Different continent. Different triathlon format. But same result for Kiwi triathlete Hayden Wilde.
Great Britain’s Alex Yee powered to a dramatic victory over Wilde in the first SuperTri League race of 2024, again breaking Kiwi hearts late on the run on Sunday (Monday NZ Time).
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Having delivered one of the battles of the recent Olympic Games in Paris, Yee and Wilde renewed their rivalry in a rainy Boston for the SuperTri debut in the famous American city.
The SuperTri format, formerly known as the enduro, saw athletes face three rounds of a 300m sea swim, a flat 4km bike and 1.6km run, all without a break between stages.
Yee of the new Brownlee Racing squad, managed by Non Stanford, and Wilde of Chris McCormack’s Crown Racing would be inseparable throughout.
Joining them were French ITU world champions Vincent Luis and Dorian Coninx and Germany’s Tim Hellwig as the race reached its conclusion.
Yee and Wilde traded the lead, until Yee, like he did so memorably in Paris two weeks ago, made the decisive move with the finish line in sight, breaking the tape with a swagger a second ahead of Wilde to start the series.
Coninx took third for Tim Don’s Podium Racing squad.
“I got it wrong big style in [the final] transition and I’m a bit rusty after the Olympics only 10 days ago. But we want SuperTri to be exciting and I hope we put on a show for you,” said Yee.
Wilde once again had to watch as Yee sprinted away from him just ahead of the finishing chute, and the Kiwi’s annoyance was clear at the finish line.
“Close isn’t good enough. It was nice having Vincent [Luis] up there on the bike, but it’s a shame the other boys didn’t do some work and were waiting for the run,” a frustrated Wilde said.
“I don’t call that racing and it’s a bit of a shame. I’ve been seeing too many silvers during the last couple of weeks, so it’d be nice to get a gold in Chicago.”
The Yee/Wilde rivalry will resume next week in Chicago on Sunday (Monday NZT) in another new US city for SuperTri racing.