Weekend Wrap #2: Hayden Wilde and Nicole van der Kaay take home country wins at New Plymouth World Cup

It was a big day for New Zealand as both the men and women took the top two spots on the podium at the World Triathlon Cup New Plymouth. Olympic bronze medalist Hayden Wilde was untouchable on the run, while Nicole van der Kaay took her first World Cup win thanks to a spectacular run, too.

Jorgensen takes 14th

American Gwen Jorgensen, continuing her comeback to triathlon after the birth of her second child last year, would come out of the water in 37th spot, 33 seconds behind the lead group that included van der Kaay and fellow Kiwi Ainsley Thorpe.

Olympic gold medalist Gwen Jorgensen returns to triathlon for run at Paris Games

While Jorgensen would do a lot of work at the front in the chase group, the lead group of 17 that also included American Erika Ackerlund would hit T2 with a lead of about 40 seconds on the chasers. There was no touching van der Kaay, though, on the run.

“This race is super special for me,” van der Kaay said after the race. “This was actually my first World Cup podium four or five years ago and I haven’t had a World Cup podium since. So to get gold has made it super special. It was a goal of mine to get that gold but I didn’t know how I was coming in against some of the internationals. It’s a great feeling and home crowd, even better. There was alot of cheering out there for the New Zealanders. First of all was to get those points and I’ve nailed my first half of the season now it’s just building up to Paris.”

Thorpe would make it a New Zealand one/two, while Norway’s Solveig Lovseth rounded out the podium. Jorgensen ran her way to 14th to keep her Olympic hopes for 2024 alive. Canadian Amelie Kretz didn’t finish the race, while Noemie Beaulieu took 42nd.

Full results are here.

Wilde dominates the run

The Olympic bronze medalist trailed the swim leaders by 20 seconds after the 750 m swim, but quickly got himself back into the mix as a front pack of ten men, including Canada’s Tyler Mislawchuk, formed. Heading into the final lap of the bike the group was down to eight as Wilde continued to drive the pace at the front. He flew out of T2 and ran to his first World Cup win in style.

“I feel on top of the world,” Wilde said. “It was just lovely to do it in front of friends and family. The family has ripped it out of me that I won an Olympic medal but never a World Series or World Cup medal. So it is nice to tick all four boxes on all four tiers. I did it completely the opposite way, but great to do it on home soil.”

Wilde’s countryman Tayler Reid would win the battle for second, outsprinting Portugal’s Ricardo Batista – both finished with the same time. Mislawchuk would take ninth to lead the Canadian contingent that included Brock Hoel (18), Martin Sobey (28), Liam Donnelly (46) and Clayton Hutchins (52).

You can see full results here.