Britain’s Georgia Taylor-Brown Leads T100 World Championship After Victory At Dubai T100 Triathlon
Al Mamzar, Dubai: British Olympian Georgia Taylor-Brown overtakes Julie Derron to lead the T100 Race To Qatar series after victory at the Dubai T100 Triathlon.
The Briton returned to the top step of the podium for the first time since her victory in Pamplona at the Spain T100 in May, after finishing third last time out at the Vancouver T100.
She finished 10 seconds ahead of Kiwi Nicole Van Der Kaay, who put in an impressive sprint finish to top off a stellar performance for her best ever T100 result.
Switzerland’s Julie Derron led the T100 Race To Qatar series heading into today’s Dubai T100, but despite fighting her way through the field to third, it was not enough to maintain her lead heading into the Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Final next month.
The result means that Georgia Taylor-Brown takes the lead in the T100 Race To Qatar with 96 points, with Julie Derron (SUI) in second on 90 points and Nicole Van Der Kaay moved up to third on 63. Athletes select their best three finishes plus the Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Final.
Next up for the men and women is the Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Final on 11-12 December.
Key Quotes
Winner: Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR)
On bike cramps:
“It went really well up until the last lap of the bike and I started to get really bad crumbs in my adapters. I was pulling away on the third lap and I was like, oh, yes, I’m feeling good and comfortable. And then I got these adapter cramps and it is horrible when you get them, you just can’t put any power down so I just had to let all the girls go. I was like, I just have to try and spin my legs out and try and hopefully it will flush through and it did. It was going really well until then, but luckily I didn’t get any cramps on the run, but it was just really hot.”
On fighting Nicole Van Der Kaay and if she was confident of the victory:
“No, not at all. I did it again [look back to see where Van Der Kaay was] I think after 2 laps, I was like, oh, yes, it’s good. I’m in control, I’ll keep pulling out more time. And then the time just stayed the same and I was like, oof, okay, this is going to be a fight to the end now. Nicole really kept me pushing it to the very end.”
Second: Nicole Van Der Kaay (NZL)
On her support:
“I’m lucky I have a great support crew. Like, my partner is always telling me, um, how good I can be so to get a performance like this, I’m so emotional.”
On the result:
“I know it’s been in me and I’ve had so many injuries and setbacks, so I’m really happy to get a result like this.”
On her race:
“I actually loved it. The whole day I was kind of just trying to stay conservative. Just following the process and not getting ahead of myself.”
“I started off a bit easier on the run and I just wanted to stick to myself. I felt better and better throughout and, you know, it’s a pity it wasn’t going to halve because I was really, really feeling good, but it was a great day for New Zealand.”
Third : Julie Derron (SUI)
On her performance:
“I felt the 4 or 5 weeks in between races more than the race 5 weeks ago. I struggled after a big race in Hawaii, obviously, but I was super proud of today. Overall, it wasn’t a really solid performance. I was just missing a bit to keep it up with the top girls. So I’m super happy to be on the podium again. Good day.”
On preparation for Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Final:
“I go back into training, recover, make sure that I am firing on all cylinders, and then just back to work at the basics and then just keep working to be maybe a little bit better than i was today.”
HOW THE RACE UNFOLDED
Al Mamzar beach was the setting for the swim leg of the Dubai T100 Triathlon. Spanish star Sara Perez Sala (ESP) led out the swim, causing a split early on which series leader Julie Derron (SUI) had missed. At the Aussie exit, a group of four had formed at the front consisting of Kate Waugh (GBR), Sala, Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR) and Bianca Bogen (GER). They had a gap of over 30 seconds to the chasing group which included Derron.
Sala led the front group out of the water and onto the 600m run to T1 and out onto the bike, closely followed by Taylor-Brown, Waugh and Bogen. Derron was around 50 seconds off the back, making up five seconds in transition.
The bike course was four laps on the roads of the stunning Al Mamzar. Taylor-Brown, Waugh and Bogen quickly passed Sala and pushed the pace on the front, extending their advantage over Switzerland’s Derron. Waugh fell back to over two minutes behind heading onto the final lap on the bike, and Nicole Van Der Kaay (NZL) and Caroline Pohle (GER) joined the battle at the front.
Pohle led into T2 and started the run with a 15 second advantage over Van Der Kaay, 26 seconds over Sala and 36 seconds over Taylor-Brown, with Derron taking 30 seconds back to start the run 2 minutes down.
In the first 5km of the 18km run around Al Mamzar Beach Park, Taylor-Brown had retaken the lead, passing Sala, Pohle and Van Der Kaay. Van Der Kaay was able to stay within 30 seconds of Georgia Taylo-Brown and crossed the line 10 seconds back after a fast finish, whilst Julie Derron fought her way past Sala and Pohle to claim that final podium place.
