British Olympian Georgia Taylor-Brown overtakes Julie Derron to lead the T100 Race To Qatar series after victory at the Dubai T100 Triathlon.
The Briton returned to the top step of the podium for the first time since her victory in Pamplona at the Spain T100 in May, after finishing third last time out at the Vancouver T100.
She finished 10 seconds ahead of Kiwi Nicole Van Der Kaay, who put in an impressive sprint finish to top off a stellar performance for her best ever T100 result.
Switzerland’s Julie Derron led the T100 Race To Qatar series heading into today’s Dubai T100, but despite fighting her way through the field to third, it was not enough to maintain her lead heading into the Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Final next month.
The result means that Georgia Taylor-Brown takes the lead in the T100 Race To Qatar with 96 points, with Julie Derron (SUI) in second on 90 points and Nicole Van Der Kaay moved up to third on 63. Athletes select their best three finishes plus the Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Final.
Next up for the men and women is the Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Final on 11-12 December.
Key Quotes
Winner: Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR)
On bike cramps: “It went really well up until the last lap of the bike and I started to get really bad crumbs in my adapters. I was pulling away on the third lap and I was like, oh, yes, I’m feeling good and comfortable. And then I got these adapter cramps and it is horrible when you get them, you just can’t put any power down so I just had to let all the girls go. I was like, I just have to try and spin my legs out and try and hopefully it will flush through and it did. It was going really well until then, but luckily I didn’t get any cramps on the run, but it was just really hot.”
On fighting Nicole Van Der Kaay and if she was confident of the victory: “No, not at all. I did it again [look back to see where Van Der Kaay was] I think after 2 laps, I was like, oh, yes, it’s good. I’m in control, I’ll keep pulling out more time. And then the time just stayed the same and I was like, oof, okay, this is going to be a fight to the end now. Nicole really kept me pushing it to the very end.”
Second: Nicole Van Der Kaay (NZL)
On her support: “I’m lucky I have a great support crew. Like, my partner is always telling me, um, how good I can be so to get a performance like this, I’m so emotional.”
On the result: “I know it’s been in me and I’ve had so many injuries and setbacks, so I’m really happy to get a result like this.”
On her race: “I actually loved it. The whole day I was kind of just trying to stay conservative. Just following the process and not getting ahead of myself.”
“I started off a bit easier on the run and I just wanted to stick to myself. I felt better and better throughout and, you know, it’s a pity it wasn’t going to halve because I was really, really feeling good, but it was a great day for New Zealand.”
Third : Julie Derron (SUI)
On her performance: “I felt the 4 or 5 weeks in between races more than the race 5 weeks ago. I struggled after a big race in Hawaii, obviously, but I was super proud of today. Overall, it wasn’t a really solid performance. I was just missing a bit to keep it up with the top girls. So I’m super happy to be on the podium again. Good day.”
On preparation for Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Final: “I go back into training, recover, make sure that I am firing on all cylinders, and then just back to work at the basics and then just keep working to be maybe a little bit better than i was today.”
