Reid wins elite and u23 races

FIRST MAN HOME: Tayler Reid crosses the finish line first at the end of the Oceania sprint triathlon in Devonport, Tasmania, on Saturday. Triathlon Australia picture

Tayler Reid has started his triathlon season in style, winning a sprint meet in Tasmania.

The Gisborne triathlete won both the Oceania championship elite men’s race and under-23 category at Devonport on Saturday, outsprinting Australian Matt Roberts. New Zealand’s Trent Thorpe was third.

“I got up on my toes and I was just thinking about my form all the way to the finish,” Reid said.

“Once I could see that finish line, I was like ‘right, let’s go’ and just gave it everything.”

Reid, the u23 world champion, finished in 55 minutes and 46 seconds, three seconds ahead of Roberts.

Reid’s coach, Stephen Sheldrake, said the 22-year-old was traditionally a slow starter but he was quick out of the blocks in 2019, an Olympic qualification year.

“It’s a good way to start the season for Tayler,” he said.

New Zealand’s No.1 mixed team — Nicole van der Kaay, Reid, Ainsley Thorpe and Hayden Wilde — also had a win in the relay yesterday.

Australia were second and another New Zealand team were third.

The team’s win came despite Reid having a problem with his wetsuit zipper, Sheldrake said. Reid had to do the cycle and run with his wetsuit on.

“He still stayed up with the leaders and lost only about 15 seconds,” Sheldrake said.

Tokyo 2020 will be the first Olympics to have the mixed-teams event.

That will create some dilemmas for the New Zealand selectors and for the athletes as they balance their longer individual races with the sprinting needed for the relay.

Each athlete takes about 18 to 20 minutes to do their leg of the relay. A full triathlon can be completed in about one hour, 45 minutes to two hours.

Reid will have his first race of the season in the longer format next weekend when the World Triathlon Series starts in Abu Dhabi.

Sheldrake said Reid picked up world ranking points from his win but the quality of the field would improve in Abu Dhabi.

He will compete in a world cup race in New Plymouth at the end of the month, the Gold Coast Triathlon on April 7 and Queensland Triathlon a week later.

He will then have a short break before the Northern European season.