Taylor-Brown wins Supertri Toulouse, DSQ Beaugrand, Farewell Zaferes

Georgia Taylor-Brown has today scored her third consecutive supertri 2024 victory in Toulouse, France. Already top of the leaderboard, the Crown Racing athlete made the decisive move on the final run leg to take full command of the 2024 series with just one race to go.

Today’s nine-leg triathlon on arguably supertri’s toughest course saw Taylor-Brown, Spivey, Crown Racing’s Kate Waugh and Jess Fullagar of Brownlee Racing largely inseparable from the start of Stage 2 onwards. 

Taylor-Brown would finally break the resistance of the chasers on the last leg of the day to cross the line four seconds ahead of Stars and Stripes’ Taylor Spivey to make it three consecutive victories ahead wins in Chicago and London. Her fellow Brit Waugh would finish third, while Crown Racing’s home favourite Cassandre Beaugrand would run her way into fourth just ahead of Fullagar.

“When you’re at the top and winning, you definitely want more,” said Taylor-Brown at the finish. “Three wins going into the final in Neom and I feel quite happy and safe. I told myself non-wetsuit ahead of the race and I stuck to that. I knew it was going to be cold and that I’d lose time, but I’m happy with that decision.” 

Taylor-Brown’s victory, plus Waugh and Beaugrand finishing in the top five, was another major leap for Crown Racing ahead of Toulouse’s men’s event. The race was also significant for being the USA’s Katie Zafares final professional race, with the two-time supertri champ and Stars and Stripes’ athlete having announced her retirement ahead of the event. 

The course is arguably the toughest supertri course, with a rare supertri river swim in the choppy and chilly waters of the Garonne, before narrow and twisting city centre bike and run courses continued to challenge the skills and stamina of the supertri triathletes. The race would see Stage 1 and 2 hosting a 300m swim, 4km bike and 1km run, before a final stage of 300m swim, 4km bike and a 2km final run.

STAGE 1

The day’s first 300m swim atPort de la Daurade began in the chilly 16°C waters of the Garonne, with athletes largely wearing wetsuits in a bid to beat the cold and add some neoprene-propelled swim speed. The downside would be a slower transition speed due to the time it takes to remove a wetsuit. To the delight of the home crowd, Cassandre Beaugrand was first to exit the Garonne, but Beth Potter, who also wore a wetsuit, would be first to exit T1, securing a Short Chute for Brownlee Racing. The Stars and Stripes duo of Taylor Spivey and Katie Zaferes, in her last-ever professional race, would follow Potter out, with Crown Racing’s Georgia Taylor-Brown and Kate Waugh, champ here in 2023, also close behind.

Onto the five-lap, 4km bike leg and Potter, after a quiet 2024 series so far, was straight into the lead on the twisty, cobble-strewn course. By lap three, a Brit trio of Jess Fullagar (Brownlee Racing), Waugh and Potter would hold the lead, with the US pair of Spivey and Zaferes in hot pursuit. Beaugrand would be 20secs in arrears. Fullagar was first to exit T2 with Waugh a second behind and Potter 6secs back. The pre-race favourites of Lehair (+16secs), Taylor-Brown (+20secs after an error-filled transition) and Beaugrand (+34secs) would need a big Stage 1 run leg to stay in contention.

Onto that 1km run and Waugh (picking up a Short Chute for Crown Racing) and Fullagar would remain at the front throughout, but Podium Racing’s Léonie Périault had run herself into the top three just ahead of Potter and Stars and Stripes’ Emma Lombardi, another pre-race contender for overall victory. Taylor-Brown (+13secs) and Beaugrand (+19secs) had eaten into the deficit.

STAGE 2

Onto Stage 2’s 300m swim, the athletes, now all without wetsuits, were soon being led by Spivey, who’d exit T1 alongside Fullagar, with Waugh and Taylor-Brown close behind in a Brit one-two-three. 

By lap one of the 4km bike, Fullagar, Waugh and Taylor-Brown had formed a Brit one-two-three with Spivey close behind. By lap three, Beaugrand was 44secs behind and Lehair was out of the race with a puncture. At the end of the five laps, the formidable foursome were 20secs ahead of the chasers, with Fullagar and Waugh exiting T2 together.

The second 1km run of the day began with the four largely inseparable, with Spivey running in her swim cap showcasing the every-second-counts nature of supertri racing. Fullagar had dropped back a couple of seconds by the end of the 1km run but a swift transition saw the four back together, 15secs ahead of Périault, Lombardi and Potter. Beaugrand was now 41secs back.

STAGE 3

The 300m swim began with news that Fullagar would have Brownlee Racing’s Short Chute and that Waugh would possess Crown Racing’s over Taylor-Brown. The four would split on the final swim of the day, with Spivey and Taylor-Brown the first out of the river.

The final 4km bike began with Spivey gaining a slightly ahead of Taylor-Brown, Fullagar and Waugh, with the veteran US racer needing an advantage due to her lack of a Short Chute. The four were reunited by the halfway stage, although Lombardi had reduced their lead to 10secs, and they’d remain together until T2. Potter and Beaugrand were both 36secs back and out of the picture.

The final run of the day would involve 2 x 1km laps, and Taylor-Brown was straight to the fore in her bid for yet another 2024 supertri victory. A little confusion over if she had the Short Chute could have led the Brit to being disqualified, but she stayed on track to create a 4sec advantage over Spivey by the start of lap two. That advantage would remain until the finishing straight, with Taylor-Brown able to celebrate her third victory of the season ahead of Spivey in second, Waugh in third and Beaugrand having run her way into fourth, 15secs behind Taylor-Brown. Fullagar would round-out the top five a second behind the French star.