Alex Yee edges Hayden Wilde at supertri classic in NEOM

Crown Racing’s Hayden Wilde has today won the 2024 supertri title. Wilde’s overall series victory was only one part of a dramatic showdown, however, with Alex Yee beating the New Zealander to the line by a second in the latest instalment of their era-defining rivalry. The result was an instant supertri classic.

Wilde’s second-place finish here at the Grand Finale in NEOM, Saudi Arabia, was enough to confirm Crown Racing at the team champions for 2024, as well as the New Zealander being the series champion ahead of Podium Racing’s Léo Bergere and Stars & Stripes’ Tim Hellwig. Bergere would finish third in NEOM in a battle for the ages that came down to the final metres in the hot and windswept desert location.

Having locked horns throughout the 2024 supertri season, as well as in the ITU World Championships and Olympic Games, Wilde and Yee’s rivalry was reunited in the final stages of today’s nine-discipline-strong triathlon. Yee looked out of the picture with 400m to go but timed his run to perfection, overtaking Wilde and Bergere with the finishing chute in sight to win another multisport classic in an unforgettable season for the 26-year-old Olympic gold medallist and ITU World Champion. 

“It’s what people want and I’m glad we put on a show for them,” said Yee on the engrossing finale of today’s race. “I’m glad to be a part of it as these guys have been putting on a show for the last few races and I haven’t been there. I came here with no expectations, and I just wanted to have fun and to make the people back home smile and maybe take part themselves. I’m loving been back racing and the simplicity of what the sport is all about.”

Yee’s victory wasn’t enough to stop Wilde claiming the 2024 supertri series title, however, with the Kiwi holding off Leo Bergere, Tim Hellwig and Vasco Vilaça, who’d crash out while leading, to collect his final medal of the 2024 tri season. 

Wilde’s win, along with Georgia Taylor-Brown in the women’s race, also acted as confirmation that Chris McCormack’s Crown Racing team would be the overall series winners in 2024 ahead of Tim Don’s Podium Racing, scooping both bragging rights and a $375,000 prize pot for their success.

Today’s race was also notable for being the final short-course triathlon of supertri legend Vincent Luis, who will begin his long-distance triathlon career in 2025. The French star would finish in seventh, one place behind another tri legend, Johnny Brownlee. 

STAGE BREAKDOWN

Today’s race in NEOM saw three back-to-back stages that tasked athletes with a 300m swim in the warm, buoyant yet choppy Red Sea followed by a four-lap 4km bike leg and a final 1.6km run. All would take place in the 27°C desert heat and windswept conditions of the Red Sea coast.

STAGE 1

The first 300m sea swim in the Red Sea saw Olympic champ Alex Yee of Brownlee Racing wearing a teammate’s suit after breaking his. Chase McQueen of Stars & Stripes and Vincent Luis of Crown Racing, in his final supertri race, would exit the water first, with McQueen gaining the Short Chute for Stars & Stripes. 

The 4km, four-lap bike leg would be dominated by Stars & Stripes, with all four of the team’s athletes in the top six places, including outside series contender Vasco Vilaça. As in the women’s race, the field would string out, with 17secs splitting the top 15 into T2. Léo Bergere would take the Short Chute for Podium Racing.

Onto the 1.6km run and Hayden Wilde would uniquely run in his bike helmet, but it didn’t seem to stop the New Zealander moving up to fourth. Yee would lead the field ahead of Vilaça, but the Star & Stripes athlete cross the line first to prevent Brownlee Racing taking the Short Chute. 

STAGE 2

Onto the second 300m sea swim of the day and Vilaça and Yee would enter the water first, with Wilde 4secs behind and Luis still in the mix. Little would separate the leaders on the swim, but Johnny Brownlee would be one athlete entering the mix in sixth.

Stage 2’s 4km bike began with Vilaça losing his lead after slamming into the tarmac on a tight corner, mirroring what happened to his Stars & Stripes teammate Taylor Spivey in the women’s race. The Portuguese would instantly lose 20secs and would later drop out, with the chief beneficiaries being Podium Racing’s Bergere, Dorian Coninx and Yanis Seguin.

The 1.6km run second began with news that top supertri athlete Kenji Nener of Podium Racing had been eliminated at the rear, a sign of the furious pace being put out by the leaders. Wilde ran into the lead for the first time of the day, with Yee also taking turns at the front. The tri titans’ lead would be a couple of seconds by transition, with Wilde the first to begin Stage 3.

STAGE 3

The final 300m sea swim of the day saw Wilde enter the water first ahead of Yee, but with the Short Chutes having been awarded to Tim Hellwig of Stars & Stripes and Bergere of Podium Racing. Wilde will maintain his lead at the front throughout, with Yee in his slipstream and Bergere in third.

The final 4km bike began with Wilde straight to the fore in a bid to shake-off Yee, and tri veterans Brownlee and Luis still in the mix. Wilde, Yee and Bergere would join together by lap two, the Olympic Games podium athletes reunited on the asphalt of NEOM. The trio would remain inseparable on the bike leg, entering T2 together before the series’ final run leg.

The 1.6km run began with Wilde instantly into the lead, creating daylight between himself and Bergere. The Frenchman would take his Short Chute to take the lead, with Yee falling behind in third. The pace would be relentless at the front, the trio exchanging places throughout, but Yee would make the decisive move with the finishing straight in view and edge Wilde to the line for the latest instalment of their seismic rivalry. Bergere would finish third.