supertri Toulouse 2024: How to watch Olympic stars plus Brownlee is back and Zaferes bows out
The supertri circus makes a welcome return to ‘The Pink City’ as Toulouse hosts the race for the third year in succession.
The fourth-largest city in France provides a thrilling setting, with a tight, technical and fast course lined by thousands of triathlon fanatics.
It also marks the homecoming of France’s Olympic stars – especially gold medal winner Cassandre Beaugrand and bronze medallist Léo Bergere.
Other headlines this weekend include the return to racing of Jonny Brownlee and the last professional race in the illustrious career of another triathlon legend in Katie Zaferes.
Read on to find out the team line-ups, race format, how to watch and much more…
Start time and how to watch live
Racing takes place on Sunday October 6, 2024.
Women’s race: 12:05 local, that’s 11:05 UK, 06:05 Eastern Time or 03:05 Pacific.
Men’s race: 13:20 local, that’s 12:20 UK, 07:20 Eastern Time or 04:20 Pacific.
You can sign up to watch the races for free on the supertri website here and this page also gives full details of broadcasters in your region.
Pro Women – who is racing?
All eyes will be on the incredibly strong French contingent of Cassandre Beaugrand, Emma Lombardi and Leonie Périault.
Beaugrand will be looking to close the gap on series leader – and Crown Racing teammate – Georgia Taylor-Brown who has just pipped her to the win in the last two races.
A victory on home roads for Beaugrand will mean there’s just one point between them and a winner-takes-all showdown in the final in Neom. Jeanne Lehair is right in the mix too, see the latest standings at the bottom of this article.
The women’s podium in London [Photo credit: supertri]
Remember too that Beaugrand, unlike many of her rivals, didn’t have a tiring trip to China for WTCS Weihai last week. As GTB put it herself on Instagram: “Now, how long does it take to get over Chinese jet lag & an Olympic distance triathlon? Toulouse supertri next weekend 🤪 #PrayForG”
And Toulouse marks the end of an era as Katie Zaferes takes part in her final professional triathlon. A superstar of the sport and in this format too, Zaferes has an Olympic bronze medal and multiple World Triathlon Series titles to her name.
There are three team changes to report compared to London – Jess Fullagar replaces Liv Mathias and Miriam Casillas Garcia takes over from Annabel Morton for Brownlee Racing, while Cathia Schär comes in for Kirsten Kasper at Stars & Stripes.
Teams (bib numbers in brackets):
Brownlee Racing: Beth Potter (15), Jess Fullagar (12), Alice Betto (11) and Miriam Casillas Garcia (17)
Crown Racing: Cassandre Beaugrand (21), Georgia Taylor-Brown (23), Kate Waugh (24) and Barbara De Koning (22)
Podium Racing: Jeanne Lehair (31), Fanni Szalai (34), Vittória Lopes (32) and Léonie Périault (33)
Stars & Stripes: Katie Zaferes (44), Taylor Spivey (43), Cathia Schär (42) and Emma Lombardi (45)
Pro Men – who is racing?
The big news is the fact that jury duty means Alex Yee can’t renew his rivalry with Hayden Wilde.
Olympic silver medallist Wilde is in search of a third straight win but he’s up against a formidable French quartet in the shape of Léo Bergere, Dorian Coninx, Pierre Le Corre and Vincent Luis.
Bergere in particular, with only two supertri races so far, has lots to gain if he can notch another high-placed finish – and he got the better of Wilde here last year of course, in slightly controversial circumstances.
Bergere winning in Toulouse in 2023 [Photo credit: Super League Triathlon / Darren Wheeler]
And while Yee misses out for Brownlee Racing, ‘player-manager’ Jonny Brownlee makes his first supertri appearance of 2024 as he replaces Hugo Milner, with Jack Willis in for Yee.
There are also two changes for Stars & Stripes – Le Corre and Tim Hellwig in for Seth Rider and Reese Vannerson.
Teams (bib numbers in brackets):
Brownlee Racing: Jonny Brownlee (13), Connor Bentley (12), Sergio Baxter Cabrera (11) and Jack Willis (17)
Crown Racing: Hayden Wilde (24), Vincent Luis (22), Max Stapley (23) and Vetle Bergsvik Thorn (21)
Podium Racing: Matt Hauser (33), Léo Bergere (31), Kenji Nener (35) and Emil Holm (34)
Stars & Stripes: Chase McQueen (42), Pierre Le Corre (46), Vasco Vilaça (44) and Tim Hellwig (41).
Format and course
The format in Toulouse – and all supertri races this season – is ENDURO.
In simple terms, this is three back-to-back triathlons (all in swim-bike-run order), with no breaks in between.
Not everyone will make it to the finish either, because should an athlete fall more than 90 seconds behind the race leader at any point, they will be eliminated.
Based at the impressive Port de la Daurade, the swim will take place in the Garonne river.
It’s then onto the cobblestones as the athletes jump on the bike and tackle one of the most technical and demanding courses going with a sharp climb straight out of transition and then some fast descents.
Note that the bike is five laps throughout but the run is just one lap for runs 1 & 2 but two laps for run 3.
Beginner’s guide to supertri
‘Normal’ rules do not apply in supertri and a small short cut, aka ‘Short Chute’, can be earned during the racing for being first across the line at various points.
You can earn a Short Chute in Toulouse as follows:
the first athlete across the mount line after the swim on Stage 1
the first across the mount line after the bike on Stage 1 (i.e. after T2)
the first across the dismount line after the run on Stage 1
Short Chutes are won for a team and awarded to an athlete during the race by their team manager. No team can win more than one Short Chute.
In Toulouse only, the Short Chute is taken on both lap 1 and lap 2 of the final run.
Latest standings
It’s tight at the top – and the bottom – of the teams standings after the first three races.
Crown Racing lead Podium Racing by 248 points to 240 points at the right end of the table, with Stars & Stripes on 183 and Brownlee Racing just behind on 175.
And the individual standings are as follows:
[Graphic courtesy of supertri]
