Ashleigh Gentle has cemented herself as the one to beat in T100 racing as she won her second of the series in London, as fan-favourite Lucy Charles-Barclay succumbed to a DNF.
In the fourth race of the T100 Triathlon World Tour, Swiss Imogen Simmonds finished just under two minutes behind Gentle, while Brit Kat Matthews secured the final spot on the podium in third.
Australian Gentle backed up her Singapore victory in April with a win in different conditions in London, proving her consistent ability over this 100km around the world.
She now sits top of the T100 series leaderboard, with Brits India Lee and Charles-Barclay in second and third respectively, after Lee placed in ninth.
The women’s London T100 race got underway with 20 of the world’s best triathletes diving into Royal Victoria Docks, next to London’s ExCeL centre.
The race included four of the top five ranked triathletes, with Gentle, Charles-Barclay, Anne Haug and Matthews on the starting line, in a lineup which saw six Brits compete.
World number one Taylor Knibb was notably absent due to Team USA duties for the Paris Olympics.
Charles-Barclay and fellow Brit Sophie Coldwell led from the front in the 2km swim, and stayed neck and neck at the front for the first part of the cycle.
Coldwell’s inexperience in the middle distance soon became apparent as she lost pace with leader Charles-Barclay, but secured herself an impressive seventh-placed finish in her T100 debut.
Having only got a TT bike a few weeks ago after missing out on Olympics selection and being selected as a London wildcard, she will be delighted to have kept pace with her more experienced T100 compatriot for almost 40km of the race.
At the 60km checkpoint, Simmonds came within touching distance of Charles-Barclay on the bike at and soon overtook the world number three.
Simmonds dismounted the bike at the 82km mark with just a 23 second lead over Charles-Barclay, who had a mass of support from her home crowd along the race.
The London native had been excited about the race and even rode on a specially designed bike with the London Underground network, a Union Jack and some of her favourite landmarks etched on it to celebrate her love of the capital.
Despite the special bike and the emphatic support lining the streets in East London, a rolled ankle on the uneven surface caused her achilles to murmur as she was forced to retire to the medical tent in her first ever DNF.
Gentle soon raced ahead into first place, overtaking Simmonds and showing once again her strength in the 18km running distance.
It was the consistency over all three disciplines which ultimately saw Gentle cross the finish line first in front of a crowd of almost 5,000 people, and assert her dominance on this middle distance race.
Meanwhile German star Haug, who recently set an Ironman world record, failed to make a podium in a pro triathlon for the first time since 2018.
The wait for Lucy Charles-Barclay’s first T100 win goes on, but she will no doubt take a lot of belief from knowing she was at the front of the pack for the lion’s share of the race.
The next T100 race will be in Ibiza on 28-29 September.
The first London T100 Triathlon weekend on 27-28 July is entirely free for spectators and includes a dedicated T100 Watch Party venue at the ExCel London Exhibition Centre for the very first time. Where fans will be able to see the world’s best triathletes come past at least 10 times during the 100km race format (2km swim, 80km run, 18 km swim). As well as being able to follow them live, out on the course, thanks to a big screen.
