She became the first athlete in Super League / supertri history to win three overall titles – but it couldn’t have been much closer for Georgia Taylor-Brown.
The Brit, the most decorated female Olympic triathlete, knew going into the final race in Neom that a podium finish would be enough to hold off Jeanne Lehair and Taylor Spivey.
But an uncharacteristically slow start meant everything was suddenly up in the air, with GTB well off the podium places as Spivey put the hammer down to lead the bike.
Disaster then struck for Spivey as her chances of winning all but evaporated when she crashed.
But that left Lehair in front and she would pull clear with Olympic champion Cassandre Beaugrand as Taylor-Brown desperately tried to stay in touch.
Going into the final run Lehair knew a win would be enough if GTB couldn’t make the podium but as Beaugrand pulled clear, the equation changed to a top-four finish being enough for Taylor-Brown.
‘I was really hanging on’
And that would prove critical for the Crown Racing athlete as Léonie Périault overtook her for third but she just had enough to fend off Beth Potter and take that all-important fourth place and the overall title.
Speaking afterwards to supertri’s Adam Leitch, Taylor-Brown admitted: “I really did do that the hard way!
“I thought I needed third and then Non [Stanford, manager of Brownlee Racing] told me I just needed fourth so I was really just hanging on for that fourth spot.
“And when Léonie went past me I was thinking ‘I just really don’t have anything more’.
“I was kind of out the back the whole race. It wasn’t the best day for me and it’s kind of weird winning the title and not being on the podium for the individual race but I got the title and that’s all I came for today.”
‘Nice to know I can still do it’
And while it was a close-fought thing in the end, there can be no denying that Taylor-Brown is a deserving champion having won the previous three races in Chicago, London and Toulouse.
And she added: “It’s really special because no one’s ever won three titles. So I’m really proud of this one, especially after the Olympics. It’s nice to know that I can still be up there and still do it.”
Taylor-Brown’s performance also helped her Crown Racing outfit lift the overall teams prize as they got the better of Podium Racing.
Racing to keep up: Is social media making us train harder?
