SINGAPORE: The T100 Triathlon World Tour season is about to commence in Singapore, with the participation of some of the world’s elite triathletes. The much-awaited event will take place at the Marina Bay on Apr 5 and 6. The Women’s Pro race will happen on Saturday, while the Men’s Pro race will follow next on Sunday.
What is the Singapore T100?
The Singapore T100 is an exciting multi-sport festival with events suitable for all fitness levels. Aside from the Pro races, experienced amateurs can enjoy challenging themselves with the 100-km triathlon (2-km swim, 80-km cycle, and 18-km run), which has a route similar to the Pro race.
Other fitness fans can join two Duathlon events: the Standard (4 km run, 32 km cycle, and 6 km run) or the Long option (8 km run, 64 km cycle, and 10 km run). Moreover, there will be a Music Run on Saturday evening that will feature a 5-km fun run, allowing participants to feel the beat of the music as they journey along the route.
Several roads will be closed starting on Saturday, Apr 5, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Road closures will continue until Sunday, Apr 6, from 3 a.m. to 7 p.m. The following roads are affected: Bayfront Ave, Sheares Avenue, ECP Exits 14, 14A & 15, Rochor Road, and Ophir Road. On Sunday, additional closures will affect Nicoll Highway and Republic Avenue.
Athletes who are ready to race
One of the athletes who will participate in the upcoming events is Marten Van Riel, the reigning T100 men’s world champion. The Singapore T100 defending champion, Youri Keulen, will also be joining the race, as will Paris Olympics triathlon silver medallist Hayden Wilde and bronze medallist Léo Bergère.
Keulen expressed regarding the upcoming race: “There’s a quote that a coach once said to me: The fact that you prepared well doesn’t mean that you deserve to win. You will need to bring it on race day to get there. That’s the most important thing for me—the fact that I prepared well, the fact that I won here last year, doesn’t mean that I can win this year. It’s just on me on race day to show that I can, so I don’t really feel pressure.”
He added: “What happened last year, there’s no guarantee that will happen again this year. We have new guys in the field, we have a new series of racing—it’s a new year, everyone’s gotten stronger, including myself, and the most important thing for me now is to just stay calm, relax, focus and just execute the plan that my coaches and I made.”
Photo credits: T100
On the women’s side, Ashleigh Gentle from Australia hopes to win another title in Singapore. However, there will be tough competition against Olympic silver medalist Julie Derron and Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion Flora Duffy.
With this, Gentle admitted, “Singapore is definitely one of the hardest races on the circuit. It’s one that you have to definitely train pretty specifically for. You can’t go there unprepared. You have to be ready for the heat and humidity. I like the heat, so it gives me motivation to go into a race like Singapore because I feel like I can thrive, and hopefully, other athletes can hurt a little bit more than me. I’ve won it two completely different ways…. I’m going to be prepared. The goal for 2025 is to try and become the T100 world champion.”
Photo credits: T100
The 2025 T100 Triathlon Tour will have nine races. Here is the schedule and pit stops of the series:
- Singapore (Apr 5 and 6)
- San Francisco (May 31 and Jun 1)
- Vancouver (Jun 13 to 15)
- France (Jun 27 to 29)
- London (Aug 9 and 10)
- Valencia (Sep 20)
- Lake Las Vegas and Dubai (Nov 15 and 16)
- Qatar (Dec 12 and 13)
To mark the success of a five-year partnership with Visit Qatar, the conclusion of the series will include a new Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Final.
More activities for triathletes in SG
Before the start of the T100 weekend, the athletes participated in several community activities in Singapore.
T100 triathletes Lucy Charles-Barclay, Kate Waugh, and Jess Learmonth were invited by Great Britain’s rugby team at the Tanglin Junior School, and they swapped their bike turbos for spin classes during a fun session.
Moreover, German Ironman 70.3 World Champion Rico Bogen and 2024 Miami T100 champion India Lee made an appearance at an event marking the World Aquatic Championships, which will happen from Jul 11 to Aug 3. The triathletes joined three teams as they launched the SG60 Swim Challenge, the event’s initiative to encourage more people to be interested in swimming.
With the experience, Bogen expressed: “It’s my first time here in Singapore, and it’s cool. I like the heat and humidity, and Asian food is really good. Up until 16-years-old, I was competing as a professional swimmer, and 200-m backstroke was my best discipline before I turned to triathlon. Hosting the World Championships is the most important race, so it’s very cool the World Aquatic Championships are here. As an aspiring professional swimmer, one of my goals was to compete at a World Championship—level race. It was cool to see all ages getting involved, including a 79-year-old woman in another relay team.”
