Gisborne triathlete third in Super League opener

Reid puts pedal to the metal on a cycle leg. Super League Triathlon pictures

"This one meant a lot” was the short but sweet Facebook message from Gisborne’s Tayler Reid after his podium performance in the opening race of the NZ$2.1 million Super League Triathlon Championship.

Reid, 26, placed third in Race 1 of the fifth edition of the four-race series that culminates in a grand finale in Neom, Saudi Arabia, in October.

Great Britain did the 1-2 as Alex Yee continued his supreme form to win in a time of 45 minutes 23 seconds.

Countryman Jonathan Brownlee was second in 45.26 and Reid third in 45.34.

The series opener was an enduro race.

Regarded as the most brutal of the tri formats, it comprised three back-to-back legs of a 300-metre swim, four-kilometre cycle and 1.6km run repeated three times in a row with no break.

Any athlete who dropped to 90 seconds or more behind the leader at the end of each individual lap was eliminated.

As well as NZ$34,000 for the individual winner down to $2500 for 10th in each race, there are also points up for grabs for individual and team series honours.

The series has four teams — the Santara Tech Eagles, RTS Warriors, Bahrain Victorious Scorpions and RTP Sharks.

Reid, van der Kaay and 2022 Super League men’s individual champion Hayden Wilde are in the Scorpions.

Wilde did not compete in London following a cycle accident on his way to the Paris Olympic Test event last week.

Reid, however, flew the Scorpions flag high as the largely British Sharks team — led by Yee and Brownlee — dominated.

A group of five, including Reid, took control of the race in Stage 2 and by the start of Stage 3 it was down to Reid, Brownlee and Yee.

Reid came out of the final 300m swim just ahead of the other two but they were soon together on the cycle, with a clear gap back to the chasers.

Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Yee, fresh from winning the Paris test event, made his move from the start of the last run, rocketing out to a decisive lead over Brownlee with Reid further back.

Luxembourg’s Jeanne Lehair won the women’s race in 49.52, heading off Briton Sophie Coldwell in 49.53 and American Taylor Spivey in 49.55.

Reid’s partner Nichole van der Kaay was best of the Kiwis — ninth in 51.04.

Yee struck the first blow of the men’s series, which continues in Toulouse this weekend, followed by Malibu at the end of September and the grand finale in October.

Wilde is not out of the hunt. This year, individuals count their two best performances from the London, Toulouse and Malibu races, plus their score from Neom.

Athletes score points from first to 15th placings. The grand finale carries more points.

The individuals series winners pocket $84,500. The winning team share $202,000 down to $68,000 for fourth.

There is also a bonus of $25,000 for overall series winner in each of the disciplines — swim, cycle and run.