Vasco Vilaca bagged his first-ever supertri victory as he got the better of Stars & Stripes teammate Tim Hellwig in a thrilling sprint finish in Toulouse.
Hayden Wilde didn’t have his great rival Alex Yee to contend with because of the Brit’s jury duty but he did have a problem with his shoe on the final run and had to settle for third.
Meanwhile the race also saw the return of Jonny Brownlee but the triathlon legend was never really a factor after suffering a crash in the bike familiarisation earlier in the day.
Stage 1
As with the earlier women’s race there was a mix of wetsuit / non-wetsuit athletes, with the whole Brownlee team going down the latter route.
That certainly seemed to suit Jack Willis who was out of T1 in second on his supertri debut.
First place and earning the first Short Chute was Stars & Stripes’ Chase McQueen.
Onto the bike it was home favourites Léo Bergere and Vincent Luis in front early on and at the end of the fifth of five laps there was a great battle for the second Short Chute as Bergere just got the better of Vilaca.
It was on the run where overall series leader Wilde first moved to the front and he would claim the final Short Chute.
Stage 2
Having seen partner Georgia Taylor-Brown match his record of three wins in a row in this format, it was Luis who led the way out of the second swim.
But he was closely followed by Kenji Nener, Vetle Bergsvik Thorn, Wilde, Dorian Coninx and Bergere.
Brownlee was +22 s in 16th and last but up front Luis and Nener worked together to put nine seconds between themselves and the rest.
Nener was out first from T2, three seconds ahead of Luis, with Wilde, Vilaca, Bergere and Hellwig not far behind and the rest in one big group.
Stage 3
Starting the swim those six athletes were clear of the rest – in pairs for three teams.
Crown Racing’s Wilde and Luis led the way, followed by Podium’s Nener and Bergere and then came Stars & Stripes’ Vilaca and Hellwig.
Brownlee Racing were struggling to make an impact and things would go from bad to worse for Jonny Brownlee when he was handed a five seconds penalty for equipment out of the box.
But up front the team managers now hand to decide on their Short Chutes – all obviously tricky choices.
Crown went with Wilde over Luis while Bergere and Vilaca were the other two to be given the advantage on the last run.
As the bike settled down we suddenly had two groups of three – with Nener, Luis and Vilaca leading the way by four seconds.
But by the time they were back in transition all six were back together for the start of the final run.
The advantage from a Short Chute in Toulouse is marginal and it barely made any difference on lap one of two – but it did on lap two.
For Hellwig, part of the gold medal winning German Mixed Relay team at the Olympics in Paris, had surged to the head of affairs by this point but the Short Chute saw his teammate Vilaca move into the lead.
And in a thrilling finish he would just hold off Hellwig for a memorable Stars & Stripes one-two.
Wilde, winner of the two previous races, had to settle for third after what seemed to be an issue with one of his shoes.
Bergere was fourth, Nener fifth and Luis sixth, with the rest 39 seconds and more adrift of the winner.
supertri Toulouse results
Sunday 6 October 2024 – Enduro – Elite Men
- 1. Vasco Vilaca
- 2. Tim Hellwig +0s
- 3. Hayden Wilde +3s
- 4. Léo Bergere +8s
- 5. Kenji Nener +11s
Updated individual standings
Updated team standings
- 1. Crown Racing – 323pts
- 2. Podium Racing – 309pts
- 3. Stars & Stripes – 271pts
- 4. Brownlee Racing – 226pts
