GTB Astonishes, New Faces Shine and Hauser Suffers: Five Things We Learned From Super League Triathlon Malibu

Crashes, comebacks and emotional eliminats: Super League Triathlon Malibu had it all.

In one of the most unpredictable and dramatic SLT races ever staged, there was no shortage of incidents to digest.

Here we take a look at five things we learned:

GTB thrives in adversity

Georgia Taylor-Brown. Wow. Just wow.

It almost seems as if sometimes she needs something to go wrong for her to produce her absolute best.

It could barely have gone much more wrong than her spectacular crash early in Malibu. She was shaken and quite badly cut up down her left side.

Most people would haven, quite fairly, thought that her race may have been run. Perhaps she could muddle through, but the chances of her really doing much were gone.

But that was not the way Taylor-Brown saw it.

She produced a truly inspired comeback to power her way through the field and, remarkably, managed to finish on the podium.

Bloody and bruised, but only one point off the top of the Overall Leaderbaord despite the adversity.

All over for Hauser?

You have got to feel for Matt Hauser. It looked like this was going to be his year, that he was stepping up from supporting actor to lead man and potentially Championship Series winner.

But now it looks more likely he is in a battle for second. And the difference? One bike crash.

He was able to get going again, but was so far back it was an inevitable elimination at the end of Stage 1.

Gutting for Hauser, who now needs to keep plugging away in the last two events and hope for the best.

But given the standings, it looks like Hayden Wilde just needs to avoid a disaster and he will be crowned champion.

Scorpions on the slide

Having started so strongly, and with many predicting a runaway victory for the Bahrain Victorious Scorpions, it is incredible to see them slide into midtable in the Teams Leaderboard.

Their men have been the main issue, and with Cassandre Beaugrand missing in Malibu they have suffered.

The SLT Sharks now top the Leaderboard and the Fan Team, the SLT Cheetahs sit in second.

That elevation is all the more remarkable given they were missing their two stars, Sophie Coldwell and Jonny Brownlee.

It was a testament to those who stepped up, including Shachar Sagiv and Miriam Casillas Garcia, who both recorded surprise second place finishes.

Bad luck for Beth

Beth Potter can’t catch a break in DSuper League this year. She has said she feels strong and in good form, but has been the victim of unfortunate circumstances several times.

On this occasion it was getting caught up in Sian Rainsley’s latest bike crash. Potter was also brought to a halt and had to get the chain back on her bike.

The time she lost was not so much that she faced elimination, but it was enough to ensure she had a lot of time to make up.

Potter duly cut through the field, but again it was not quite enough to get the kind of finish she would have been hoping for.

New faces shine

Super League is famous for helping provide a launchpad for the careers of athletes.

There were two new faces on the podium in Malibu, with Shachar Sagiv, who was flown under the radar but been so consistent over the past two years, grabbing second place.

In the women’s, Miriam Casillas Garcia was also runner-up in her debut SLT Championship Series.

The challenge for them now is to prove it is not a one off.