Jeanne Lehair and Csongor Lehmann victorious in Jersey

Dramatic events in Jersey see Podium Racing lead the team leaderboard ahead of the final Supertri League 2025 showdown in Toulouse.

Podium Racing have taken a major step in winning the 2025 Supertri League following Jeanne Lehair’s dominant victory in the women’s race in Jersey. The 29-year-old’s win sees her team top the standings nearly 40 points ahead of Crown Racing ahead of the title decider set for Toulouse, France, on 5 October.

The men’s event, meanwhile, witnessed Stars & Stripes Csongor Lehmann pull ahead on the final run leg of the nine-stage triathlon to edge out Crown Racing’s established Supertri force Vasco Vilaça, who suffered a penalty on the final stage of the day following a transition infringement.

Torrential rain gave way to bright sunshine for the athletes in Jersey in what was the Channel Island’s record fifth Supertri League race since its debut in 2017. Already boasting one of the most challenging routes in all of Supertri, today’s race saw a chilly deep-water swim in St. Helier harbour followed by a technical bike leg made even harder by slippery conditions under the wheels of the world’s fastest triathletes.

The women’s event saw Lehair, who races for Luxembourg, execute a near-perfect display of swim, bike, run and transition knowhow, with the 29-year-old making the decisive move in T2 on the final stage of the day to break the reigning Supertri champ and Crown Racing star Georgia Taylor-Brown’s resolve. Lehair’s Podium Racing teammate Léonie Périault would also move into second ahead of Taylor-Brown to complete a memorable women’s race for Podium Racing ahead of the title decider in Toulouse on 5 October.

Lehair also extended her lead at the top of the series leaderboard, having already scored a victory at Supertri Chicago in August. “First and second is good [for Podium Racing] but personally I was worried about Leonie gaining the Short Chute and beating me on the run,” said Lehair at the finish.

Lehair was disqualified for a helmet infringement in Toulouse in 2024, but she’ll start the series decider in the French city on 5 October with a two-point advantage over Périault in the series, and three over Taylor-Brown and Brownlee Racing’s Jolien Vermeylen. “It’s never finished before it’s finished, especially with my background in Toulouse, but I know I’ve done the maximum I could do before Toulouse, so fingers crossed,” added Lehair. 

Brownlee Racing would round out the top five in Jersey, with Belgian star Jolien Vermeylen and Britain’s Bethany, in a breakout performance, finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.

Over in the men’s race, the drama intensified with slippery conditions leading to some of Supertri’s most storied athletes crashing before Csongor Lehmann of Stars & Stripes surged to victory on the Channel Island.

The 26-year-old Hungarian would pull ahead on the final run leg of the nine-stage triathlon to edge out Crown Racing’s established Supertri force Vasco Vilaça and Oliver Conway of Brownlee Racing in a breakout race for the 20-year-old Brit.

Lehmann’s five-second margin of victory over Vilaça was only one of the plotlines, however, with Vilaça suffering a five-second penalty for a goggle infringement in transition and both the experienced Supertri forces, Tayler Reid of New Zealand and Britain’s multiple Olympic medallist Jonny Brownlee, crashing on the wet Channel Island concrete. 

“I can’t believe what just happened,” said the Lehmann at the finish line. “Winning a Supertri race is huge – it’s a dream becoming a reality. The race was so intense from the beginning until the end and I knew I had to go all out on the final run as Vasco is a brilliant runner. Somehow, I managed to hold on. Now I really have a big chance to win the overall series and I’m really excited for Toulouse.”

Conway, meanwhile, would take third 9 secs back from Lehmann and ahead of Podium Racing’s Mitch Kolkman and Tayler Reid, with the 20-year-old putting in a statement performance that lays down a marker for the future. “That was the best turnout for a race that I’ve ever seen,” said the Brit at the finish. “I just tried to enjoy every moment of it and get stuck in.”

Having finished second at the four-date series opener in Toronto, Lehmann now goes into the series finale in Toulouse on 5 October with a two-point lead at the top of the leaderboard ahead of Vilaça and Alberto González Garcia, the latter absent in Jersey.

As for the team standings following both women’s and men’s races in Jersey, the results now place Podium Racing clear at the top with 263 points. Crown Racing are second with 225, Brownlee Racing third with 190 and Stars & Stripes back in fourth, despite Lehmann’s victory, still in fourth with 168 points. But, with double points to play for in Toulouse, there’s plenty still on the line.