Bold new Formula 1-style format changing the face of triathlon

By Will Jennings

A radical new Formula 1-style format is shaking up the world of triathlon.

And with the second event of a globetrotting race calendar on the horizon, double Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee reckons it’s the perfect way to catapult the profile of the sport to new heights.

The T100 World Triathlon Tour rolls around to Singapore this weekend, with the planet’s leading stars descending on South East Asia after last month’s season opener in Miami.

The trailblazing new competition is an eight-stop, lucrative $7million operation that visits San Francisco, London, Ibiza, Las Vegas and Dubai between March and November.

The format is bidding to follow in the global, multi-race footsteps of Formula 1 to make triathlon more accessible and will culminate in the T100 World Championship Finals at the end of November.

Brownlee, 35, wilted in the Stateside heat to finish fifth in the opening race of the season but is hoping to propel himself towards the podium in this Sunday’s Singaporean showdown.

And he believes the bold new venture for the sport will only enhance its worldwide popularity and prestige.

“It’s a fantastic sport that hasn’t really had great media coverage or great ways for fans to engage in it,” he said.

“This is attempting to change that, commercialise it and put on events for professional triathletes around the world.

“It’s a fantastic project – but I still think there’s a long way triathlon can go in terms of commercialising the sport, providing exposure and earning opportunities for elite athletes.

“There are great stories to be told and great athletes to follow and there needs to be a format to do that.

“As someone who’s passionate about triathlon, you want your sport to be successful. You want to increase the awareness of it. You want people to have the same pleasure and joy that you get from it.

“The way to do that is to make more people aware of it. So, having a format that is really designed to drive awareness and engage fans, and increase interest in the sport.”

Brownlee finished over a minute off the top three in Miami as great Dane Magnus Ditlev battled through the searing heat to grab glory in the season opener.

American ace Sam Long finished second as French star Mathis Margirier bagged bronze.

Britain reigned supreme in the women’s event as a top three of India Lee, Lucy Charles-Barclay and Holly Lawrence capped a memorable day for the travelling contingent across the pond.

But they will face a sterner test in Singapore on Saturday as Australian Ashleigh Gentle, who competed at the Rio 2016 Olympics and finished second in the 2017 ITU World Triathlon Series, takes to the startline for the first time this season.

Each contracted athlete must complete a minimum of five races plus the Grand Final, with each one’s best three T100 race scores – as well as the Grand Final – counting towards the inaugural women’s and men’s T100 World Championship where the overall winners will scoop a cool $210,000.

Gentle, 33, is hoping to hit the ground running this weekend and lay down a marker in what look set to be more sweltering Singapore conditions.

She said: “I need to make sure I am firing and I can make good of this opportunity. I can manage the conditions quite well usually and I have a really good intuition of how hard I can dig in really hard conditions.

“|It has been a really tough summer. It has been extremely hot and humid, it was pretty brutal but it is great preparation for this race in Singapore.”

Brownlee faded as the Miami mercury soared last month but insists he’ll be better equipped to deal with those temperatures this time out.

The Yorkshire star said: “Trying to get used to hot and humid conditions as someone coming from Leeds is quite difficult.

“Miami was really hot for me and I definitely overheated, I hadn’t really prepared for those conditions. Ultimately, I just didn’t pay enough respect to the heat and that got me.

“I’m definitely more prepared for this one, I’m a bit fitter and more prepared for the heat.

“I’m hoping to be in a better place. I feel I’ve done as well as I could in the last couple of weeks and I’m happy with that.”