But those first-place finishes came among upsets that included middle-distance newcomer Taylor Knibb (USA) beating number one ranked Daniela Ryf (EUR) and Jackie Hering (INT) springing a surprise by beating current Ironman world champion Anne Haug (EUR).
Aside from the upsets, the weather played its part in the day too, with heavy rain showers causing slick roads and multiple crashes.
These included the Internationals’ Sanders and Sam Appleton, a bloodied and bruised Holly Lawrence, and New Zealand’s Kyle Smith, who saw one of his time-trial handlebars snap off and his bike get stuck in a 58-11 gear.
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Relive the day’s action through the gallery below.
Sebastian Kienle races from the swim into T1 at the Collins Cup. He eventually finishes second, behind Team International’s Lionel Sanders (Credit: James Mitchell/PTO)
Team Europe’s Joe Skipper hits the home stretch after being passed by Team International’s Jackson Laundry moments earlier (Credit: James Mitchell/PTO)
Gustav Iden (EUR) leads Collin Chartier (USA) and Kyle Smith (INT) on the bike and later crosses the line first, earning six points (Credit: James Mitchell/PTO)
Holly Lawrence (EUR) narrowly leads Ellie Salthouse (INT). She later has a crash in the wet, but recovers to finish third and earn one point (Credit: James Mitchell/PTO)
Jackson Laundry (INT) races past Joe Skipper (EUR) with several hundred metres left and comes through in first (Credit: James Mitchell/PTO)
Braden Currie (INT) crosses the line first in his race, ahead of Matt Hanson (USA) and Patrick Lange (EUR)
Daniel Baekkegard works the crowd and cameras en route to a win in his race, winning out over Ben Kanute (USA) and Max Neumann (INT) (Credit: James Mitchell/PTO)
Despite coming off the bike in the rain, Lionel Sanders (INT) puts in a ballsy performance to take the glory ahead of Sebastian Kienle (EUR) and Andrew Starykowicz (Credit: James Mitchell/PTO)
Jan Frodeno (EUR) races out of the swim and embarks on the long run into T1 (Credit: James Mitchell/PTO)
British ace Katrina Matthews takes the win for Team Europe and earns them 5.5 points in the process (Credit: James Mitchell/PTO)
USA’s Jackie Hering crosses the line first after an impressive performance saw her pull away from pre-race favourite Anne Haug (Credit: James Mitchell/PTO)
After a battle with Team Europe’s Holly Lawrence, who had a crash on the bike leg, Ellie Salthouse crosses the finish line first (Credit: James Mitchell/PTO)
Four-time Ironman champ and pre-race favourite Daniela Ryf (EUR) tries to gain some time back on first-placed Taylor Knibb (USA), who’s over 16 minutes ahead (Credit: James Mitchell/PTO)
She may have only made her middle-distance debut this summer, but Taylor Knibb (USA) was in fine fettle at the Collins Cup, crossing the line first after an incredible bike split (1:52:11) on a road bike (Credit: James Mitchell/PTO)
Emma Pallant-Browne (EUR) drops to the ground after taking a vital win for Team Europe (Credit: James Mitchell/PTO)
After a bike crash earlier in the day left her bleeding from the elbow, Holly Lawrence (EUR) recovers well to minimise the the number of points the other teams can achieve (Credit: James Mitchell/PTO)
