The T100 Triathlon World Tour has had some incredible men’s start lists this season and it all comes to a crescendo in the Grand Final in Dubai this Sunday.
The top four in the world are all there, but this close to the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona meant there was always the chance of a significant absentee or two.
And that’s proved to be the case, with Sam Laidlow having revealed at the start of the week that his season is over after that brutal slugfest on the Big Island, courtesy of a hamstring tear.
And he’s now been joined by Denmark’s Daniel Bækkegård who looked to have got a challenging season back on track with a podium place at T100 London.
Bækkegård forced out
However on Wednesday, Bækkegård posted on Instagram: “Devastated to announce that I won’t be on the start line at the @t100triathlon Final in Dubai this weekend. I’ve been struggling with a virus for the last 2 weeks which forces me to call it a season early.
“Time to regroup, rethink, relax and turn s*** around.
“Will still be glued to the TV screen to watch what will be one of the most exciting triathlon races in the history of the sport.”
The Riel deal
And that last line – “one of the most exciting triathlon races in the history of the sport” – underlines we should be focusing on who is there, rather than who isn’t.
Marten Van Riel has taken T100 racing by storm before and after his appearance at the Olympics, winning in San Francisco and Ibiza before a close second to fellow Belgian Jelle Geens.
It all means he’s in prime position to take both the world title and the tidy $210,000 first prize which comes with that (see below).
He knows anywhere in the top three will make him uncatchable and on current form that’s surely massive odds-on.
But there’s so much drama in behind – Magnus Ditlev and Kyle Smith are looking to hold onto their podium spots while those just in behind have every chance of moving up given the increased points on offer for this season-finale.
It all means the absent Laidlow (fourth in the standings) and Mika Noodt (eighth) are going to slip back – and in Noodt’s case almost certainly out of the all-important top 10 who will all earn the offer of a contract for next season’s ever-growing T100 schedule.
And one of those right on the cusp of a top-10 slot is none other than double Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee.
On the wildcard front, Germany’s Justus Nieschlag has been added to the field after his third on T100 debut at Lake Las Vegas.
T100 Dubai men’s start list
So the start list as it stands – and, as ever, subject to change, is as follows:
| Bib number | Athlete | T100 standing | T100 points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marten Van Riel (BEL) | 1 | 98 |
| 2 | Magnus Ditlev (DEN) | 2 | 79 |
| 3 | Kyle Smith (NZL) | 3 | 76 |
| 5 | Sam Long (USA) | 5 | 74 |
| 6 | Youri Keulen (NED) | 6 | 69 |
| 7 | Pieter Heemeryck (BEL) | 7 | 65 |
| 8 | Mathis Margirier (FRA) | 9 | 59 |
| 9 | Rico Bogen (GER) | 10 | 57 |
| 10 | Alistair Brownlee (GBR) | 11 | 56 |
| 11 | Frederic Funk (GER) | 12 | 52 |
| 14 | Jason West (USA) | 14 | 43 |
| 15 | Aaron Royle (AUS) | 15 | 37 |
| 16 | Rudy Von Berg (USA) | 16 | 36 |
| 17 | David McNamee (GBR) | 18 | 33 |
| 18 | Leon Chevalier (FRA) | 21 | 25 |
| 19 | Clement Mignon (FRA) | 24 | 21 |
| 20 | Ben Kanute (USA) | 26 | 16 |
| 21 | Bradley Weiss (RSA) | 27 | 15 |
| 22 | Max Neumann (AUS) | 34 | 7 |
| 24 | Justus Nieschlag (GER) | 20 | 25 |
Points on offer and those end-of-season bonuses
As we mentioned, there are extra points up for grabs in Dubai – 55 points for the win versus 35 normally, down to four points for 20th position versus the normal one point.
The full breakdown is 55-45-40-35-30-27-24-21-18-16-14-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4.
They’ll be added to the points above – and remember there are some athletes not competing in Dubai who could still finish in the top 20, full list is here.
And then the T100 series end prize purse will be distributed as follows, an extra $1million:
- 1. $210,000
- 2. $140,000
- 3. $90,000
- 4. $75,000
- 5. $60,000
- 6. $55,000
- 7. $50,000
- 8. $45,000
- 9. $40,000
- 10. $35,000
- 11. $30,000
- 12. $26,000
- 13. $24,000
- 14. $22,000
- 15. $20,000
- 16,. $18,000
- 17. $15,000
- 18. $15,000
- 19. $15,000
- 20. $15,000
What time does the race start and how can I watch?
In Dubai, the men’s race will take place on Sunday 17 November, with the gun going off at 13:30 local time. This corresponds to 09:30 in Europe, 04:30 on the East Coast and 01:30 on the West Coast.
And the broadcast is available globally on PTO+, on Discovery+ in Europe, on YouTube or via regional broadcasters (see the full list here on the T100 website).
