Super League Triathlon London 2021 - Hayden Wilde and Jess Learmonth triumph as Eagles take lead
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Updated 06/09/2021 at 14:11 GMT
The opening round of the Super League Triathlon took place on Sunday at West India Quays in London, and the Eagles were the team to move into the lead ahead of the next rounds. Hayden Wilde secured the win in the men's side of the competition, while Jess Learmonth was the victor for the women's events.
Wilde beats Luis and Brownlee in London's Super League Triathlon event
Hayden Wilde secured a win in round one of the triathlon Super League with Jess Learmonth the winner in the women's section of the event.
In the men’s side of the event, New Zealand athlete Wilde finished ahead of Jonny Brownlee and Vincent Luis to triumph.
After a day’s hard competition in the first two stages, the course of victory was far from settled, and Luis and Brownlee - two of the most prominent names in the sport - were upstaged by their 22-year-old rival on the final run of Stage 3.
At West India Quay in East London, the event saw three triathlon events held back to back as one overall competition. First came a 300m swim/4km bike/1.6km run for Stage 1, before Stage 2’s 1.6km run/4km bike/300m swim, and finally Stage 3’s 4km bike/300m swim/1.6km run.
As well as Brownlee, Luis and Wilde, Alex Yee - Team GB's two-time medallist from the Tokyo Games - was in the pack for the competition.
On Stage 1, Scorpions’ Australian Matt Hauser led after the swim section to score the first points, before he suffered a puncture on the cycling section, allowing Brownlee to pass him, as well as Wilde.
Luis then took the lead in the run with Brownlee initially sitting in behind, though Vasco Vilaca and Wilder crossed the line as the first pair, taking points for the Sharks.
The race then moved onto Stage 2, with Yee leading home the run, Wilde second, another Australian Jacob Birtwhistle in third, and Brownlee fourth.
Brownlee challenged on the swim, but Luis was able to finish just ahead for victory in the section.
With no obvious winner ahead of Stage 3, Luis was a second ahead of Brownlee, and nine ahead of Wilde. Shark Wilde closed the gap in the cycle section, and Luis was able to hit the water ahead of the chasing pair.
The competition came down to a 1.6km run and Wilde used his Short Chute, taking the lead with one lap remaining, putting space between himself, Luis and Brownlee, with 21-year-old Vilaca coming in a respectable fourth.
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Jess Learmonth
Image credit: Getty Images
Learmonth won the Triple Mix format in the women’s side of the competition, finishing ahead of Georgia Taylor-Brown and Vicky Holland, with a late-won victory set up before the day’s final run.
The women’s format had the same distances as the men’s, and Olympic gold medallist Learmonth was joined by Taylor-Brown, Holland, American Katie Zaferes and two other Britons, Sophie Coldwell and Beth Potter.
In Stage 1, Learmonth took the lead ahead of Brazilian Vittoria Lopes and Taylor-Brown. At the 4km bike course, Lopes was ahead, leading onto the 1.6km run with Taylor-Brown running clear, and Potter taking second, with Holland third.
Holland and Potter hit the ground running in the opening run for Stage 2, with Zaferes and France’s Leonie Periault closing in for the win as Taylor-Brown fell to a crash.
With the swim to go, Taylor-Brown trailed by 11 seconds as a result, and Zafares moved into the lead, before Learmonth struck late to take a section win.
Eagles teammates Learmonth and Holland moved to the front in the bike leg as they started to build a lead, while Taylor-Brown risked another crash as she came off the course. Learmonth was ahead at the transition, chased by Holland and Taylor-Brown.
Learmonth hammered her advantage in the water and moved 17 seconds clear in the swim, and set her up for the final 1.6km run with nobody able to bring her in as she won the overall title.
After the day’s competition, the Eagles were well clear after round one on 93. Scorpions were second with 71, Sharks on 66, Cheetahs on 61, and Rhinos well down on 35 in fifth.
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