T100 Dubai Results: Wilde and Taylor-Brown Surge to Top of Standings

Hayden Wilde made it a double-podium weekend in the United Arab Emirates thanks to an impressive win at T100 Dubai today, following up his bronze-medal performance at WTCS Abu Dhabi yesterday, winning despite reportedly breaking his toe during the Aussie exit from the swim. In the women’s race it was Georgia Taylor-Brown taking her second T100 title of the year (after winning in Spain) as she held off a spirited charge from Kiwi Nicole Van Der Kaay.

Men’s Race

After his impressive short course performance yesterday, Wilde set the stage for his win today thanks to a lead pack swim that saw him exit the water in fifth place, five seconds behind swim-leader Rico Bogen. The Kiwi star would then take the lead during the long run to the bikes, only to give the time back putting on socks before he started the ride.

Once out on the bike a six-man lead group formed that included Bogen, Germany’s Mika Noodt, Wilde and his countryman Kyle Smith, Switzerland’s Andrea Salvisberg and Estonia’s Henry Rappo. The group would finish the bike in that order, with Salvisberg posting the day’s fastest bike (1:46:49). Bogen would lead the men out of transition, with Wilde on his shoulder and Smith leading the rest of the men out onto the run course eight seconds behind.

On the run course Smith would move up alongside Wilde and the two would pull clear of Noodt and Salvisberg. Then, at roughly the halfway point of the run, Wilde made his move, surging ahead of Smith, with Noodt doing the same thing at roughly the same time to Salvisberg.

There were no changes from there on as Wilde cruised to his third T100 win of the year (to go along with his third-place finish in San Francisco) to solidify his lead in the T100 standings with a perfect 105-point score for his top-three races. Smith would hang tough for his best T100 finish of the season (he was third at the French Riviera race).

Noodt’s race served as a dramatic comeback to racing after a horrific crash at IRONMAN 70.3 Swansea, where he hit an ambulance at high speed while leading the race.

In his post-race interview Wilde said that he believed he had broken a toe after the first lap of the swim and, thinking that it was dislocated, even took his foot out of his shoe on the bike to try and wrench it back into place. Hopefully the toe will be fully recovered before the T100 Final in Qatar next month.

Women’s Race

Spain’s Sara Pérez Sala led a group of four women that included Taylor-Brown and fellow Brit Kate Waugh, along with Germany’s Bianca Bogen, out of the water. That foursome started the long run to the bikes with a lead of a minute over a group led by another German, Caroline Pohle, with Kona bronze-medalist Julie Derron and Van Der Kaay a few seconds further back.

Once on the bike it was Pohle who was the big mover, using the day’s fastest bike split (1:58:50) to ride her way to a 20-second lead over Van Der Kaay, Pérez Sala and Taylor-Brown, who reported after the race that she’d been struggling with cramps in her adductors over the final stages of the ride. Derron would be the next woman into T2 (2:28 back), with Bogen a few seconds behind her in sixth. (Waugh appeared to be struggling with her bike into T2 and was over four minutes behind the lead group.)

Pohle would lead the women on the run at first, then Pérez Sala would make her way to the front, but once Taylor-Brown got her run legs going she would make her move. Van Der Kaay wasn’t ready to hand the day over to the British star, though, and stayed close – at five km the gap was only six seconds. Through 12 km the gap was still small – Taylor-Brown’s partner, Vincent Luis, reporting splits as she had done for him on his way to the win in Kona, had to let her know that there were only 12 seconds separating her from the Kiwi.

That report appeared to give Taylor-Brown a bit of a boost, and she would fuel up and pour as much water on her head as she could at the next aid station and move the gap up to 25 seconds. Van Der Kaay just wouldn’t go away, though, and with three km to go she had clawed back a few seconds. Over the last mile of the run Taylor-Brown kept looking back, making sure she was controlling her effort enough to get herself to the line in front, which she did with 10 seconds to spare.

Behind those two Derron would continue her impressive late-season string – the win at T100 Vancouver, silver at 70.2 worlds in Nice and the third-place in Kona – with third. While that wasn’t enough to keep her in the lead in the T100 standings, she’s only six points behind Taylor-Brown, setting up an interesting race for the title in Qatar next month.

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