The Bahrain Victorious 13 returned to action at the supertri League race in Boston over the weekend, claiming silver in the women’s and men’s races and the team leaderboard.
Georgia Taylor-Brown, Kate Waugh, Cassandre Beaugrand, Hayden Wilde, Vincent Luis, and Max Stapley welcomed the addition of U23 athletes Barbara de Koning and Vetle Thorn to complete the lineup for the Crown Racing league team, which Bahrain Victorious 13 is a principal partner of.
Racing three nonstop rounds of a 300-metre swim, four-kilometre bike, and 1.6-kilometre run with those at the back of the field eliminated if they were lapped or adrift longer than 90 seconds, the pace was high from the gun. Taylor-Brown led for most of the women’s race with Waugh working alongside her. Off the strength of a fast finish in the first run leg, Taylor-Brown claimed a Short Chute for Crown Racing which would give one of her teammates the privilege of running a shorter final run leg. With an eye toward team finish standings, this was eventually given to Beaugrand to help her secure an 8th place finish even as de Koning fell foul of the 90-second rule. Meanwhile, eventual winner Jeanne Lehair broke the tape ahead of Taylor-Brown and Waugh on the strength of a Short Chute and well-timed surge on the final run leg.
Said Taylor-Brown, “The first supertri race is always a shock, especially after the Olympic comedown, but I’m excited to get these races going and I’m getting fitter and fitter. I knew I had to go out hard, but Jeanne came back and I didn’t have enough to go with her.”
The men’s race seemed to echo the Olympic triathlon racing from a few weeks ago, with Wilde once again battling Alex Yee for the top spot until the latter surged close to the finish line and Wilde ran out of road to settle for second. Luis in his return to supertri racing after two years stayed on the pointy end throughout the race and helped drive the bike pack through the final bike leg, eventually finishing fifth. Thorn and Stapley finished 12th and 13th respectively.
“Close isn’t good enough. It was nice having Vincent [Luis] up there on the bike, but it’s a shame the other boys didn’t do some work and were waiting for the run,” said Wilde. “I’ve been seeing too many silvers during the last couple of weeks, so it’d be nice to get a gold in Chicago.”
Crown Racing finished with 81 points, off the back of Taylor-Brown and Wilde’s silvers, the team members’ finishes, and bonus points from swim, bike, and run performances. With just one point separating the team from first place before more racing at supertri Chicago next weekend, these champion athletes are motivated to come back even stronger and put the Bahrain racing red atop the podium.
