London T100: Gentle on top as Charles-Barclay drops out

Australia’s Ashleigh Gentle was back to winning ways over 100km as she became the first triathlete to win two T100 races in 2024.

Following victory in Singapore and her seventh place finish in San Francisco, the 33-year-old from Brisbane moved to the top of the standings in the chase for the inaugural world title.

Switzerland’s Imogen Simmonds finished in second place for her first T100 podium, with Great Britain’s Kat Matthews – producing a strong performance less than two weeks after her second Ironman win of the season – in third.

But it was a disappointing afternoon in the sunshine for another home hope, Lucy Charles-Barclay, who dropped out on the run as a cautionary measure following a flare-up of the Achilles problem that almost prevented her winning the Ironman World Championship in October.

In a stacked field and much-anticipated return of professional triathlon racing in London, Taylor Knibb, who won the last T100 race in San Francisco, was one of the few big names missing.

The 26-year-old US star was competing in the women’s Olympic time-trial in Paris ahead of the individual Olympic triathlon on Wednesday, but had an afternoon of struggles in wet conditions and finished 19th.

Despite Charles-Barclay’s disappointment there were plenty of other British performances to note, including a fifth place for Leeds’ Lucy Byram, wildcard and debutant Sophie Coldwell holding on for seventh, India Lee in ninth and Emma Pallant-Browne in 10th.

What happened in the swim?

Charles-Barclay was given a rapturous reception by the fans who lined the quay as she was announced on to the pontoon, and led out the first lap of the 2km wetsuit swim in typical style.

But she had company with Coldwell. A regular at the front of short course races, the Loughborough-based athlete was stepping up in distance after a heartbreaking Olympic selection snub, and took a turn in front for most of the second lap before Charles-Barclay reached T1 first in 24:40.

Behind them Hayley Chura was having a lonely swim in third place and Simmonds led out Gentle and Lee to complete the top six. Further back a group of 11 athletes including Matthews, Anne Haug and Pallant-Browne were 2:45 down on the front of the race.

What happened on the bike?

Charles-Barclay and Coldwell set the pace through the early miles on the eight-lap course through the Docklands.

Behind them Simmonds was on a tear and would sustain it throughout the 80km bike leg to be the only rider to post a sub-2hr split, reaching transition first in 1:59:44.

Heading back inside the ExCel complex, Charles-Barclay was only 20sec adrift and followed in third place by Byram. The danger was lurking though, as Gentle had less than 2min to make up to the front of the race.

Philipp and Matthews came in together almost 3min back, followed by a fading Coldwell and Lee, who looked like the only other triathletes who could challenge for the podium.

Despite being a pre-race favourites, Haug, who set a new iron distance fastest time of 8:02:38 in Challenge Roth three weeks ago, was struggled to stay in touch. The German was lining up for her first T100 series start of the season, but came into transition almost 8min back from Simmonds. 

The east London roads proved unforgiving and both Chura and Denmark’s Laura Madsen had to change wheels, and Sweden’s Lisa Norden confirmed she punctured and was riding on the rim and feeling every bump for the latter part of the race.

What happened on the run?

Gentle began the 18km run like a rocket and as Simmonds’ lead was quickly eroded, the Australian looked well set for victory.

The unfortunate Charles-Barclay – the series leader heading into the race with two second place finishes – pulled out early on the flat, six-lap circuit, leaving a race for the remaining podium places.

Matthews and Laura Philipp were pushing one another and worked to reel in Byram, and further back Canadian Tamara Jewett was looking at her fleet-footed best as she jumped up six places from the bike leg with the day’s fastest run [1:04:29] to finish sixth.

The winner wasn’t going to be troubled though, and Gentle, who changed coach after San Francisco T100 and is now guided by Australian Jordan Kerby, looked serene as she notched up another 100km victory in 3:36:17 with a gap of almost 3min to add her ever-improving resume.

Gentle said:

“It definitely wasn’t easy, but I’m really happy with how strong I raced: swim, bike and run. I was really proud I held strong all day. The last few weeks of training have been really good. I’ve had a new training stimulus with a new coach and I exceded my expectations today. It makes me excited for the next couple of months of work before Ibiza.

Simmonds said:

“I’d say that was one of my top results. Second in a field like today is insane and I had a lot of fun. On the bike I got a little bit carried away because I just felt so good.

“I wasn’t even looking at my [power] numbers, just going by feel. The course was slightly sketchy in parts, but this is where I started cycling [when studying at university in London] so it wasn’t surprising.

“Going into this race I thought that if I finish top 10 I’m having a good day, top five a really good day and a podium is unreal. I studied in London for four years and a lot of my family are from London, so I had a few supporters out there which was really awesome to see.”

“Normally triathlon is such a solo sport. I’ve spent the last two weeks in the mountains training and now I get to come here and share it with all my friends.”

Matthews said:

“That’s the best I could have hoped for. The fields at these T100 races are the absolute best and I can’t really believe I managed to scrape on to the podium. I think Laura Philipp gave me that performance. With her tenacity on the bike and then coming through on the run, I feel like I sucked her energy – and not in a bad way!

“Since 2020, I’ve had a bit of a chip on my shoulder that I’ve been labelled as an ‘Ironman athlete’ and haven’t been able to perform over the middle distance. At the 70.3 world champs [where Matthews’ finished second], I showed that actually I am ok at this and these races are giving me good energy again to keep cementing my ability to get faster. I really think it helps across the board.”

Coldwell said:

“Talk about a baptism of fire. I threw myself in at the deep end and kind of loved it in a weird way, but I’m in so much pain right now.

“I had no idea what 20m was [the legal draft distance. The Race Ranger technology used on the bikes to notify the athlete lost signal during the race].

“But I’m proud of my efforts, and proud of what I’ve achieved after a s*** few weeks and three weeks on a TT bike. I don’t say I’m proud of myself very often, but I’ll take that.”

Charles-Barclay said:

“In all honesty I’ve had a rocky build into this race with a few issues so actually making the start-line looked really unlikely, but given it was a home race with a home crowd and all the amazing stuff my brands were doing around this race, I just really wanted to be here.

“I felt alright on the swim, alright on the bike and then on the run I twisted my ankle on one of the uneven bits and felt something in my Achilles and given where we are in the season, I thought I’m not going to push it here.

“It was the same side as I had the big calf injury and it was just not worth the risk. It was really tough to do with a home race and amazing crowds, but we made the smart choice on this one.”

T100 San Francisco: Women’s final standings

1. Ashleigh Gentle
2. Imogen Simmonds
3. Kat Matthews
4. Laura Philipp
5. Lucy Byram
6. Tamara Jewett
7. Sophie Coldwell
8. Chelsea Sodaro
9. India Lee
10. Emma Pallant-Browne

T100 San Francisco: Women’s overall standings

1. Ashleigh Gentle 86pts
2. India Lee 61pts
3. Lucy Charles-Barclay 56pts
4. Imogen Simmonds 54pts
5. Lucy Byram 54pts
6. Kat Matthews 53pts
7. Laura Philipp 47pts
8. Paula Findlay 40pts
9. Amelia Watkinson 39pts
10. Hayley Chura 36pts
    

Top picture credit: Ryan Sosna-Bowd