T100 San Francisco: Van Riel wins epic sprint as Knibb cruises to comfortable win

Belgium’s Marten Van Riel pipped New Zealand’s Kyle Smith for victory in a frantic finale in San Francisco in the third race of the T100 series.

The duo were locked in a titanic battle with Germany’s Rico Bogen for a large chunk of the 18km run before it was eventually decided by an epic sprint finish.

It was Van Riel’s debut T100 race, but the 31-year-old had shown his potential by by setting the fastest 70.3 time ever in 2022 and being unbeaten over the middle distance.

The women’s race could hardly have been more contrasting as Taylor Knibb led from the front early on the bike and opened up a huge advantage on the field that she never looked like relinquishing.

A 80km bike split almost 5min faster than her rivals did the damage, with GB’s Kat Matthews delivering a strong performance for second place, putting behind her a calf tear that ended her T100 Miami hopes earlier in the year.

Laura Philipp, who like Knibb also started her T100 series off in San Francisco, rounded out the podium ahead of Switzerland’s Imogen Simmonds and Britain’s Emma Pallant-Browne.

What happened in the men’s race?

The currents in San Francisco Bay were always going to play a hand in the swim, and that was evident as the the pre-stated 2km took Ben Kanute just 14:08 as he dived from the boat and cut through the swell to the beach.

Kanute, a four-time winner of Escape From Alcatraz, used that course knowledge to his advantage to cut across and reach the sand before the rest of the field with reigning 70.3 world champion Bogen for company.

The rest of the field were just a few seconds down, but the big surprise was how close Sam Long was with just a 56sec gap compared to almost 4min in the last T100 race in Singapore.

On a drizzly morning in California, Van Riel was the aggressor through the first half of six-lap bike course, with Smith and Bogen in close attendance.

With no anti-drafting Race Ranger technology in use due to transit problems in getting the equipment to the US, the men’s field looked to be bunching up well within the allowed 20m zone on the climbs, but no drafting penalties were issued.

While eight men were in a pace-line at the front entering the latter stages of the 80km bike leg, both Alistair Brownlee and Javier Gomez – making his first T100 start – were struggling several minutes behind, with David McNamee last on course and Aaron Royle calling it quits having been sick in the build-up.

Long put in a late surge to hit transition first with the fastest split (1:58:48), but would have to serve a 30sec penalty for not fastening his helmet in his haste to leave T1.

Smith had showed he was training into form by winning the Challenge Championship in May, and he launched into the lead at the start of the run before Van Riel bridged up and then Bogen joined at the front on the second lap of four.

The situation stayed the same as the trio entered the final stages, as Bogen first tried to kick clear before Van Riel took the tape just inches ahead of Smith after a sprint finish down an uneven grass strip that added the drama.

Magnus Ditlev, returning after a broken wrist kept him out of Singapore T100, was fourth, and series leader Long finished eighth. It wasn’t the day for the two British men though, with Brownlee in 14th place and McNamee finishing 18th.

What happened in the women’s race?

Starting 45min after the men, the boat moved further from the shore to try and mitigate the effect of the current, meaning the women’s swim would take all of 17mins instead.

With the water temperature below 14 degrees, both gloves and booties were standard issues for the swim and it was Simmonds who picked the perfect line to reach land first, 23sec ahead of Knibb.

Knibb, who is headed to the Olympics to take part in both the triathlon events and the cycling time trial, immediately took control on the bike and started putting time into the opposition – looking for a repeat of her last PTO race, in Milwaukee last summer, where she set the fastest bike split and went on to win.

The field was strung out behind with Matthews, who made the late decision to fly to the US after being disqualified in Ironman Hamburg last weekend, sitting in second place and Philipp, in her first T100 race, in third.

GB’s Lucy Byram finished sixth and seventh in Miami and Singapore respectively, but dropped out in the second-half of the bike course when placed in the top 10.

Knibb destroyed the field in 70.3 Oceanside early in the season, and the US star was at it again as she reached the start of the run with a 4.33.04 lead over Matthews and only eight women within 10mins of her.

On to the run and Knibb’s only company was from the athletes that she was lapping, with Matthews pulling away in second and Philipp holding strong for third.

What Van Riel said

“I don’t even really know [what I was thinking at the finish]. I didn’t expect there to be grass at the finish and I almost tripped twice.

“I gave it everything I had and just had Kyle on the line. In the last 200m, I felt about three times that Kyle would get it, but I didn’t want to stop sprinting and going all out.”

What Knibb said:

“It did not feel easy but it’s a great course and I was very grateful to do this race today. The swim I dove in a little late and there were bodies everywhere, but I got to the end and figured it out.

“Once I was in the lead I wasn’t descending well or taking corners well but i was trying to be better on each lap. I wanted to run well and see where I was after each lap and make decisions from there.

“I have a very detailed plan that I do not know and I’m just doing what I’m told! I want room to play in the back half of the year, but now the focus turns to Paris.”

T100 San Francisco: Men’s final standings

1. Marten Van Riel
2. Kyle Smith
3. Rico Bogen
4. Magnus Ditlev
5. Mika Noodt
6. Mathis Margirier
7. Rudy Von Berg
8. Sam Long
9. Clement Mignon
10. Pieter Heemeryck

T100 San Francisco: Women’s final standings

1. Taylor Knibb
2. Kat Matthews
3. Laura Philipp
4. Imogen Simmonds
5. Emma Pallant-Browne
6. Paula Findlay
7. Ashleigh Gentle
8. India Lee
9. Laura Madsen
10. Tamara Jewett