A French one-two as Luis beats Le Corre in St. Helier
Despite the best efforts of the weather on Sunday, Super League Triathlon Jersey proved to be a great weekend for the French. After the earlier victory of Cassandre Beaugrand (report HERE), three athletes in the top five including Gold and Silver was a great result for Les Bleus.
As with the women’s race, high winds meant no bike leg, though the men would be racing over 4x swim-run back-to-back. Once again, a big money Aquathlon…
⚠️ Men's Pro Final Update! ⚠️
With dangerous high winds continuing, today's Men's final has been changed to a swim-run ✖️4⃣ (No Bike!)
⏰ Start Time – 4:20pm (BST)
Full details 👇https://t.co/zvTZsBbRuq
— supertri (@supertri_) September 29, 2019
As well as Enduro format, the event also applies an elimination rule such that the last athlete at the end of each leg is eliminated from the race. Literally nobody was expecting that the first casualty of the day would be Jonathan Brownlee… overtaken by several athletes who had seen the ‘no shoes’ approach of Luisa Baptista in the women’s race. A costly mistake, both financially and in terms of Super League Triathlon season points.
We're as stunned as the crowd. @jonny_brownlee is the first athlete eliminated from the race. #IAMSUPERLEAGUE #Racing #Championship #Series pic.twitter.com/BZigqiUWLw
— supertri (@supertri_) September 29, 2019
The pattern of the race was set through the early legs, with race favourite Vincent Luis escaping with Pierre Le Corre and building a significant gap over heat semi-final winner from Saturday, Hayden Wilde (NZL). Luis was working hard, Le Corre was sticking with him… but was never able to threaten the pass. Having won his semi-final yesterday, Luis carried forward a ‘short chute’ bonus, and was able to use that to his advantage in sight of the finish line to secure the top spot and yet another Super League victory.
His efforts yesterday have paid off 🙌 @vincentluistri takes the short chute after an all-out duel with fellow Frenchman @PRLECORRE and brings the pink jersey back to France! 🏆 🇫🇷#IAMSUPERLEAGUE #IAMVINCENTLUIS #IAMPIERRELECORRE #Racing #Championship #Series pic.twitter.com/9sQXGzkHGB
— supertri (@supertri_) September 29, 2019
Wilde was more than happy with third, while one of the performances of the day must surely got to be the fourth place of Ben Kanute (USA). The absence of the bike leg and just weeks after the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship, his versatility and willingness to race anything (and perform), continues.
Super League Triathlon Jersey, Sunday 29th September 2019
‘Enduro Aquathlon’ – 4x 300m swim / 1.6km run (bike leg cancelled due to high winds)
ELITE MEN
1st – Vincent Luis (FRA) – 41:05
2nd – Pierre Le Corre (FRA) – 41:10
3rd – Hayden Wilde (NZL) – 41:55
4th – Ben Kanute (USA) – 42:10
5th – Leo Bergere (FRA) – 42:11
6th – Aaron Royle (AUS) – 42:14
7th – Mario Mola (ESP) -42:40
8th – Marten Van Riel (BEL) – 43:58
