T100 Vancouver results: Taylor Knibb is BACK as US superstar roars to blistering victory

Taylor Knibb reasserted her dominance in T100 triathlon competition with a dominant victory in Vancouver on Saturday.

The US superstar – who had lost for the first time in the series to Switzerland’s Julie Derron last time out in San Francisco – produced a blistering bike leg to take complete control of the race and then held on comfortably on the run.

Derron was almost six minutes behind Knibb after the bike and she did produce a real charge on the run, but it was only good enough for second as she passed Britain’s Jess Learmonth, who performed brilliantly to complete the podium.

Taylor Knibb bike T100 Dubai 2024 photo credit PTO / T100 — Taylor Knibb is back on top of the T100 podium after victory in Vancouver [Photo credit: PTO / T100]

Swim – LCB has company

It is unusual for Lucy Charles-Barclay (GBR) to have company in a triathlon swim, but she had a ton of it here with the first six women separated by only 11 seconds as they exited the water. LCB had Dutch short-course star Maya Kingma right with her, along with Britain’s Olympic Mixed Relay gold medal winner Learmonth. Then came US stars Taylor Spivey and Knibb, followed by Britain’s Holly Lawrence.

We had a gap of 40 seconds then to Italian short-course ace Alice Betto, with Australian great Ashleigh Gentle 2:33 back in eighth.

Derron, who had handed Knibb her first ever T100 defeat recently in San Francisco, had plenty of work to do as she exited the water in ninth with a deficit of 2:40.

Bike – Knibb and Learmonth drop the hammer

Knibb’s bike prowess is unquestioned, and she was quickly to the front of the field here, joined by Learmonth. They quickly built a gap of a minute to Charles-Barclay, who was riding solo in third. Kingma and Lawrence were 1:35 and 1:40 away in fourth and fifth, while Derron had lost further ground to be 3:17 back.

There was bad news meanwhile for the home fans with Canadian star Paula Findlay spending a minute in the penalty tent after she transgressed early in the bike leg. That would severely impact her bid to content for a podium place.

Learmonth had led for much of the day in the brutal heat of Singapore, and she was taking the fight to Knibb here as she led on lap 2 of 5 on the bike. The pair had now extended the gap to Charles-Barclay to almost two minutes, with Kingma and Lawrence close behind in fourth and fifth.

Knibb and Learmonth were still blasting further clear at the front as the bike leg entered its second half. The gap to Charles-Barclay was now 2:44 with Kingma at 2:57 and Lawrence 3:07. Derron had moved up to sixth but she was still losing ground to the leaders, now 4:08 away.

Into the final 20km of the 80km bike leg and Knibb and Learmonth continued to put on a clinic at the front. Taylor just held the edge but Jess was right with her, some performance as she works her way back to full fitness after a calf tear. The gap to Charles-Barclay and Kingma, who were also riding together, had mushroomed to almost four minutes. Derron meanwhile was now 5:12 back.

As the leaders reached T2, Learmonth was still right with Knibb and the gap to the rest had ballooned to 4:43 with Charles-Barclay, Kingma and Lawrence all arriving together. Lucy Byram (GBR) and Derron were next in, with just under six minutes to make up.

Knibb had made a statement on the bike, clearly looking to reassert her dominance after that San Francisco defeat. Could anybody catch her on the run here?

Run – Knibb hangs on as Derron charges

Knibb was swiftly through transition and she built a lead of 17 seconds over Learmonth in the first 2k of the run. Jess meanwhile was in terrific position for a podium if she could overcome a lack of run fitness following that calf tear. Kingma moved up to third after a lightning transition but was then passed by Charles-Barclay and Lawrence early on the course.

Derron had a mountain to climb to get back into the mix for a podium spot but she too was wasting no time, passing the now struggling Kingma to move into fifth position.

Knibb stretched her lead over Learmonth to 46 seconds by the time she arrived at the 5km mark into the run, while behind her Derron was absolutely charging as she passed Lawrence and then Charles-Barclay to move up into third. The Swiss star was still 5:02 behind Knibb though – surely too much to do with just 13km remaining.

The progress from Knibb at the front was relentless and she increased her advantage over Learmonth to 1:15 as they reached the halfway stage of the 18km run. Derron was still charging in third, but still with much to do – 4:14 back.

With 6km remaining Knibb looked safe in front, 1:44 clear of Learmonth. The big question was whether Jess could hang onto second from the charging Derron – the gap was now just around the two-minute mark and for now the British star was still looking very solid and efficient.

Derron was really starting to take big chunks out of the deficit to Learmonth as they moved into the final 3km and it was starting to look ominous for the British star. Could she hang tough to repel the Swiss ace?

Back at the front, Knibb remained imperious and she maintained perfect form through the closing stages to bounce back to winning ways after that loss in San Francisco. It was an utterly dominant performance from the American superstar and she had just over two minutes to spare at the line.

Learmonth just could not quite hang onto that second spot, and Derron caught her in the closing strides to make the pass. But it did not take the shine off a fabulous performance from the British star as she completed the podium.