Las Vegas T100: Jelle Geens beats Marten Van Riel in battle of the Belgians

It was a Belgian one-two in Las Vegas T100 as Jelle Geens handed compatriot Marten Van Riel his first defeat in non-drafting racing.

On his T100 debut, Geens managed to hold pace over the 80km bike leg before pulling away in the final stages of the run to take victory.

Germany’s Justus Nieschlag, also on debut, took third place ahead of Pieter Heemeryck to stop a Belgian podium sweep. But it was a disappointing day for Britain’s Alistair Brownlee, who picked up a drafting penalty on the bike and then dropped out on the run.

A third deutant, James Teagle, was GB’s other participant and after a tough day battling a hilly course and the afternoon heat in Nevada, the 28-year-old managed to run up to 11th place.

The result was some consolation for Geens, who, like Van Riel, didn’t have the Olympic experience he was chasing. Geens placed 42nd in Paris and Van Riel was 22nd.

The second place also puts Van Riel firmly in control of the T100 World Tour with a 19pt lead over previous leader Magnus Ditlev, who was absent as he focuses on next weekend’s Ironman World Championship in Hawaii. It means Van Riel will head to Dubai for the final race in the series knowing a third place will be enough to be crowned world champion.

What happened in the men’s race?

The pace was on in the two-lap wetsuit swim over 2km and led out by South African Henri Schoeman in 24:19, followed by a group of five athletes including Van Riel, Brownlee and Nieschlag.

The rest of the field were within 2 1/2min except for Sam Long, who was cut adrift at the back and came into T1 a full 5:40 down.

Onto the bike and Van Riel and Brownlee were the early aggressors as Singapore winner Youri Keulen dropped out early on and Schoeman became the next athlete to call it quits.

Just as he had done in Ibiza in the previous race, Browlee picked up a 1min drafting penalty, with Australia’s Max Neumann the other competitor to receive the same sanction.

Mathis Margirier, Nieschlag and Geens piled on the power to come into T2 just behind Van Riel, with the rest of the field more than 2min behind. 

Despite the huge deficit following the swim, Long stuck to his task and produced the fastest bike split of 1:50:01 to dismount in 11th place alongside Brownlee.

The run saw Geens set the early pace, but Van Riel wouldn’t let him get away as it quickly became clear that victory would come from one of the two Belgians. 

The undulating course covered a mix of terrain and Geens who has raced three Ironman 70.3s this year – improving each time with fourth, third and then second place – hung tough to win by 38sec and thwart Van Riel’s attempts to continue his perfect record.

Further back, Long continued to push through the field and with only Geens and Van Riel running more quickly, managed to pull back to sixth place, just behind Jason West.

What Geens said:

“It sounds crazy, but a month ago I wasn’t sure if I could even start here, so now to win here, it’s a great honour – and it was a hard and tough battle with Marten.

“We said for years when we were still doing short course it would be cool to be on the podium together and it never happened in short course, but it’s happened now in our first battle over middle distance.

“To be honest I felt really good on the run.  Even when Marten came back I felt in control and felt I was going to go for it on the last lap.

“I kept trying to put pressure on the uphill because that’s where I’m strongest and I tried to get every lap better at the downhill but it really wasn’t easy for me.

“My knees are really hurting now. But I felt confident. I was still running a bit on fear during the downhill sections. But once I had a gap on the downhills, I started believing it.”

What Van Riel said:

“It was very tough from the start to the end actually. The course is brutal, but I was actually suffering on the bike already. I saw Jelle was yo-yo’ing with the group and then it was the same on the run.

“He’s lighter than me so on the uphills he had the advantage but on the downhills I tried to use the gravity to pull him back. But in the end I cracked, I didn’t have it. So I’m very happy it’s Jelle that takes away the [winning] streak.”

Las Vegas T100 men’s final standings

1. Jelle Geens 3:19:34
2. Marten Van Riel +38
3. Justus Nieschlag +4:45
4. Pieter Heemeryck +6:18
5. Jason West +6:56
6. Sam Long +7:16
7. Mathias Margirier +8:02
8. Nicolas Mann +8:49
9. Matt McElroy +9:53
10. Fred Funk +10:30

T100 men’s overall standings

1. Marten Van Riel 98pts
2. Magnus Ditlev 79pts
3. Kyle Smith 76pts
4. Sam Laidlow 75pts
5. Sam Long 74pts
6. Youri Keulen 69pts
7. Pieter Heemeryck 65pts
8. Mika Noodt 63pts
9. Mathias Margirier 59pts
10. Rico Bogen 57pts