Race Finish
| Position | Athlete | Finish | T100 Race To Qatar Points | Prize Money |
| 1 | Georgia Taylor-Brown | 3:35:19 | 35 | $50,000 |
| 2 | Nicole van der Kaay | 3:35:29 | 29 | $40,000 |
| 3 | Julie Derron | 3:37:25 | 26 | $30,000 |
| 4 | Caroline Pohle | 3:38:13 | 23 | $25,000 |
| 5 | Sara Pérez Sala | 3:38:50 | 20 | $21,000 |
| 6 | Audrey Merle | 3:41:36 | 18 | $18,000 |
| 7 | Bianca Bogen | 3:41:54 | 16 | $15,000 |
| 8 | Daniela Kleiser | 3:43:02 | 14 | $13,000 |
| 9 | Kate Waugh | 3:44:33 | 12 | $10,000 |
| 10 | Lizzie Rayner | 3:44:54 | 11 | $7,500 |
| 11 | Hanne de Vet | 3:45:37 | 10 | $6,500 |
| 12 | Francesca Crestani | 3:46:31 | 9 | $6,000 |
| 13 | Jenny Jendryschik | 3:47:09 | 8 | $5,500 |
| 14 | Anastacia Damm Nielsen | 3:48:34 | 7 | $5,000 |
| 15 | Kaidi Kivioja | 3:49:05 | 6 | $4,500 |
| 16 | Skye Wallace | 3:49:34 | 5 | $4,000 |
| 17 | Merle Brunnee | 3:52:57 | 4 | $3,500 |
| 18 | Sara Sandrini | 3:54:48 | 3 | $3,500 |
| 19 | 2 | $3,500 | ||
| 20 | 0 | $3,500 |
-ends-
Note To Editors:
For race pictures go to: https://t100triathlon.photoshelter.com/galleries/C0000vnSxYW3NzFs/Media-Selects
How the 2026 T100 Triathlon World Tour works:
- Athletes score 35 points for first place to 1 pt for 20th place at each of the races; 2nd – 29 points; and 3rd – 26 points
- The Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Final has increased points to up the ante (55 pts down to 4 pts)
- Each athlete’s best three T100 race scores plus the Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Final will count towards the women’s and men’s T100 World Championship titles
- $275,000 USD prize fund at each T100, totalling $2,750,000 across the nine races (1st place – $50,000k; 2nd – $40,000; 3rd – $30,000 at each race)
- The series winners following the Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Final will be crowned T100 Triathlon World Champion and collect $100,000 USD from an additional total prize pool of $1,450,000 (2nd – $80,000; 3rd – 75,000)
- Between the T100 race prize fund and T100 Triathlon World Tour pool, the series provides $4,200,000 in athlete compensation, and is distributed in a way that not only rewards the winners, but also recognises the significant achievement of racing at this level
- For more details, visit https://t100triathlon.com/pro-racing/
For Further Information:
PTO – Anthony Scammell E: [email protected]
About Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO)
The PTO is a sports body that is co-owned by its professional athletes, seeking to elevate and grow the sport of triathlon and take it to the next level. Its T100 Triathlon World Tour was introduced in January 2024 and is designated by World Triathlon as the ‘official World Championship for long distance triathlon’. This is part of a 12-year strategic partnership with the sport’s international governing body to develop the sport and it will grow further in 2027 with the launch of the new Triathlon World Tour. The T100 Triathlon World Tour is a season-long schedule of World Championship level races competed over 100km (2km swim, 80km bike and 18km run), where the world’s best triathletes go head-to-head in iconic locations. In 2026, the T100 Tour has already been to: the Gold Coast (21-22 March), Singapore (25-26 April), Spain (23-24 May), San Francisco (6-7 June), Vancouver (15-16 August), French Riviera (19-20 September) and Dubai (12-15 November) with the Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Final on 11-12 December. T100 weekends are ‘festivals of multisport’ and feature a range of opportunities for amateur athletes of all levels to get involved. From experienced amateurs tackling the 100km distance to first-time swim, bike and run participants taking on single discipline, untimed events. For more information visit www.t100triathlon.com
World Triathlon is the international governing body for the Olympic and Paralympic sport of triathlon and all related multisport disciplines around the world, including duathlon, aquathlon, cross triathlon and winter triathlon. Triathlon made its Olympic debut in Sydney 2000, with a third medal event, the Mixed Team Relay, added to the programme at Tokyo 2020, while para triathlon was first added to the Paralympic programme at Rio 2016. World Triathlon is proudly committed to the development of the sport worldwide, with inclusion, equality, sustainability and transparency at our core as we seek to help triathletes at all levels of the sport to be extraordinary.
