British star Lucy Charles-Barclay caught compatriot Kate Waugh at the end of the run to win an epic London T100 Triathlon and claim a hard fought and emotional first T100 victory in front of a packed home crowd at the London’s Excel. USA's Taylor Knibb grabbed the third place on the day.
How the race unfolded:
The London T100 got underway with the women diving into the glittering water of Royal Victoria Dock for the 2km swim leg. Local hero Lucy Charles-Barclay (GBR) surged to the front, leading a group of strong swimmers including Jessica Learmonth (GBR), 2024 T100 World Champion Taylor Knibb (USA) and Singapore T100 winner Kate Waugh (GBR).
Continuing to fragment the field on the second lap, Charles-Barclay got onto dry land after 26:28 at the head of that same group. Holly Lawrence (GBR) was best of the rest, but 30 seconds behind, while three-times Olympic medallist Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR) was 1 minute off the pace.
Learmonth wasted no time on two wheels: after a quick change, the Brit powered out of transition to create an early lead. Waugh and Charles-Barclay soon set off in pursuit of the Yorkshirewoman, Knibb’s slow transition costing her around 20 seconds.
As the kilometres ticked away that trio established themselves at the front, holding 20-30 seconds on Knibb while San Francisco T100 winner Julie Derron (SWI) was up into 5th with Lisa Perterer (AUT) – 2nd in Singapore T100 – in close by.
As the bike neared halfway, yet another British contender emerged – Lucy Byram was up 9 places on her post-swimming position and overtook Derron to make it 4 Brits in the top-5, though still 2:30 behind the leaders.
With 30km to go, Knibb made it up to the front group and was soon the new leader on course, forcing a growing gap to Charles-Barclay in 2nd. Shortly after, Taylor-Brown suffered a rear puncture, which saw her drop down to over 7 minutes in arrears, putting her well out of contention.
Onto the final 10km lap, Charles-Barclay was once again in front and pushing hard with Knibb, Learmonth and Waugh, still packed together. Byram was in no man’s land at 1:45 but 2 minutes ahead of the remainder of the field.
As T2 loomed, Charles-Barclay’s slim lead saw her first off the bike, Learmonth Knibb and Waugh heading onto the 18km run together. Byram’s deficit off the bike was 1:54 with Derron at 4:49.
Learmonth was quickly dropped as Knibb and Waugh pushed on shoulder-to-shoulder, keeping Charles-Barclay in sight and gradually reeling her in. The front trio were reunited by 2.6km into the run, all clocking around 3:30/km pace.
At 4.5km Kate Waugh stepped on the gas to drop Knibb. Charles-Barclay gamely held on for another kilometre but Waugh’s pace was too great. With 8km to go, Waugh was holding Charles-Barclay at 19 seconds and Knibb at 1:14 – but as the race wore on, telltale signs of fatigue appeared on Waugh’s face.
Going onto the final lap with 3.6km to go, Charles-Barclay was eating into Waugh’s lead, the deficit down to 10 seconds as the veteran athlete hunted 1st place. The catch came with 2.4km to go, Charles-Barclay surging past as Waugh tried – and failed – to respond.
Powering back into Excel to meet the roaring crowd, Charles-Barclay turned into the finish zone, the smile appearing as she finally cracked the code to win a T100 title on home soil. Bursting into tears as she crossed the tape in 3:35:51, the British superstar moved into 4th in the T100 Race To Qatar standings.
Waugh retained 2nd place over the line – another great showing from the Brit in her rookie T100 season and enough to take the top of the T100 Race To Qatar standings.
Taylor Knibb secured 3rd place, maintaining 2nd in the T100 Race To Qatar standings – the 2024 T100 World Champion once again beatable in a season hotting up as anyone’s to win.
Derron was 4th – 3rd in the standings – with Byram’s 5th place making it 3 Britons in the top-5.
Key Quotes:
Winner Lucy Charles-Barclay:
“It feels amazing. After last year I was so devastated, to DNF here in my home race. This year leading into the race I was feeling good. I didn’t want to put the pressure on it being the home race. I was coming in knowing I was feeling good. You just want to hold it together all day and see what happens. To get the win is a bit mind-blowing to be honest.”
“I could see Kate [Waugh] in front of me and I was thinking I was reeling her in and I was feeling pretty strong. So I was like ‘keep running and see what happens’. And as I was closing I was thinking, this could be the day, you can do this. But I just wanted to hold it together and keep pushing to the end and I couldn’t quite believe it when I crossed the line.”
“The last three or four years have been a rollercoaster with injuries and health issues and knowing that I’ve not quite been at my best, but coming into the race today I felt like I was coming back to my best. We’ve seen some amazing numbers in training. But it hadn’t quite been showing in training. Even in Vancouver I came in feeling pretty good, but I felt like I didn’t deliver.”
On the support in London, she said: “It was just incredible in here [at the ExCel]. I never have my friends and family supporting me and watching me race live. This is probably the only race in the year that they do. So last year they were all here and I came in feeling like I would be unable to deliver due to injuries and it was the last race my Grandad came and watched. Sadly he passed away at the end of last year. So I feel like I did it for him today. He was looking down on me and I think I delivered for him. So I’m really, really pleased.”
“Hopefully this will give me confidence for the rest of the year. I love what the T100 races bring to us, the athletes and I love what it brings to the fans. The girls out there today were just incredible.”
Second placed Kate Waugh:
“My brain isn’t quite braining at the moment! I completely went for it. No regrets. I’ve never been in so much pain on the last lap. I found the limit today. We still got a British one, two today in front of a home crowd, which is pretty special. With the home crowd it was quite emotional. I would have loved to have won in front of a home crowd and friends and family.”
“It’s a good demonstration of a long course athlete vs a short course athlete. I clearly need to pace myself. Lucy paced it perfectly today and had the perfect race. I’m really happy for her. I think it’s her first T100 win, right and in London which is really special.”
Third placed Taylor Knibb:
“The amount of times I felt like I thought I was done. I had to keep rallying myself to keep going. Well, you tell yourself ‘no’ and refocus. As least that’s what I do… it ends eventually, hopefully!”
“I think it’s a very exciting Race To Qatar and if we do the maths right, in the top four it’s Kate and I have had a first, second and third. Julie has a first, second and fourth plus her 12th from Singapore and Lucy has a first, a third and a fourth. So that’s pretty tight in the top four. Everyone’s mixing around, which is the benefit of having a different course and the benefit of having a season-long narrative. So hopefully it’s shaping up to be a better story this year.”
