Belgian wildcard Jelle Geens claimed his first T100win at his very first attempt in Lake Las Vegas during a dramatic duel in the desert with compatriot and close friend Marten Van Riel, winning by just 38 seconds.
Geens’ debut win came courtesy of a blistering run leg, where he averaged 3:13 minutes per km on a brutal run course around the stunning Reflection Bay Golf Course, which had 500 meters in elevation of savage inclines and steep descents.
Speaking after crossing the line, Geens, who also broke Van Riel’s unbeaten 6-race winning streak in middle distance triathlons dating back to November 2019, said:
“It sounds crazy, but a month ago I wasn’t sure if I could even start here, so now to win here, it’s a great honour – and it was a hard and tough battle with Marten. We said for years when we were still doing short course it would be cool to be on the podium together and it never happened in short course, but it’s happened now in our first battle over middle distance.”
“To be honest I felt really good on the run,” the 31-year-old continued. “Even when Marten came back I felt in control and felt I was going to go for it on the last lap. I kept trying to put pressure on the uphill because that’s where I’m strongest and I tried to get every lap better at the downhill but it really wasn’t easy for me. My knees are really hurting now. But I felt confident. I was still running a bit on fear during the downhill sections. But once I had a gap on the downhills, I started believing it.”
“It was very tough from the start to the end actually,” said Van Riel, also 31 and who has been racing Geens since they were teenagers in Belgum. “The course is brutal…but I was actually suffering on the bike already. I saw Jelle was yo-yoing with the group and then it was the same on the run. He’s lighter than me so on the uphills he had the advantage but on the downhills I tried to use the gravity to pull him back. But in the end I cracked, I didn’t have it. So I’m very happy it’s Jelle that takes away the [winning] streak.”
However, the second place still puts Van Riel in pole position at the top of the T100 standings to win the first T100 men’s World Championship crown in Dubai next month. Where a first, second or third place result will secure him the inaugural series title.
“That’s obviously very important. I was quite scared on the bike because I felt like midway on the bike my watts were very high and I was starting to suffer a little bit and I was thinking, oh, it’s better to finish high than completely burn myself and completely fade. It was definitely playing a little bit in my head. But I’m in a very good position going into Dubai so that’s obviously a nice cushion.”
Asked whether he would follow through on his pre-race promise to put his winnings – which are $16,000 USD for finishing second – on red in a casino later tonight, Geens was quick to answer for him:
“I’m keeping him to it. We’ve figured out how to get enough money out of everyone’s credit card, so it’s happening.”
Last Sunday, Van Riel had gone to a casino with Australian fellow pro athlete Aaron Royle and turned $100 into $1,000 playing black jack.
Third was German Justus Nieschlag, also on his T100 debut.
How the Race Unfolded
South African flier Henry Schoeman led home the swim in Lake Las Vegas in warmer conditions than the women, with the water temperature up from 20.7 to 22.9 degrees Celsius and the air temperature up from a cooler 16.4 when the women started, to 21.1 degrees Celsius. In the front pack with him were Australian Aaron Royle, Marten Van Riel, Britain’s Alistair Brownlee, Justus Nieschlag and American Marc Dubrick; all 21 seconds ahead of Australia’s Josh Amberger and Max Neumann, Jelle Geens, France’s Mathis Margirier and Americans Matthew Mcelroy, Justin Riele and Jason West. Plus German Max Sperl. Flat last was American Sam Long, 5:40 back from the leaders.
After a slow transition, where he took extra time to put his socks on, it looked like Marten Van Riel had lost the first group, but he immediately powered back to second spot. To then set the early pace at the front with double Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee.
Then the drafting penalties – which had started this morning with three in the women’s race – continued, with Alistair Brownlee collecting his second one minute drafting penalty in two races. Clearly frustrated, he rode back with vengeance to re-establish himself, settling in the third group just over two minutes back from Van Riel and Margirier. But it looked like it had lit a match too far as he later DNF-ed on the run. Then it was Pieter Heemeryck’s turn to collect a 30-second penalty for not putting his goggles and hat in the swim box. Before Max Neumann also got a one minute drafting penalty.
Jason West was probably the surprise package on the bike leg. Having been nursing an injury since London which has meant more bike training, it seemed to be suiting him as he tucked in behind Brownlee in the third group.
On the fourth lap Van Riel made his move from second place, upping his heart rate percentage to 90% and powering past Mathis Margirier to set the pace. Meanwhile, starting from the very back after the swim, American Sam Long started to move through the field on the penultimate bike lap.
Marten Van Riel was quickly out of T2 to get away from Margirier and Geens. But it wasn’t long before Geens was up to and past him. His legs bouncing and stride popping. Especially uphill.
Geens and Van Riel played cat and mouse on the run. With Van Riel determinedly holding on up the climbs and then squeezing the gap down on the descents. But the efforts to catch back up took their toll and the heart rate percentages told the story, with Geens averaging high 70 percents to Van Riel who was consistently pushing over 90% and reaching 99% as he gave one final effort on the last lap to bridge the gap.