Charles-Barclay wins PTO-supported Dorney Lake Triathlon
Race between swim specialists comes down to the run
Photo by:
World Triathlon/ Ben Lumley
Lucy Charles-Barclay continued her story-book 2021 race season with an impressive win today at the PTO-supported Dorney Lake Triathlon, holding off another swim specialist in Lucy Hall to take the win. Thomas Davis (GBR) used the day’s fastest bike to take the men’s race.
Hall represented Great Britain at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, serving as a domestique for countrywoman Helen Jenkins. Just 20 at the time, Hall led the women out of the water and was at the front for much of the bike before finishing 33rd.
Charles-Barclay came close to representing Great Britain as a long-distance swimmer and, based on her impressive fifth-place debut to World Triathlon draft-legal racing in Leeds last weekend (photo above), could make a run at the 2024 Games in triathlon. The two swim specialists blasted through the 1,800 m swim much faster than the men did in Dorney Lake today as Charles-Barclay blasted through the swim in 23:08, with Hall two seconds behind. The fastest men’s split in the water? Joshua Lewis went 24:45.
Out on the 58.8 km bike Charles-Barclay couldn’t shake Hall, which meant that the race would come down to the 15 km run. Hall wasn’t able to match Charles-Barclay on that leg, with the three-time Kona runner-up running a 53:22 split, the fastest women’s run of the day, to take the win in 2:41:20. Hall would take second in 2:43:18, with Nikki Bartlett rounding out the all-GBR podium in 2:44:14. Kimberly Morrison would take fourth (2:48:53) with Ruth Astle finishing fifth (2:49:20).
Davis bikes to the men’s win
While Lewis led the men’s field out of the water, Tom Bishop led a chase group of eight out of the water that included Davis. Once on the bike Davis put his stamp on the race, hammering through a 1:15:29 split to hit T2 with a lead that he wouldn’t relinquish, taking the win in 2:31:21. France’s Leon Chevalier would run his way to second (2:33:06), while James Teagle (GBR) rounded out the podium (2:34:07). Bishop would end up fourth (2:34:57) with Joe Skipper finishing fifth (2:35:30).
You can find results from today’s race here.
