T100 Triathlon Singapore: Kiwi Hayden Wilde clinches victory

The T100 Triathlon Singapore weekend concluded with the men’s triathlon last Sunday afternoon. This was won by Olympic silver medallist Hayden Wilde in what was his first T100 race, the Kiwi delivering a stunning performance to come from behind to win the season opening race.

Singapore T100, Singapore, Marina Bay Sands. Men’s race.

Wilde was in 15th place after the swim but quickly managed to catch up on the bike leg, making his move on Bogen about 30km into the bike and trading the lead with Rico Bogen throughout the remainder of the bike. Bogen posted the day’s fastest bike split at 1:49:40, with Wilde and Bogen coming into T2 a full minute ahead of third placed Mathis Margirier.

On the run, Wilde wasted no time attacking, catching up to Bogen and quickly opening a gap on him. By 6km, the Kiwi was 24 seconds clear of Bogen and running with apparent ease. Margirer was still holding onto 3rd place.

By the halfway mark of the run, Wilde has extended his lead to two minutes. Leo Bergère had overtaken Margirer to the third spot and was fast closing in on Bogen.

With 6km to go, Bergere surged into second place. Bogen was struggling. Marten Van Riel had moved into third and eyeing a podium finish.

Singapore T100, Singapore, Marina Bay Sands. Men’s race.

With 2km left to go, the victory was Wilde’s. The Kiwi celebrated early, taking in the crowd’s energy and high-fiving many people before coasting down the blue carpet in a staggering time of 3:18:11. Despite slowing towards the finish, Wilde clocked the fastest split of the run at 1:01:46.

Said Wilde on his win: “It’s really nice (to win my first T100 race on my debut). It’s nice that the hard work in winter went well but for this sort of race, it’s really hard to know where you are in a sense – it’s super hot and once you go over the line, it’s hard to recover.”

Bergere was second, finishing in 3:20:45, two minutes and 35 seconds behind.

Said Bergere: “I’m feeling better now that it’s over. It hurts a lot in these conditions, but to be honest, I enjoyed the race, the course and the people on the side of the course cheering for us, that was a great atmosphere. I can’t wait for the next time in Singapore.”

He added: “The experience in Singapore was great. You know, when you have a good race, it’s always better than having a bad race and you keep really good memories.”

Rounding off the podium placing was Van Riel, grimacing as he gave it his all to secure the third spot. The Dutchman finished in 3:21:33, 3 min 22 sec behind.

Said Van Riel: “In these hard conditions, with the heat and humidity, it’s a race where you have to be patient and it’s only when you’re at the finish line that it’s over. So much can happen because in these conditions, it’s so easy to overdo it.”

He added: “So I tried the whole day to pace myself a little bit. In the run I still had quite a lot of people to catch to reach the podium but I was patient and I tried to do my own pace. I can’t believe that I ended the day on the podium.”

The amateur age-group triathlon and duathlon events took place Sunday morning and women’s elite triathlon took place on Saturday afternoon.

The T100 World Tour continues in San Francisco on 31 May.

All photos are courtesy of T100.

We completed the T100 triathlon – Mixed team relay.