Defending Super League Triathlon Championship Series champion Georgia Taylor-Brown put on a masterclass in rainy conditions in Munich to claim an emphatic victory.
Her bike handling skills came to the fore in the slippery conditions and from the moment she went clear on the first bike leg, she was never headed – nor looked like being.
Sophie Coldwell rounded off a superb display of her own by outsprinting last week’s runner-up Taylor Spivey for second.
The Enduro format sees three back-to-back triathlons (all in swim-bike-run order), with no breaks in between and here’s how it all panned out…
Stage 1 – All eyes on Beaugrand
It wasn’t possible to win the race in the first of the three back-to-back triathlons but fair to say it massively shaped the final standings.
Last week’s winner Cassandre Beaugrand was again first out of the water but her and Scorpions team-mates Taylor-Brown and Emma Jeffcoat were pipped for the first short chute by the Eagles’ Sian Rainsley who flew through T1.
But the drama really happened early on the bike when Beaugrand, following a crash in the rain yesterday, was super tentative and dropped right through the field.
In contrast, GTB was relishing the conditions and powered clear.
While out of the reckoning, Beaugrand reverted to ‘plan B’ and clocked a 2:06 run lap (at 2:38/km pace) to collect another valuable eight run points to add to her swim haul.
Stage 2 – GTB out on her own
On the second of the three ‘stages’ – with no rest or break in between – Taylor-Brown began with an advantage of 21.8 seconds.
But any thoughts that she’s cruise to victory were put on hold when Taylor Spivey, Sophie Coldwell and Rainsley started to close the gap, though Beth Potter lost touch with that trio on the swim.
However the second bike leg again saw GTB underline her superb handling skills to move that gap up to 20 seconds from the chasing trio.
And as the short chutes were allocated, Rainsley was the only one of the leading quartet to be allocated one but by now GTB had all but settled the issue up front.
Stage 3 – Total respect
Jumping into the water for the third time it was the defending champion out on her own and Spivey and Coldwell having a great battle for second, with the chasing pack having all but closed in on Rainsley for fourth.
Taylor-Brown looked super composed throughout and though the gap came down slightly on the swim, the bike again saw her in a class of her own which meant she was able to ease to victory on the run – and the lead going into round three in Malibu next weekend.
Indeed so in control, she stopped before the line to bow in respect of the passing of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.
There was an absorbing battle for second and it was Coldwell who dug deepest to see off Spivey.
Super League Triathlon Munich 2022 results
Sunday 11 September 2022 – Enduro – Elite Women
- 1. Georgia Taylor-Brown – 15pts
- 2. Sophie Coldwell – 14pts
- 3. Taylor Spivey – 13pts
- 4. Jeanne Lehair – 12pts
- 5. Laura Lindemann – 11pts
- 6. Non Stanford – 10pts
- 7. Verena Steinhauser – 9pts
- 8. Rachel Klamer – 8pts
- 9. Sian Rainsley – 7pts
- 10. Nicole Van Der Kaay – 6pts
- 11. Beth Potter – 5pts
- 12. Miriam Casillas Garcia – 4pts
- 13. Kate Waugh – 3pts
- 14. Cath Schar – 2pts
- 15. Emma Jeffcoat – 1pts
Overall standings after Munich (round two)
- 1. Georgia Taylor-Brown – 28pts
- 2. Taylor Spivey – 27pts
- 3. Sophie Coldwell – 26pts
- 4. Verena Steinhauser – 17pts
- 5. Beth Potter – 16pts
- 6. Cassandre Beaugrand – 15pts
- 7. Kate Waugh – 13pts
- 8. Miriam Casillas Garcia – 13pts
- 9. Nicole Van Der Kaay – 12pts
- 10. Jeanne Lehair – 12pts
Overall team standings after Munich (round two)
- 1. Scorpions 164pts
- 2. Sharks 148pts
- 3. Cheetahs 125pts
- 4. Rhinos 125pts
- 5. Eagles 115pts
How to pace a triathlon to leave it all out there WITHOUT blowing up
