British-born Sam Laidlow delivered a home win of sorts in the first ever London T100 Triathlon in Docklands on Sunday.
The 25-year-old from Bedfordshire took the lead on the bike and held off New Zealand’s Kyle Smith on the run to win by 25 seconds at the ExCeL Centre.
Laidlow represents France, where he has lived and trained for most of his life, but admitted being extra motivated to win in his native England.
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“All my family live in the UK, it’s only my parents who live in France, and although I love living in France, I prefer the British people,” he said.
“My parents have a triathlon training camp and for 20 years we’ve had so many people from around the UK come to our house — and they’ve seen me do triathlons since I was like four years old. So there were a lot of familiar faces on the course and I guess the reason why was a bit bigger.”
Laidlow, the reigning Ironman world champion, admitted he didn’t expect to win a race on the new T100 Triathlon World Tour but capitalised on an innovative tactic in the swim.
Unlike the rest of the field he took to the water in Victoria Dock without a tri-suit on in a bid to keep cool and it paid off as he built a decisive lead on the bike.
“We’ve noticed that every triathlon I’ve done with a wetsuit, I’ve always really struggled for at least an hour and a half on the bike,” he said.
“So we made a decision – a lot of people were looking at me very strangely in the athlete room – and anyway, it paid off.”
Laidlow’s win leaves him seventh in the season standings, with the fifth race in the eight-leg calendar set for Ibiza in September.
Denmark’s Magnus Ditlev leads after he finished fourth in London, while Smith’s successive runner-up spots put him a close second.
Double Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee finished eighth and lies 10th overall.
Australian Ashleigh Gentle leads the women’s standings after claiming her second win of the season in London on Saturday.
British pair India Lee and Lucy Charles-Barclay are second and third respectively.
An estimated 18,000 spectators attended the races in the capital, while a further 4,500 took part in the sold-out amateur races – including pop stars Tom Grennan and Harry Judd.