podiums and his fourth Top 3 finish of the season, with Heemeryck in third.
Singapore T100 – Sunday April 14 2024
2km / 80km / 18km
PRO MEN
- 1. Youri Keulen (NED) – 3:21:01
- 2. Sam Long (USA) – 3:22:38
- 3. Pieter Heemeryck (BEL) – 3:23:30
- 4. David McNamee (GBR) – 3:26:03
- 5. Kyle Smith (NZL) – 3:26:57
Triathlon’s mid-season report card: Tim Don on who’s raising the bar this triathlon race season
