TRIATHLON – BAHRAIN Victorious 13 triathletes dominated races and headlines over the weekend across major triathlon and paracycling events worldwide – adding two more world titles to the team’s glittering collection and strengthening their grip on key series championships.
Lauren Parker set the tone at the UCI Paracycling World Championships, backing up her Women’s Handbike H3 Individual Time Trial title on Thursday with another commanding victory in Saturday’s H3 Road Race, leaving her rivals over four minutes adrift.
She capped her campaign by helping Australia secure silver in the H3 Team Relay.
On the French Riviera, the spotlight shifted to the joint T100 Triathlon World Tour and World Triathlon Championship Series (WTCS) races in the twin towns of Frejus and Saint-Raphael.
In the WTCS Frejus, Bahrain Victorious 13’s Paris 2024 Olympics champion Cassandre Beaugrand from France showcased her class in the sprint-distance elite women’s race. Beaugrand stayed in contention through the 750-metre swim and 20-kilometre bike before breaking away with the leaders on the five-km run.
In the final showdown, she surged past Jeanne Lehair to claim a sensational victory in a total time of 56 minutes 43 seconds.
Her swim-bike-run splits were 10:08, 29:40, and 15:19, respectively. Lehair Jeanne of Luxembourg was the runner-up six seconds behind, while Periault Leonie, also from France, was third in 57:00.
With her result, Beaugrand tightening her grip on the series lead. Her Bahrain Victorious 13 teammate and compatriot Emma Lombardi finished just off the podium in fourth with a time of 57:03. Lombardi had splits of 10:17, 29:32, and 15:39.
In the elite men’s race, Bahrain Victorious 13’s Vasco Vilaca battled at the front throughout and crossed the line in second, reinforcing his standing as world number two and edging closer to his long-awaited first WTCS win.
The Portuguese star completed the race in 50:57, posting swim-bike-run splits of 9:16, 26:36, and 13:40 across the same distance as the women’s event.
Vilaca crossed the finish line just four seconds behind overall winner Matthew Hauser from Australia, while Manuel Hidalgo from Brazil came third in 51:20.
A day earlier in Saint-Raphael, Jelle Geens delivered silver for Bahrain Victorious 13 in the T100 Triathlon event, his consistency putting him atop the series standings.
Geens wrapped up the two-km swim, 80km bike, and 18km run in a total time of 3:12:45. The Belgian had splits of 24:55, 1:48:10, and 57:57 as he crossed the finish line just 22 seconds behind winner Hayden Wilde from New Zealand. Samuel Dickinson from Great Britain rounded out the men’s podium in 24:29.
Bahrain Victorious 13’s India Lee also impressed with a determined run to secure bronze in the women’s race. She had a total time of 3:43:21, registering splits of 27:59, 2:05:55, and 1:06:56.
Ashleigh Gentle from Australia was the winner in 3:41:42, while Paula Findlay of Canada was the runner-up in 3:42:33.
Finally, Kat Matthews provided a fitting finale to the weekend for Bahrain Victorious 13, storming to victory at Ironman 70.3 Zell am See-Kaprun in Austria. Her 4:08:50 finish set a new course best with the fastest bike and run splits of the day of 2:17:52 and 1:19:43, respectively, and vaulted her to number one in the Ironman Pro Series as she looks to defend that crown.
With 43 titles across triathlon, paratriathlon, and paracycling over the past 11 years, Bahrain Victorious 13 continues to set the standard for endurance sport success.
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