Ibiza is set to witness one of the strongest fields ever assembled for a women’s triathlon on Saturday, with Olympic stars vying with many of the top-ranked athletes at the fifth leg of the T100 Triathlon World Tour.
Lining up in the same race for the first time ever are current T100 Tour leader Ashleigh Gentle, Paris 2024 silver medallist Taylor Knibb and former Ironman world champion Anne Haug.
They are joined by two stellar wild card entrants, former Olympic champion Flora Duffy, and Taylor Spivey, who won silver alongside Knibb for Team USA in the mixed relay last month.
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What is the T100 Triathlon World Tour?
And among several British contenders are India Lee, winner of the season opener, Lucy Byram, Kat Matthews and Emma Pallant-Browne
Lee is second in the T100 Tour standings with just one more race to go — in Las Vegas — before the Grand Final in Dubai, where the world champions will be crowned.
“It is really cool to have won in Miami, the first T100. Everyone was excited to see what this new series would be like and to have my name as the winner for that race is amazing,” said Lee.
“When you’re second in the standings halfway through the season, it makes you think, okay, maybe I can challenge for the win. I spend a lot of time making sure that my self-talk and my confidence is positive.
“I think the field in Ibiza is going to be really competitive. We’re going to have the Olympians coming in who haven’t raced yet, like Flora Duffy and Taylor Spivey, and then Ashley Gentle is obviously always competitive.
“Ashley has got two top scores, so she only needs another one before the grand final and she’s as high as she can be. And then in the grand final you wouldn’t bet against her doing well there either. I think Ashley is probably in the best position of everybody at the moment.”
Gomez pulls out of Brownlee Ibiza T100 reunion
In the men’s race, also taking place on Saturday, Belgian Marten Van Riel is among the favourites and fancied to add to his victory from June in San Francisco.
English-born Sam Laidlow is seeking back-to-back wins after his July triumph in London, but Kiwi Kyle Smith, second twice this year, was a late injury withdrawal.
An eagerly anticipated renewal of one of the most enduring rivalries in the sport is off after home favourite Javier Gomez pulled out and announced his retirement on Wednesday.
Gomez and Britain’s Alistair Brownlee enjoyed a fierce battle for supremacy in the swim-bike-run event that has been likened to that of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in tennis.
From 2007 they won 82 triathlons between them, while Brownlee’s career highlight came when he pipped his Spanish opponent to Olympic gold on home soil at London 2012.
Brownlee, 36, is taking part this week however in a bid to improve his current ranking of 10th on the T100 Tour. The Yorkshireman finished eighth in London in July.