T100 Singapore gets STELLAR women's start list with world's top three set for epic battle

The 2025 T100 Triathlon World Tour will start in blockbuster style when the world’s top three ranked women go head-to-head in Singapore on April 5

American Taylor Knibb, the 2024 T100 World Champion and utterly dominant at middle distance, will line up for her first ever T100 race in the Lion City.

There she will renew her rivalry with Australia’s Ashleigh Gentle, who was runner up to her in the inaugural series but has won both the PTO’s 100km races in Singapore, proving herself highly adept in hot and humid conditions.

Swiss Olympic star Julie Derron completes the top-ranked trio. Derron won silver at the Paris 2024 Games last summer and showed how much of a threat she will be by delivering standout T100 performances in Ibiza, Lake Las Vegas and Dubai last term, where she finished in second place.

Mental strength key for Gentle

Speaking about her approach for the new season, Gentle underlined the importance of her mental preparation, saying: “I’m telling myself that I can be the T100 World Champion.

“That’s the mentality I have to have and I believe it will give me the best chance – along with giving everything I have in training, which of course I feel like I always have.

“I switched coaches at the middle of last year. So going into Singapore this year will be different preparation for me and I’m excited to see if that’s going to work out.

“I definitely feel good about how training’s going. It’s a slog in Queensland right now [due to the hot weather], but I know that that’s really good preparation for the sauna that is Singapore.”

Ashleigh Gentle Lucy Charles Barclay t100 Singapore 2024 run finish photo credit PTO — Ashleigh Gentle and Lucy Charles-Barclay embrace after an absorbing battle in Singapore [Photo credit: PTO]

Duffy and Spivey stepping up

But it’s definitely not just about the leading trio.

Also on the start line is Tokyo 2021 Olympic champion Flora Duffy, who after a full winter training on a TT bike is sure to be in contention.

Paris 2024 Olympic relay silver medallist Taylor Spivey will be in a similar position and proved how fast she can be in the swim and run during the second half of last year.

And also heading there is 2023 IRONMAN World Champion Lucy Charles-Barclay, who came second in Singapore in 2024 after leading deep into the run.