Bahrain Victorious claimed silvers on both sides of the ledger at Ironman Texas on Saturday as Taylor Knibb and Marten Van Riel notched their first full distance races of the season at the North American Championship amidst a deep field that boasted past and present Ironman world champions.
The team also set new national records over the distance, with Knibb, Van Riel, and Vincent Luis pushing benchmarks faster for the United States, Belgium, and France respectively.
With Ironman World Championship qualification on the line, Knibb repeated her runner-up finish from last year while delivering a new personal best on the marathon. The three-time Ironman 70.3 world champion emerged from the 3.8-kilometre swim in third at 53:36. Teammate and defending Texas champion Kat Matthews made up a three-minute gap out of the water to join Knibb in the lead group on the 180-kilometre bike, but the opportunity to repeat last year’s duel to the finish faded as Matthews’ rear tyre blew out around the halfway mark. While she was able to get back on the road after 20 minutes waiting for a mechanic, Matthews ultimately decided to withdraw from the title chase as she had already secured her spot on the Kona pier.
Meanwhile, Knibb had ridden hard to lead off the bike in 4:22:26. She then ran the marathon in 2:54:06, going 10 minutes faster than last year’s split and under three hours for the first time. Only the reigning Ironman world champion was able to come past her.
Knibb said, “Executing a good run was the goal, and that’s my best Ironman time by 10 minutes… I think it’s fantastic that we were able to get this kind of field… I always want to race the best people because you can learn so much.”
In the men’s race, Van Riel was third out of the water alongside Vincent Luis and reigning Ironman 70.3 world champion Jelle Geens. Among peers that had also made the transition from short-course to long-distance, the pace revved high from the gun. Making his Ironman debut, Geens pushed hard on the bike over the 180 kilometers and led early on the marathon, but this enthusiasm proved his undoing as he faded and later pulled out.
Van Riel’s greater experience over the distance showed as he moved into the lead, held off the defending champion and eventual winner until the final 10K, and crossed the finish line just 90 seconds later. Luis also ran strong to finish fourth and book his Kona debut.
This brings the current Bahrain Victorious roster for the Ironman World Championship to four athletes, with the team on track to fly the racing red and dominate on the Big Island.
The coming weekend will see short-course racing come to the fore as Vasco Vilaca lines up in Samarkand, Uzbekistan for the first stop of the World Triathlon Championship Series.
