Taylor Knibb and Marten Van Riel take charge in T100 series on a banner tri weekend

Taylor Knibb and Marten Van Riel both won on the fifth stop of the T100 Triathlon World Tour, dominating in Ibiza and putting themselves in position to win overall titles in the inaugural series. The pair of Paris Olympians have shined in the new format, each winning their only two T100 starts this season, starting with San Francisco last June.

Knibb won by 1:43 over second-place Julie Derron, who was 3:31 faster than third-place India Lee. Unsurprisingly, Knibb made her biggest impact during the bike leg, during which she posted a 1:56:29 split over 80 kilometers. Lee was the only other competitor to crack two hours on the bike, eking under the mark at 1:59:59.

The race was Knibb’s first since competing in the individual triathlon, team relay triathlon (taking silver) and the individual time trial at the Paris Olympics. She battled illness after the games, but was able to recover well enough to put on a quintessential Knibb-ian display in Ibiza.

“I got quite sick after Paris, so I’m super grateful for my coach and team who got me back into shape and ready to race here,” Knibb said. “The bike was quite challenging. It was a 2.5-loop course with lots of wind. I still have a lot of work to do with respect to skills, especially around roundabouts, but it was quite fun to be back out on the race course.”

Van Riel won by a tighter margin than Knibb — 26 seconds over second place Sam Laidlow — but in comparison to his thrilling sprint win in San Francisco, his finish in Ibiza was relatively low-stress. 

He was strong in all three legs of the race, beginning with the fastest swim to put himself in the lead entering the first transition. Disaster nearly struck during the bike, however. Van Riel and Laidlow accidentally took a wrong turn while in the lead when they followed a pair of motorbikes off the course. They were forced to make a U-turns and power back to the lead group, dipping into their precious energy reserves in the process.

Van Riel mitigated the damage, and entered the second transition in a leading quintet with Laidlow, Mika Noodt, Frederic Funk and Rico Bogen. Then Van Riel and Laidlow separated themselves on the run to set up a duel to the line. With three kilometers to go, Van Riel kicked and left Laidlow for good. 

“It almost went wrong. I saw a motorbike going straight and I kind of didn’t know that we had to go right to the finish area first,” Van Riel told Tri247. “So I followed the motorbike and had to turn back and was last of the group again. 

“And the boys made me really, really suffer on the bike. I was happy to be able to just hang on.”

With the win, Van Riel also extended an incredible streak. He has now won all six middle distance triathlons he has entered in his career.

Knibb and Van Riel are now third and fourth on the women’s and men’s T100 standings, respectively, but with the caveat that they’ve only raced two races while many of the triathletes ahead of them have accumulated points across three. In the T100, the overall title is determined by the total points earned across each competitors’ top three finishes, plus their finish in the Championship Final in Dubai from Nov. 16-17. Both Knibb and Van Riel are in well-positioned to jump to the top of the standings with strong performances in the last non-championship race of the season in Las Vegas on Oct. 19.

Given the way they’re performing, they may be odds-on favorites to take the crowns. They are also coming to the end of exhausting seasons that featured the immense mental and physical stress of racing in the Olympics. These final two T100 races are shaping up to be brilliant showdowns.

Sam Long is one of the most entertaining men in triathlon. A bombastic personality is one part of the appeal. A proclivity for dramatic racing is another.

At Ironman Chattanooga, the swim leg was canceled due to the effects of Hurricane Helene. Instead, the race began with a 112-mile time trial on the bike. Long finished with the second fastest time of 3:50:20, just 18.41 seconds behind Jackson Laundry. Then when he crossed the line in the marathon, he had to spend several tense seconds sitting and watching the clock. 

After what certainly felt like an eternity, the leaderboard finally confirmed the good news: Long scored an Ironman win by just 20 seconds over Cody Beals. With the win, Long qualified for the 2025 Men’s Ironman World Championships in Nice.

Alex Yee is almost the polar opposite of the “Big Unit” in personality. He races with a cool swagger and confidence that helped him make an incredible comeback during his Olympic gold medal-winning performance.

Last Friday, Yee was at his absolute best, performing well in all three legs to score a dominant 46-second short course win at the World Triathlon Championship Series race in Weihai, China. Earlier in September, Yee admitted he had been feeling worn out after a densely-packed race schedule than began with the Olympics. But after a short time off, he looked as fresh as ever in Weihai, improving his nagging swim to exit the water just eight seconds off the lead, setting himself up to cruise past the competition on the bike and run.

“That was a triathlon for sure!” Yee told Tri247. “For me I just wanted to come back and have fun, the last few weeks have been so chaotic, this is what I love doing. And being on that course with these guys on this course – racing hard, racing honest – I couldn’t ask for much more.”

With the win, Yee is now firmly in first place on the WTCS standings with just one race left: The Grand Final in Torremolinos-Andalucia, Spain from Oct. 17-20. His first ever WTCS world title would be the cherry on top of what has been another magical season from the young Londoner.