The inaugural London leg of the Super League Arena Games powered by Zwift saw the Brits take four medals across the men's and women's race including Beth Potter taking gold and Alex Yee winning bronze.
Potter pulled out the victory in the women’s race of the Super League Arena Games powered by Zwift after drawing with Lucy Charles-Barclay and Sophie Coldwell across the first two legs.
The race started with excellent swims from Coldwell and Charles-Barclay but Potter excelled on the first run leg and moved onto the bike in front of her compatriots.
After a tight ride, Potter secured 10 points with Coldwell taking nine and Charles-Barclay securing eight points.
The second leg saw the athletes start on the treadmills and Potter used her athletics background to secure an early lead and was once again joined by Coldwell, Charles-Barclay and Georgia Taylor-Brown as the first athletes on to the bike.
There was nothing between the athletes on the bike with the lead changing hands throughout the 4km but it was Potter who entered the pool first followed by Coldwell and Charles-Barclay.
Charles-Barclay showed her strength in the pool to move quickly into the lead and took the full 10 points for that leg while Coldwell took 9 points and Potter secured 8.
The final leg started on the bike and all eyes were on the three leaders, but it was too close to call throughout the 4km.
As the race moved into the swim Charles-Barclay showed her dominance in the water to move into the lead ahead of Potter and Coldwell.
The final 1km on the treadmill saw Charles-Barclay start comfortably until Potter increased her cadence and moved into the lead. She looked strong and extended the lead to take the full 10 points and the Arena Games victory.
Charles Barclay finished in second place overall with Coldwell in third place.
In the men’s race Jonas Schomburg led out of the water in the first of three stages, with Vilaca, Nieschlag, Van Riel and Jonathan Brownlee, however it was Vilaca, Nieschlag and Van Riel who took the lead on the run with Jonas Schomburg close behind.
Schomburg was dropped as Brownlee joins the front three and they share the lead across the bike leg, extending their lead in a final kilometre push with Vilaca taking the win in a final 100m sprint ahead of Van Riel, Nieschlag and Brownlee.
The second triathlon saw Alex Yee set the pace as they started with the run, with Van Riel, Brownlee George Goodwin and Gordon Benson all within one second of him, and Nieschlag and Vilaca further back.
Yee showed his strength on the run to lead on the stage, ahead of Brownlee, Van Riel and Benson.
It was Yee, Brownlee and Van Riel who extended their lead early on the bike before Benson dropped off and was caught by Nieschlag and Goodwin. As they reached the end of the bike, Brownlee led the way with Yee and Van Riel together heading into the swim.
With 50m to go on the swim, Van Riel pulled ahead to win by one second and saw him take the lead in the overall standings on 19 points, with Brownlee second on 16 and Yee third on 14.
Onto the final triple and there was little to separate all 10 athletes as they left the bike and headed to the swim.
Yee was the fastest through transition and entered the water first, with Schomburg and Brownlee close on his tail. Nieschlag came through from behind to find himself in second and he stayed there as Schomburg led onto the final stage of the race.
Nieschlag passed him on the run and he and Yee were soon first and second, opening a gap which saw Van Riel in third. Brownlee was in hot pursuit, however, wasn’t able to catch him, with Nieschlag breaking from Yee near the end to take the stage victory.
This saw the overall results tighten and it was Martin Van Riel (27) who took the overall win from Nieschlag (24) and Yee (23). Brownlee also finished on 23 points, however it was Yee’s better result in the final stage that saw him take the bronze.
The more reaction from the SLT Arena Games London Powered by Zwift can be found on the Super League Triathlon website below.
