American superstar Taylor Knibb underlined why she is the overwhelming favourite to win the overall T100 title with another utterly dominant victory at T100 Lake Las Vegas, her third in a row.
She was the clear favourite in the gambling capital of the world – and anyone who backed her never had a moment’s worry.
In the front group of four on the swim, she then did her customary move-to-the-front manoeuvre on the bike and looked super-strong on the run as she cruised to victory with an impressive run.
Even Olympic silver medallist Julie Derron (SUI) couldn’t claw back significant time on the 18km run and she had to settle for second, with Tokyo 2021 winner Flora Duffy (BER) notching her best T100 result to date as she rounded out the podium in third.
Swim – Four put time between themselves and the rest
It was no surprise to see Haley Chura (USA) lead out the swim but there wasn’t much between her and the three women just behind.
And all of those were involved in the Paris Olympics – Taylor Spivey (USA) in her second T100 race, Duffy just behind and then Knibb on their feet.
But even at this point, especially with Knibb up front, it felt like the rest had a mountain to climb with 1:16 and more the deficit.
Last out of the water was IRONMAN World Champion Laura Philipp.
And one notable non-starter to report at this point – Britain’s India Lee who is right in contention near the top of the T100 standings.
She explained: Unfortunately… I’ve been feeling under the weather all week, I was hoping for a miracle and to feel better to race today but that hasn’t happened.
“I’ve learned from my experience in Singapore and know that this race series requires a fully healthy body on the start line otherwise it ends in tears.”
Bike – Knibb doing Knibb things
A swift T1 saw Duffy start the bike with a 16-seconds advantage on the other three in that front group.
However it took less than 4km for Knibb to move into the lead! Chura had dropped off the pace by now so it was Knibb, Duffy and Spivey leading the way.
By 15km Knibb was more than a minute ahead – and at 30km that was over two minutes. But while the win already looked within her grasp at this early point, there was plenty of drama in behind.
Lucy Byram (GBR) had done brilliantly to move right into contention but an early drafting penalty momentarily saw her slide back down the standings.
T100 penalties on the bike had been pretty much non-existent until last time out in Ibiza but suddenly they were coming thick and fast.
Duffy was next to be hit with the 60-seconds sanction and then uber-biker Paula Findlay.
There was drama elsewhere too (see X post above) but when things settled down it was still Knibb out on her own, followed into T2 by Byram who was 4:55 behind.
Derron was 24 seconds back on her and then the gaps started to get wider and wider, with Duffy and Findlay coming next.
Run – Cruise control for Knibb
It was obvious from virtually the start of the run that Knibb was looking super comfortable.
That suggested it would take something quite remarkable from Derron to put her under threat. The Swiss star did overtake Byram for second early on but the inroads on Knibb were just 20 seconds in the first 2km of the 18km.
And that set the tone. Duffy would haul in Byram for third late on as both produced superb performances to enhance their prospects of a top finish after the final showdown in Dubai next month.
But Knibb – barring a mishap – looked untouchable and a third win in a row gave her a perfect 105 points (35pts per win, best three count).
It now all boils down to the grand finale in Dubai but Knibb could not be in a better position.
T100 Lake Las Vegas results – Pro Women
Saturday October 19 2024 – 2km/80km/18km
- 1. Taylor Knibb (USA) – 3:37:03 [24:53/1:58:09/1:10:47]
- 2. Julie Derron (SUI) – 3:39:17 [26:04/2:02:39/1:07:50]
- 3. Flora Duffy (BER) – 3:44:04 [24:51/2:05:59/1:10:14]
- 4. Lucy Byram (GBR) – 3:45:27 [26:13/2:01:55/1:14:12]
- 5. Taylor Spivey (USA) – 3:47:57 [24:48/2:07:38/1:12:14]
