Jeanne Lehair, who finished second in the Supertri last year but was frustrated after a fall on the bike at the Paris Olympics, took a brilliant victory in the first Supertri race of 2024, winning in Boston.

All races now take place in the enduro format – the same one that Luxembourg athlete Lehair won in London last year – which consists of three disciplines: swimming/cycling/running.

Lehair, who led the Podium Racing Team, was the only one of the four-man leading group to have a “short slide” in the ninth and final stage, but in truth she probably would have won even without it.

Georgia Taylor-Brown finished second, with her Crown Racing teammate Kate Waugh, the reigning champion, third.

Stage 1 – Brownlee Racing in the lead

Three laps of swimming/cycling/running began under cloudy skies at 12:43 local time, but the rain that had been falling all morning had stopped.

And the first of nine stages saw a good start for Brownlee Racing, but it was Vittória Lopes (Podium Racing) who was by far the strongest and took the first short slide for Podium Racing.

Lehair was six seconds back, closely followed by Waugh, then came Taylor-Brown at +11, Beth Potter at +12 and Olympic champion Cassandre Beaugrand at +15.

The swimming once again showed the clever tactics of Podium Racing manager Tim Don, who has led his teams to two Super League titles in the last three years, as his athletes ran on the outside, benefited from the current and secured good placings.

On the bikes, it was relatively evenly matched with four Brits at the front – GTB, Waugh (both Crown Racing), then Olivia Mathias and Jess Fullagar (both Brownlee Racing), followed by Lehair.

Brownlee Racing got the short slide behind the bike over Fullagar, who handled the traffic jam on T2 best.

On the run, Beaugrand tried to close the gap to this group of five, but was unable to do so as GTB ran away from the field to prevent the third short corner from leading elsewhere.

Stage 2 – Zaferes leaves the race

During the swim the gaps narrowed, but on the bike we still had our leading group of five – Taylor-Brown, Waugh, Mathias, Fullagar and Lehair.

Lehair was the one who had a little trouble keeping up – but she was spurred on by the fact that she got her team’s short parachute.

It was a more difficult decision for Crown Racing’s Chris McCormack, but he opted to put Beaugrand at the front of the race instead of Waugh and GTB.

In the changeover after the cycling it was Waugh who came out first and last year’s overall Super League winner began to leave the rest behind.

Katie Zafares, meanwhile, had problems – her manager Parker Spencer announced that she had been ill beforehand – and dropped out shortly before the race after falling 90 seconds behind.

In fact, her entire Stars & Stripes team barely made an impression at the front of the race, with the exception of the catching Taylor Spivey.

Stage 3 – Lehair defeats Crown duo

At the start of the final swim of the day, it was Waugh, Lehair and Taylor-Brown – all Super League/Supertri winners – who had left the rest behind.

But then Spivey caught up with them, 11 seconds ahead of them, and was able to get right up there with them, and it seemed as if the quartet would win the race together.

Was there, understandably, Olympic fatigue among gold and bronze medallists Beaugrand and Potter? They were not at their best and Potter was in danger of being eliminated due to the 90-second rule.

The first four were well ahead of the others (over 20 seconds, which is a huge achievement in super triathlon), but only Lehair had a short slide ahead of him and they all started the race relatively together.

Spivey was quickest in transition and came out first, chased by Taylor-Brown and Waugh. There was a small gap to Lehair, but the short slide helped her get back in touch before she opened the throttle and moved to the front.

Four soon became three – Lehair in the lead, Taylor-Brown second, Waugh third and Spivey lost touch in fourth place.

And Lehair proved to be the strongest by a wide margin, pulling away and never looking back. She had time for high fives on the home straight as Taylor-Brown and Waugh chased her to the finish.

Supertri Boston Results

Sunday, 18 August 2024 – Enduro – Elite Women

• 1. Jeanne Lehair (Podium Racing) – 1:05:52
• 2. Georgia Taylor-Brown (Crown Racing) – +4
• 3. Kate Waugh (Crown Racing) – +9
• 4. Taylor Spivey (Stars & Stripes) – +23 seconds
• 5. Leonie Periault (Podium Racing) – +38