Triathlon Royalty, Beaugrand’s Woes And Hauser Redemption: Five Things We Learned From Super League Triathlon Munich

Cold, rain, hills and drama – Super League Triathlon Munich delivered a thrilling second race of the 2022 Championship Series.

With surprise performances, and a big shift in the Overall Leaderboards, there was a lot to unpack from a thrilling day of racing.

We take a look at five things we learned:

GTB: Triathlon Royalty

It’s hard to believe that Georgia Taylor-Brown, such a massive figure in triathlon, a former World Champion and two-time Olympic medallist – as well as the reigning SLT champ – had never won a Super League race before Munich.

But on a day charged with emotion for the British athletes, with a perfectly observed period of silence before the start of the event in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II, GTB really delivered.

She hit the gas in the first round of swim-bike-run, and broke the field instantly.

From then it was a case of managing the conditions sensibly. Taking the British flag and doing a curtsy when crossing the line was a fitting tribute.

Revitalised Vilaca

Vasco Vilaca was the victim of some incredible misfortune in London. His bike was rendered unusable just minutes before the start of the race, meaning he had to borrow GTB’s.

The result was predictable, and far below the performance level we have come to expect from Vasco.

Munich was redemption time. Valentin Wernz buried himself to earn his SLT Rhinos teammate a Short Chute, and it helped massively, as Vasco put on the afterburners and grabbed himself a well deserved podium.

Beaugrand’s Woes

After an imperious performance in London, everybody was thinking Cassandre Beaugrand would again waltz off with the win in Munich. That was very far from the case as she was one of the first athletes eliminated.

A bike crash on Saturday appeared to leave her feeling unsettled, with the wet conditions not exactly helping.

Bahrain Victorious Scorpions sent her out to bag the swim and run discipline points – which she did while cruising the bike – before she stepped off the course.

A remarkable fortnight all round for the French star.

Cheetahs Roar

Maybe the Bahrain Victorious Scorpions are going to come under pressure for the Teams Leaderboard. Missing Beaugrand from their stellar women’s line-up for Malibu, and still stalling in the men’s, there is an opening.

The Fan Team, the SLT Cheetahs, secured most points in Munich with Sophie Coldwell’s increasingly impressive form bagging her a podium and Jonny Brownlee looking like he is ready to compete at the very top end for the rest of the Series as well.

Hauser gets redemption

After all the heartache of London, that incorrect false start penalty and the remarkable charge back to second, Matt Hauser proved his point in Munich.

His third swim was utterly remarkable, as he looked gone from the racing before jumping into the water again and destroying the field.

Hayden Wilde and Vasco Vilaca had Short Chutes as the three headed onto the final run with nothing separating them, but it wasn’t the decisive difference.

Hauser used his big stride length to power down the hills and break the opposition. Wilde ended up in third, and the shift in power means Hauser tops the Overall Leaderboard. Those two look set for a huge battle that will go right to the wire.