Bahrain Victorious 13 superstar claims first career victory in triathlon series
TRIATHLON – BAHRAIN Victorious 13 superstar and former Olympic champion Georgia Taylor-Brown claimed her first T100 victory at the Spain T100 Triathlon, held in the city of Pamplona in the Northern Spanish region of Navarra.
Taylor-Brown seemed to take inspiration as she charged around the 18-kilometre, three-lap run course to go from third in the second transition to the top of the podium.
Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) world number one Julie Derron of Switzerland finished second and a galloping Taylor Spivey of the US was third.
Taylor-Brown had spoken ahead of the event about how she had enjoyed the challenge of her first season in the T100 Triathlon World Tour, and that she “felt ready to win again”.
The result put Taylor-Brown second in the T100 Race To Qatar standings behind Imogen Simmonds of Switzerland with two races down and three to go.
“I was trying to just be quite smart with my racing on the bike because it was hot, and then the run, I felt really good for the first and the second lap,” said Taylor-Brown after the race. “But I’m glad I went for it and got a gap because I really wanted to walk the end of it.
“I’ve been feeling good in training and just strong and happy and in a really good place. I’m really enjoying my new coach and my new group – so, thanks for them.”
Taylor-Brown started the race amongst a congested pack behind Sara Perez Sala of Spain, who led the field out and was in front for the whole swim.
While Sala was first out on the bike, Derron charged to the front in the first couple of kilometers and looked to take a hold of the race. But she did not have it all her own way. The pack followed, and then all the leaders were all looking over their shoulders to see the flying Alanis Siffert, who gained an amazing 15 places on the bike and swept past Taylor-Brown and then Derron, taking the lead with 30km to go and trading positions at the front of the race with compatriot Derron into transition two.
Siffert was first out on the run, but Derron quickly passed her. Taking a longer and more deliberate transition than usual, Taylor-Brown lost around a minute to Siffert and 45 seconds to Derron. But within five km, she had charged to the front of the race and didn’t look back.
“I just feel strong and just confident,” added Taylor-Brown. “I didn’t expect to win or anything, but I just feel strong and confident.
“I did have fun – the bike course was incredible, and the run course was also quite nice, but just hot.”
The Briton finished in a total race time of three hours 38 minutes and three seconds to also pocket $50,000 in prize money as winner. She had swim-bike-run splits of 26:23, 1:59:23, and 1:09:40.
Derron came second in 3:39:23, while Spivey was third in 3:41:29.
Taylor-Brown scored her first points on the T100 season standings to climb to second on the classification with 35 – tied with fellow-Bahrain Victorious 13 triathlete Taylor Knibb from the US and just seven behind Simmonds.
Next up for the women on the T100 Triathlon World Tour’s 2026 calendar is the Vancouver T100 in Canada on August 15 and 16.
&uuid=(email))