This is a preview of the third race in the supertri season – click on the names to read about great wins for Hayden Wilde and Georgia Taylor-Brown.
The winners of no fewer than 10 of the Olympic medals in Paris will look to again play starring roles when the third race of the supertri season takes place in London on Sunday.
Both individual gold medallists – Alex Yee and Cassandre Beaugrand – line up and a huge crowd is expected at West India Quay to cheer on their heroes.
Indeed Team GB’s Olympic medallists Yee, Beth Potter and Georgia Taylor-Brown are being presented to the crowd at 11:35 local time to ramp up the atmosphere before the action gets underway at midday.
This will be the fourth time London has hosted a supertri / Super League event making it the joint highest with Jersey since the inception of triathlon’s fastest and most vibrant format back in 2017.
Read on to find out the team line-ups, race format, how to watch and much more…
Start time and how to watch live
Racing takes place on Sunday September 8, 2024.
Women’s PRO race: 12:13 local (coverage starts 12:00), that’s 13:13 CET, 07:13 Eastern Time or 0413 Pacific.
Men’s PRO race: 13:27 local (coverage starts 13:20), that’s 14:27 CET, 08:27 Eastern Time or 0527 Pacific.
You can sign up to watch the races for free on the supertri website here and this page also gives full details of broadcasters in your region.
Pro Women – who is racing?
It’s tough to pick a favourite in London, but it probably has to be Beaugrand.
The Olympic champion produced a rare low-key performance after her Paris heroics in the first supertri race of the year in Boston, but almost hunted down the victory when second in Chicago last time.
And when the Loughborough-based athlete races in the UK she tends to win, including both Super League and the Arena Games in London in 2022.
Potter got the better of Beaugrand when it mattered last year, but had to settle for two superb bronze medals in Paris. And after being eliminated in Boston via the 90-seconds rule, she was sixth in Chicago. Back in front of home fans will she get in the shake-up this time?
Fellow Team GB medallist Taylor-Brown returned to winning ways in Chicago to crown her comeback from a frustrating calf injury and she thrives in the Enduro format (see below for more details) which is being used in all 2024 supertri races.
Also likely to be right in the mix is Jeanne Lehair, with the Luxembourg star having won not just the opening race in Boston but also Super League London last year, which was also an Enduro event.
There are two team changes to report compared to Chicago – Emma Lombardi comes in for Cathia Schär for Stars & Stripes while Annabel Morton replaces Jess Fullagar for Brownlee Racing.
Teams (bib numbers in brackets):
Brownlee Racing: Beth Potter (15), Olivia Mathias (14), Alice Betto (11) and Annabel Morton (16)
Crown Racing: Cassandre Beaugrand (21), Georgia Taylor-Brown (23), Kate Waugh (24) and Barbara De Koning (22)
Podium Racing: Jeanne Lehair (31), Fanni Szalai (34), Vittória Lopes (32) and Léonie Périault (33)
Stars & Stripes: Katie Zaferes (44), Taylor Spivey (43), Kirsten Kasper (41) and Emma Lombardi (45)
Pro Men – who is racing?
It’s 1-1 in the supertri battle between Yee and Hayden Wilde so far this year.
Soon after his epic Olympic victory over the Kiwi, Yee celebrated in style by landing the opener in Boston.
But Wilde bounced back in Chicago, with Yee uncharacteristically subdued down in eighth place.
Sunday is being billed as Yee’s homecoming – he grew up just a few miles away from the course at West India Quay – so can he give the London fans what they want just 39 days after that memorable late charge in Paris?
Léo Bergere and Vasco Vilaca both got close to Wilde in Chicago, but it’s hard to get away from another showdown between the Olympics one-two.
Again there are two changes on the team front. Fresh from his first middle-distance win, Denmark’s Emil Holm replaces Dorian Coninx for Podium Racing.
And World Triathlon’s number one-ranked junior Reese Vannerson (USA) takes over from Tim Hellwig for Stars & Stripes.
Teams (bib numbers in brackets):
Brownlee Racing: Alex Yee (16), Connor Bentley (12), Sergio Baxter Cabrera (11) and Hugo Milner (15)
Crown Racing: Hayden Wilde (24), Vincent Luis (22), Max Stapley (23) and Vetle Bergsvik Thorn (21)
Podium Racing: Matt Hauser (33), Léo Bergere (31), Kenji Nener (35) and Emil Holm (34)
Stars & Stripes: Chase McQueen (42), Seth Rider (43), Vasco Vilaça (44) and Reese Vannerson (45)
Course and format
As we’ve said, the format in London is Enduro which is three back-to-back triathlons (all in swim-bike-run order), with no breaks in between.
Not everyone will make it to the finish either, because should an athlete fall more than 90 seconds behind the race leader at any point they will be eliminated.
The tight turns, cobblestones and technical bends will be sure to push the athletes to their limits and each stage will consist of a 300m swim (one lap), a 4km cycle (four laps) and a 1.6km run (two laps).
Beginner’s guide to supertri
‘Normal’ rules do not apply in supertri and a small short cut, aka ‘Short Chute’, can be earned during the racing for being first across the line at various points.
You can earn a Short Chute in Chicago as follows:
- the first athlete across the mount line after the swim on Stage 1
- the first across the mount line after the bike on Stage 1 (i.e. after T2)
- the first across the dismount line after the run on Stage 1
Short Chutes are won for a team and awarded to an athlete during the race by their team manager. Short Chutes are to be taken on the first lap of the run in Stage 3. No team can win more than one Short Chute
Latest standings
Home favourites Brownlee Racing have work to do as they come into London third in the team standings on 130 points.
Podium Racing (165) lead the way ahead of Crown Racing (160), with Stars & Stripes fourth (109).
Michael Gilliam replaces Chris McCormack as Crown Racing manager in London, having overseen Bahrain Victorious Scorpions the last two years – including managing them to a teams title.
Crown Racing duo Taylor-Brown and Wilde are currently top of the women’s and men’s leagues respectively, see below.