The Bahrain Victorious 13 scored dual silver medals at the World Triathlon Indoor Cup Lievin, the first ever World Cup triathlon event held indoors.
In the format making its debut this year on the World Cup circuit, world champions and Olympic medalists Georgia Taylor-Brown and Vincent Luis swam, cycled, and ran super sprint distances through qualifying heats, semifinals, and the final to conclude in thrilling run battles for the podium.
Taylor-Brown won her heat in 10:31, swimming 150 metres in a 25-metre pool built inside a running track, then cycling a total of 3 kilometres in 400-metre loops on the outer lanes of the track and running 1 kilometre on the inner lanes. In the semifinal she attempted to conserve energy by coming in third in 10:33. The final ended in a sprint finish as the top three women all stopped the clock in 10:19, Taylor-Brown taking silver by a breath.
“I am really happy with today. I don’t feel super run fit at the moment but I am getting there and it was really exciting today,” said Taylor-Brown.
Luis placed fourth in the last qualifying heat for the men’s event with a time of 9:44, securing the last direct spot into the semifinals. In his second race he went 10 seconds quicker over the same distance to finish third and make the final. In that last race Luis put on the afterburners to reel in a breakaway in the final run stretch, overtaking all but one.
He said, “I was really in contention until literally the last couple of metres. I am happy with the result. It’s been a really long time since I worked a World Cup, I think it was 2019 in Banjoles. That was a long time without racing or a podium but I am happy to be back.”
The Bahrain Victorious 13 will see more action this coming weekend across both long and short distances: Joe Skipper takes on Ironman 70.3 Oceanside while Henri Schoeman targets the South African championship at the Africa Triathlon Premium Cup Nelson Mandela Bay.
