As the host of the 2022 World Sprint Distance Championships, the 2021 edition of the Groupe Copley World Triathlon was intended to be a dress rehearsal, with the world’s best triathletes in attendance. Indeed, Montreal was the first occasion on which World Triathlon tried out its new elimination format, while the Grand Prix Series featured a special format for the first time this season. The Old Port also played host to the 3rd stages of the Quebec Cup presented by Spark Sports Nutrition at age group and youth level.
A huge organizational challenge, an intense new format. This was the promise of the 2021 edition of the Groupe Copley World Triathlon. For race director Éric Noël, “we can definitely say mission accomplished for this test event with a view to the 2022 world championships! Organizing one of the country’s first international events in a pandemic situation was a titanic challenge, with all the logistics that entails. Despite the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 protocol, we were still able to provide a memorable experience for the U13 and U15 youngsters in the Quebec Cup series, and for the Grand Prix series athletes who used the Elite transition zone. The Triple Crown challenge was also a great success for those” cranked up “enough to take on the challenge! Having said that, we’re all very much looking forward to doing it again, and to being able to organize more” standard “events with mass starts and celebrate everyone’s achievements with age-group podiums. Now, let’s plan for the 2022 world championships!”
The world’s best triathletes were in action from Friday for the qualifying heats. An intense new format that takes place over two days. The distance is very short, a super sprint: 300 m swim, 6.6 km bike and 2 km run. After qualifying and repechage, no Canadian managed to secure a ticket for the Saturday finals. Amélie Kretz, from Sainte-Thérèse, was forced to withdraw from Friday’s qualifiers due to injury, while Montrealer Jérémy Briand was unable to qualify for the finals.
On Saturday, Olympic champion Flora Duffy beat three Americans (23:07) to claim her second career title at the Montreal International Triathlon. She edged out Taylor Knibb (23:14) , who was out in front on the bike for all the weekend’s races, and Taylor Spivey (23:24), who consoled herself for not taking part in the Olympic Games with a fine third place.
In the men’s category, no fewer than four Frenchmen had made the trip, and it was well worth the effort, as the grand finale resulted in a resounding hat-trick. Dorian Coninx (22:07), who narrowly qualified for the second race (9th), crossed the line in first place, just ahead of Vincent Luis (22:08) and Léo Bergère (22:10), to win his second WTS. France achieved an historic hat-trick, only the second time in history.
Jérémy Briand and Emy Legault experienced their first selection in the mixed relay at home, during a leg of the World Triathlon Series. The two Quebecers were paired with young Ontarian Kira Gupta-Baltazar and British Columbian Brock Hoel. Although Kira Gupta-Baltazar was first out of the water, the gap with the best teams in the field widened as the race went on. In the end, it was the Americans who came out on top, followed by the New Zealanders and the Italians. Quebecer Jérémy Briand, the team’s last relay runner, crossed the finish line in 8th place.
After two stages in sprint format, it’s time for something new! The program included super-sprint time trial semi-finals, followed by A and B finals based on the morning’s results over the same distance.
In the women’s race, in the absence of Kira Gupta-Balthazar and Emy Legault, winners of the first two stages, several athletes were in with a shout of victory. First out of the water, Maïra Carreau got on the bike with a small group of athletes including Noémie Beaulieu, Claudie Simard, Kamille Larocque and Jamie Harker. Having arrived in T2 as a group, victory would come down to a race between these six young women. In the end, it was Noémie Beaulieu (22:05) who came out on top thanks to an incredible footrace, ahead of Maïra Carreau (22:11) and Kamille Larocque (22:35).
On the men’s side, Charles Paquet (19:55) was the favorite to win the WTSC, and he lived up to his billing. Emerging from the water in the lead with Filip Mainville, the two Rouge et Or athletes took control of the race and never relinquished it. In the footrace, the Port-Cartier athlete got the better of his young compatriot to claim his second victory in two participations this season. He was joined on the podium by Filip Mainville (20:09) and Mathis Beaulieu (20:21).
Back to sprint distance for participants in the Quebec Cup presented by Spark Sports Nutrition. As is now customary, a rolling start was the order of the day in order to respect the distance. In the men’s race, victory went to Calgarian Hayden Woodrow (57:54), ahead of Université de Montréal wooden-bike athlete Ilrick Duhamel (1:01:36) and Étienne Chevrier (1:02:31), who, like his daughter in the U13 category, finished on the podium. In the women’s category, Vancouver athlete Chelsea Raymond (1:09:13) topped the podium, ahead of Ann-Sophie Czech (1:09:55) and Annabelle Laurin (1:10:15).
At the last minute, thanks to the goodwill of the TMGC organizing committee, the young Quebec triathletes were lucky enough to benefit from the same transition zone as their idols. As with the first stage in the Outaouais region, no sillonnage was allowed on this third stage. The U15 women’s podium was a copy/paste of last week’s, with Samantha Wood (Tri-O-Lacs) winning, followed by Charlotte Fournier (Jet Triathlon) and Béatrice Normand (Tri-O-Lacs). In the men’s U15 category, after his disqualification from Duchesnay, Léandre Binette took his revenge and won the gold medal ahead of Saskatchewan’s Henry Bristol and Philippe Tarini. In the U13 women’s category, Danika Robert topped the podium, followed by Catherine Chevrier and Elaine King. Finally, in the U13 men’s category, Vincent Leduc, Alexandre Lajoie and Leiland O’Reilly rounded out the podium.
The promise was: “You’ll have the opportunity to take part in the new Triple Crown Challenge by participating in two distances and tripling the fun! This” Triple Couronne Montréal 2021 “challenge includes the sprint/super sprint combo as well as a second super sprint, just to make it hurt your thighs even more.” The promise seems to have been kept, and this new challenge very much appreciated by triathletes. A new triathlon staple in Quebec!
Find all the results here !
