Podiums for New Zealand Triathletes in Antwerp

The 2019 Antwerp World Cup provided another dose of dramatic sprint-distance racing and some truly memorable performances on what was a steamy Sunday afternoon in Belgium.

New Zealand had three starters in each of the races (men's and women's) and confidence was high after Tayler Reid's sprint finish to narrowly miss out on top spot last year, Hayden Wilde being allocated race number one and the team being in good form after some solid training blocks and hard racing.
Hayden Wilde’s complete absence of any luck whatsoever in Antwerp continued as he snapped a valve and once again had his race cut short on the first lap of the bike. Team mate Kyle Smith also had a puncture.

The race came down to a pack of seven into the last lap of the run with Reid in the mix. Eventually Gabriel Sandor of Sweden and Reid edged clear of the pack with the Swede narrowly out front as they hit the blue carpet before Reid dug in, memories of being outrun last year still fresh in his mind. Last year’s silver medallist Reid timed his final attack perfectly this time around, flying to the tape two seconds ahead of Sandor, a delighted Diego Moya of Chile delivering bronze.

Reid was happy to take the win "Frothing to take the win after second place last year. Learned from my mistakes and timed my sprint a lot later than last year. Pinned the ears back and full gak to the finish."
For the full men’s results click here
Nicole van der Kaay, Ainsley Thorpe and Sophie Corbidge all lined up for New Zealand at Antwerp.
With solid performances on the swim and the bike, New Zealand’s Thorpe and van der Kaay were going well but by the bell it was Laura Lindemann and Lisa Tertsch both of Germany who gradually stretched away from the New Zealanders and France’s Pauline Landron were locked into a battle for third.
With half a lap to go, Tertsch found yet another gear, one that this time left her compatriot in her wake. By the tape, she had opened up an impressive 18-second margin over Lindemann in second. Behind the two Germans, it was Ainsley Thorpe who was able to edge out her rivals down the chute and take home a first ever World Cup bronze with van der Kaay finishing in fifth and Corbidge in fifteenth .

Thorpe was xtremely happy with her performance. "I'm happy to win my first World Cup medal. I Focused on the finer details of what I needed to work on and thankfully it all went to plan and my hard work paid off today."
For the full women’s results click here
Triathlon New Zealand's National Performance Manager Stephen Sheldrake is says it was a mixed of racing with three top tens and some bad luck. 'Two punctures from Hayden and Kyle, two great podiums with Tayler taking the win and Ainsley with her first world cup podium and a very solid return to form from Nicole with a fifth place. The course here takes no prisoners with big Belgium cobbles. Tayler used his experience from last year's race and timed his sprint to perfection. Ainsley showed us today what she is capable of."

Athlete Information

Tayler Reid

Tayler is the current U23 World Triathlon Champion having taken out the title at the 2018 ITU World Triathlon Grand Final on the Gold Coast. Tayler is originally from Gisborne but currently resides in Cambridge with the High Performance Team. Tayler is also doing his Business Degree via Massey University.

Ainsley Thorpe

Ainsley Thorpe comes from a strong sporting family and is from Auckland but is currently based in Cambridge. Ainsley had her first World Cup Race in 2018 and has been a key part of New Zealand’s success in the mixed relay format.

Sophie Corbidge

Sophie lives and trains in Cambridge and comes from an 800m athletics background, so thrives in short-distance events like the mixed relay.
Sophie is also studying a Post Grad Diploma of Teaching at Waikato University and works in social media.

Nicole van der Kay

Nicole was attracted to triathlon for its variety and capacity to absorb her boundless energy.
Last year saw Nicole’s best results include a fourth place finish in the ITU Triathlon Grand Final Gold Coast and podiums at various other ITU events.
Orginally from Taupo, van der Kaay is currently studying towards a BSc in Psychology and is based in Cambridge.

Hayden Wilde

Hayden comes from a long distance off road background and has raced the Coast to Coast, Xterra and has been the ITU Cross Tri U23 World Champion. Hayden is originally from Whakatane but currently trains in Tauranga. He made the change to ITU triathlon to chase his dreams to compete at the Olympic Games. In 2 years he has dropped his world ranking into the top 60.

About Antwerp World Cup

Having marked its return to hosting Elite international racing last year, Antwerp welcomed another stellar line up of athletes to Belgium for men’s and women’s sprint-distance races. The city-centre course begins and ends on the edge of the Willemdock, a flat, fast and occasionally cobbled surface with just two major hairpins for the cyclists to negotiate, as they look to position themselves well for the final 5km run and, ultimately, a shot at that prestigious World Cup podium.

About World Triathlon

The International Triathlon Union (ITU) is the international governing body for the multi-sport disciplines of triathlon, duathlon, aquathlon and other nonstandard variations. The ITU host the top level international race series including the ITU World Triathlon Series, the World Mixed Relay Series and the ITU Triathlon World Cups.

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