If Gentle wins and Taylor comes 3rd or lower then Gentle wins the overall title. It was definitely worth a fiver. A mechanical on the bike or severe melt down in the heat could turn the tide in Ashley’s direction.
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Exactly, 16/1 was well worth a fiver!
Also done Brownlee and Duffy both to podium.
29C at 1600 (early in the run) and 39% humidity
(which has started broadcast)
T100 Athlete Tracker app can be downloaded on phone
Really, barring blow-ups, this is between Knibb and Gentle. Reasonable to note that Gentle performs best in the heat (eg Singapore (twice)): see Dallas: the only time Gentle has beaten Knibb (but way less humid today). Also it’s suggested that on a course like this with its turns and 180s and 170s, Knibb is comparatively less strong which will mean Gentle and Derron may be closer at T2.
Derron could win (which would make Gentle’s task to gain 13 points on Knibb a lot more difficult) and easy to see Duffy, Simmonds, Lee or Matthews on the podium if any of the first named three falter.
Taylor Knibb is taking the swim out hard.
I wonder if Perez Sala, Duffy are actually controlling their effort in water above 30C. We saw this in the hot water of Singapore, both years.
Ash and Derron are both with the front group at the Aussie exit!
Matthews in a ‘road’ helmet. Anyone else?
I guess the most likely scenario is knibb not going to win today
" We will see" 
Yes, difficult to see Knibb being able to hold on with such a limited lead.
Entirely possible to see Gentle winning and Knibb #3 (gentle Tour win!) but can Gentle beat Derron on foot (she needs to to win the tour)? Doubt it.
Derron training in China (and recently out in UAE since LLV) means she’ll be capable of coping with the heat (as will Gentle).
Jewett DNFd again: maybe those pesky corners on the bike.
Vicky and Jan are just by far the best combo out there. Voices good can actually be critical and not afraid to say that no it is not some crazy mastermind tactic going on it is just what they can do
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If Jan is correct that Taylor has lost 2 bottle of nutrition then that’s a disaster for her.
India Lee in a road helmet too
It will be tight derron looks composed though and overall seems to race a smidge smarter as well.
I would say likely less than a minute n between the top 3 at finish line
Derron is showing the rest of the women field how you ride corners. It looks like she’s saving energy compared to others, making her the primary bet to win today.
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Must admit irritated by Kelly.
He repeatedly said (and continues rabbitting on) “intentional” littering for Simmonds but we could see it wasn’t (and so could Holland who said so). She got 30s penalty: therefore judged unintentional.
Knibb chucked the bottle within the Litter Zone and it landed before the sign.
Kelly says the rules say if the bottle rolls out of the litter zone it’s a penalty. Talking boll0cks - the rules specify nothing like this. Why make it up: he can’t help himself, surfing on his wave of verbal diarrh0ea.
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It appeared to me that Taylor rode several laps without water and once she finally was able to take water on her pace picked up noticeably.
In Ibiza Derron beat Gentle by 51 seconds on the run (in 26C).
Simmonds had a lead of 3 minutes on Matthews in London and stayed ahead for #2 (losing 2:39). I’d say she has a great chance of #4, but does depend which version of Lee we see.
I can see Philipp and Matthews sweeping up the field on the run, but will struggle to catch Simmonds.
Here is my prediction for the final standings (made before T2):
| TaylorKnibb | 145 |
|---|---|
| AshleighGentle | 137 |
| IndiaLee | 98 |
| ImogenSimmonds | 101 |
| LauraPhilipp | 90 |
| KatMatthews | 91 |
| PaulaFindlay | 78 |
| LucyByram | 81 |
| JulieDerron | 111 |
| FloraDuffy | 71 |
What a race! Taylor is absolute nails
Now Taylor is clawing back time from Ash.