The men’s event at the Miami T100 certainly lived up to expectations, as despite a number of athletes dropping out of the 100km race, the battle for the win and the podium was absolutely thrilling.
Denmark’s Magnus Ditlev, who had finished on a podium but never won a 100km event, took a huge victory and became the first winner of the T100 Triathlon World Tour.
In second, American Sam Long was incredibly impressive, with Frenchman Mathis Margirier taking third place after spending the majority of the day at the front of the race.
Swim – Bogen leads big pack into T1
Setting the pace early on, IRONMAN World Champion Sam Laidlow led the way through the first lap of the swim, as a group of 12 athletes came out through the Australian exit within ten seconds of each other, including the likes of Aaron Royle, Rico Bogen and Alistair Brownlee.
Over the second lap, sensing that there was an opportunity to extend their lead, the front pack continued to keep the tempo high, with IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion Bogen leading out of the water. The group of 12, which remained intact, had close to a minute lead into transition.
Ditlev, the next best placed athlete in 13th, had a deficit of +0:55 alongside American Rudy von Berg and Belgian Pieter Hemmeryck. At the back of the race, a group of three including Long, Leon Chevalier and Arthur Horseau were over three and a half minutes down.
Bike – Margirier impresses as Brownlee holds steady
Out on the bike, the front pack quickly broke up, with Laidlow losing a substantial amount of time in transition and Margirier joining Brownlee at the front and immediately putting the hammer down.
At the head of the race, the duo quickly got to work and by the 20km mark, there was nearly a minute gap back to Bogen. Established names such as Ben Kanute, Daniel Baekkegard and Jason West struggled with the early pace, whilst young guns Youri Keulen and Bogen looked the strongest behind the front two.
Ditlev, who at times looked uncomfortable on the technical elements of the course, slowly made his way through the field and by the halfway mark had reeled in Laidlow. As Brownlee and Margirier continued to put time into everyone else in the field, Ditlev and Laidlow were steadily making their way up to the front.
With less than ten kilometres to go, the pair had made up to deficit to Brownlee and Margirier. Off the bikes together in T2, the quartet had +2:16 over Bogen in fifth, with Long over three minutes back and West, who was one of the pre race favourites, more than seven minutes down.
Run – Patience pays off for Ditlev
Quickest out of T2, Laidlow was first out on the run course, but was quickly passed by Brownlee, with the Brit setting a relentless pace up front. Margirier and Ditlev, taking a more conservative approach, looked like they were biding their time and allowed the gap to Brownlee to grow.
As Brownlee opened up close to a minute gap at the front, the heat started to take its toll on some of the big names, with Laidlow beginning to falter. Despite a three minute deficit off the bike, American hope Sam Long looked the most comfortable out on course.
With temperatures way over 30 degrees celsius, Brownlee started to show signs of struggling, with a tough to watch walk through an aid station slashing his lead over Ditlev, who had moved into second with just over 5km to go. Moments later, the Danish star had passed the two-time Olympic gold medalist to take the lead.
Over the closing kilometres, Long, who had reduced the gap to Margirier down to 20 seconds with 4km to go, looked to be the biggest threat to Ditlev up front. Rolling like a steam train, the American passed Margirier, then Brownlee, before setting his sights on the Dane and the win.
Despite his best efforts, however, Long was unable to catch Ditlev over the last lap, as the PTO World #2 stayed composed and in control to take his first T100 Triathlon World Tour win and bring home maximum points from the first event of the series.
Long, who raced formidably throughout the day, was rewarded for his tenacity with a superb second place, as Frenchman Margirier rounded out the podium. Keulen, one of the wildcards for the event, finished in fourth, with Brownlee in fifth.
Miami T100 – Saturday March 9 2024
2km / 80km / 18km
PRO MEN
- 1. Magnus Ditlev (DEN) – 3:09:08 [24:28/1:41:45/1:00:55]
- 2. Sam Long (USA) – 3:09:43 [26:55/1:42:10/58:44]
- 3. Mathis Margirier (FRA) – 3:10:08 [23:44/1:42:30/1:01:59]
- 4. Youri Keulen (NED) – 3:10:47 [23:45/1:45:01/1:00:12]
- 5. Alistair Brownlee (GBR) – 3:11:43 [32:39/1:42:39/1:03:38]
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