Swiss star Julie Derron is the latest big-name athlete to announce she will not be competing at this weekend’s opening T100 Triathlon World Tour race on the Gold Coast of Australia.
Revealing her decision via Instagram on Monday, last season’s championship runner-up said she wanted to give herself more time to get ready for the ‘long, intense’ campaign that lies ahead.
It will come as something of a blow to the T100 organisers, who, having switched the format by splitting the men’s and women’s events to now host only one pro race per weekend, now find themselves with a women’s field decimated by drop-outs.
One of the stars of last season
While the men’s season does not get underway until they head for Singapore on April 25, the women will dive into action this coming Saturday with the stunning Queensland coastline as its welcoming host.
Derron, who enjoyed T100 wins in San Francisco and Dubai last season and a second in Vancouver before finishing third at the Qatar World Championship Final, was only beaten to the overall championship by the brilliance of Kate Waugh (GBR), the current world number one.
The news follows various announcements in recent weeks, which have already seen the likes of Waugh, Lucy Charles-Barclay (GBR), and Lucy Byram (GBR) ruled out of the opener through injury, while Ashleigh Gentle (USA) has decided not to compete after announcing her pregnancy.
Indeed, of last year’s final top ten in the T100 standings, only three are now due to race – Ellie Salthouse (AUS), Taylor Knibb (USA) and Holly Lawrence (GBR).
‘Things cannot be rushed…’
Derron, possibly like many of those who are unable to compete this time, is now eyeing up the next event in the women’s calendar in Spain on May 23.
“After a long and intense 2025 season, I was hoping to recover and build back up quickly to be ready for @t100triathlon Gold Coast next weekend,” she posted on her Instagram page.
“However, if 2025 has taught me anything, it’s that things cannot be rushed. And so I’m giving myself a bit more time to build up for another long, intense and hopefully successful year of chasing my dreams and goals. 😇
“I am excited to watch the @t100triathlon get started and will be back for the next one. 🤗”
World champion also missing
World champion Kate Waugh is actually out in Australia but last week posted about her ongoing frustrations with a calf issue.
Her Instagram post read: “As excited and proud as I am to start the 2026 @t100triathlon season as World No. 1, I have to trust my processes and know my body to be able to compete with the rest of the incredible women racing on the Gold Coast.
“Unfortunately, I’ve been trying to recover from a minor, slow-recovering (and annoyinggg) calf injury. Sadly, I just don’t have enough time to be ‘race ready’ and fight for a podium, so I have had to make the tough decision to withdraw from the race.
“One thing I’ve learned over the years as a pro athlete is that we are constantly weighing up the ‘risk vs reward’ balance. On this occasion, the risk far outweighs the reward when I consider how deep my T100 and WTCS season will go in 2026.”
