Georgia Taylor-Brown was encouraged by another positive step in her quest to return to the sport’s elite as she finished sixth at WTCS London. The Olympic champion from Tokyo 2020 admitted she is not yet back to her best, but was pleased with how she competed against a world-class field on home soil at London’s ExCeL arena. The result was her fourth top-10 WTCS result of the year and followed her strongest performance of the season so far at the T100 Triathlon World Tour Spain, where she claimed victory in Pamplona.
Taylor-Brown: 'I'm really, really happy'
“I'm really, really happy. Obviously, I always want more, but to be honest, that's as much as I had today,” the 2020 world champion said. “My swim still needs to improve. I wasn't the worst swimmer, but I'm happy that things are heading in the right direction. I'm trying to be braver in the swim and attack it a bit more. I'm also trying to have super-fast and efficient transitions because you can lose or make up a lot of time there. The run is just about going out with the pace and hanging on for as long as I can because I don't really know where I'm at with my running at the minute. I don't control it as much as I used to.”
Bike leg frustration
Taylor-Brown admitted the bike leg was tricky because the London course did not provide many opportunities to make a decisive move. “The bike is frustrating because this course was really hard to get away on,” she continued. “With the wind, it was just too difficult. There wasn't enough technicality to it. I'm confident in my bike, though, and hopefully I can get to a course that suits me.”
Crowd support and race winner
The home crowd also provided an extra boost for Taylor-Brown, who praised the atmosphere created by British fans. “It’s been incredible,” she added. “The noise the crowd made for the British girls was incredible. That really spurs you on and gives you a little bit extra.” The race was won by the 2024 Olympic and world champion Cassandre Beaugrand, who came home ahead of the reigning world champion Lisa Tertsch, while Tilda Månsson completed the podium. “I’m very happy because I think sometimes people look at the races and think, ‘Oh, she wins again,’ and that it’s easy. But it’s actually not,” said Beaugrand. “It's always hard to win. Every race is challenging, and I think it's probably harder to stay at the top than it is to be the outsider trying to reach the top.” Britain’s Beth Potter finished fourth and remains top of the overall standings. British stars, including Alex Yee, Beth Potter, Georgia Taylor-Brown, and Sophie Evans, competed at the World Triathlon Championship Series (WTCS) London, with Olympic qualifying points on the line.
