Reid in return to form

DRAMATIC BACKDROP: Tayler Reid competes in the Super League Jersey Men’s Pro race at the weekend. Picture by Darren Wheeler — That Cameraman/SuperLeague

TRIATHLON

TAYLER Reid has returned to form, finishing ninth in the penultimate race of the month-long triathlon Super League championship series.

The result came after he was eliminated before the end of the preceding week’s race for being too far off the leaders’ pace.

Reid had been ill in the lead-up to the series and felt sluggish in the opening two events, so this result is a massive step in the right direction.

“I’m stoked to feel more like myself and be back amongst the racing again,” he said.

Reid was unable to hold on to the “swim jersey” for the fastest competitor in the water. He has fallen back to third in the swim standings.

Although he was “gutted” to have lost the top spot, which comes with a prize of $20,000, he will have an opportunity to regain the jersey at the final instalment of the series in Malibu this weekend.

Reid is out of contention for the overall title. His early results left him out of the running for the top spot. He is 15th on the leaderboard.

The Super League series has competitors competing in slightly altered events each week to find the best overall triathlete in the world.

In the most recent instalment on Jersey in the Channel Islands, the athletes competed over three circuits of a 300-metre swim, four-kilometre bike and 1600m run. Each athlete had eight transition stages.

Kiwi triathlete Hayden Wilde is a serious contender to take home the $50,000 prize for first place overall after an exciting three-way sprint finish.

Wilde, who won the opening event in London, led the final run before running out of steam on the final corner to finish third behind runner-up and new Super League series leader Jonathan Brownlee.

Going into the Malibu event, Wilde is one point behind Brownlee, who has 41 points, and one point above the Jersey race winner Alex Yee.

The series leader going into the Malibu race, Vincent Luis, fell off the pace early, finishing eighth and falling back to fourth in the competition standings, with 37 points.