SLT Arena Games gives triathlon fans something to talk about
The very first major professional race of 2020 took place in Rotterdam over the weekend with Super League Triathlon putting together a new concept for the sport of triathlon in these challenging times.
Super League Triathlon partnered up with Zwift to create the SLT Arena Games – a combination of real life and virtual racing in an indoor environment. This new initiative allows fans of the sport to experience world class athletes racing in close proximity whilst also boasting live power, speed and heart rate data from using Zwift.
The race was decided over three triple mix formats with Great Britains Jessica Learmonth and Germany’s Justus Nieschlag claiming the first major triathlon titles of 2020.
The race:
Mens –
It was a close fought battle over the three stages with Germany’s Jonas Schomburg running bare foot in the first stage on the run to save transition time which allowed him to take full points.
However, as the racing progressed over the next two stages it was Germany’s Nieschlag who emerged victorious, by the end beating Portugal’s Vasco Vilaca and Spain’s Javier Gomez to top spot.
Great Britains Jonny Brownlee finished in 4th.
Nieschlag said after the race – “I never thought I could come and win here as I haven’t raced for more than one year. It feels amazing as I hadn’t even thought about winning this race. It was all about tactics today and not going too hard at the beginning. I swam well today and my transitions were good and that was key for succeeding here.”
Womens –
In the women’s race it was 10 world class athlete who took to the start line that included reigning Ironman World Champion Anne Haug of Germany and 2X WTS medalist Georgia Taylor-Brown.
During the race Dutch athelte Rachel Klamer and Belgium’s Valerie Barthelemy where in contention at times to try and take the win.
However, the three stages in the end where dominated by Great Britains Jessica Learmonth who took the maximum amount of points – 30 out of 30 – to reign supreme.
Learmonth said after the race: “It’s great being back racing. I was apprehensive as I haven’t raced since the 2019 Tokyo test event and I didn’t know what to expect. It’s amazing that Super League have put this on for us and we really appreciate it because I know it was difficult.”
Watch the whole event again below 👇
Full results of the race can be found here
