A powerhouse Bahrain Victorious roster claimed wins and podiums Down Under over the weekend as Taylor Knibb raced the T100 Gold Coast and Kat Matthews and Jelle Geens lined up for Ironman 70.3 Geelong.
Knibb kicked off with a dominating win at the opening race of the T100 Triathlon Tour. The American braved the wild swells in Surfer’s Paradise to emerge from the two-kilometre swim in ninth place, then quickly set to work reeling in the leaders on the lapped bike course. Over eight laps of 10 kilometres each, Knibb steadily closed the gap on the race leader, eventually taking the front with around 30 kilometres remaining on the bike. She continued to build her advantage to over a minute by the bike-to-run transition, recording the day’s fastest bike split. She then held firm on the 18-kilometre run to finish nearly a minute clear of Jessica Fullagar.
Matthews has now made it two for two on the Ironman Pro Series, topping Ironman 70.3 Geelong only two weeks after setting a new course record at Ironman New Zealand. The British star obliterated over a minute’s lead after the 1.9-kilometre swim, powering to the lead early on the 90-kilometre bike and building more than a three-minute buffer by the time she put on her shoes. There was not enough road on the concluding half marathon for the hard-charging Grace Thek to run past her, as Matthews broke the tape with 30 seconds to spare.
Geens claimed silver among the men, knocking off the rust in his first race of the season. The reigning Ironman 70.3 world champion emerged from the swim around a minute down on the leaders, before moving into the front group on the bike and running a steady pace that saw only one other athlete overtake him. Measured and composed throughout, the Belgian ticked the boxes in his return to racing, with bigger targets in his sights as he makes his full Ironman debut in Texas next month.
