Vancouver, Canada: Swiss star Julia Derron chased down the returning British T100 World Champion Kate Waugh on the run to record her first T100 victory of the season in Vancouver.
Second in Vancouver last year to American Taylor Knibb, Derron would not be denied the top step this time despite a valiant performance from Waugh – who was returning from a calf injury that has dogged her season to date meaning this was only her first T100 race of the year.
Third was British Olympic champion Georgia Taylor-Brown and fourth was home favourite Paula Findlay, caught by Taylor-Brown with just over 5km to go, but not before she’d taken the lead on the bike and given a vociferous Canadian crowd plenty to cheer about.
The result means that Derron takes the lead in the T100 Race To Qatar on 64 points, with Simmonds in second on 62 points and Taylor-Brown in third on 61. Athletes select their best three finishes plus the Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Final.
Next up for the women is the Dubai T100 Triathlon on 14 November. Whilst the men return to action at the Ekoï French Riviera T100 on 19 September.
Key Quotes
WInner: Julie Derron (SUI)
About T2 and gaining time by not putting socks on:
“I’m a bit known to not wear socks on the T100 course, and that makes a difference in transition.”
About the run:
“I was flying out there. I really felt good. I knew that I had a chance to catch Kate, and I just kept going until the finish line and to come away with the win is amazing.”
About racing the Vancouver T100:
“I had so much good energy coming back here. I had so much fun here last year. I love racing in Canada. To come back and just feel really comfortable and happy to be here, excited to race, It just makes a difference. It helps to execute a good race.”
About the prize money:
“I was talking with my dad here, he accompanied me to this race, and we were joking that now I have to pay him business class to fly home. So yeah, maybe you hear it here first.”
Third: Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR)
On the race:
“I nearly got to the lead group, but not quite. We were close, and then, yeah, I don’t know. We just had a big line of girls. It just became really messy and back and forth and, like, freewheeling and then we lost contact with the lead group, So, it was a bit frustrating, but that’s my fault, you know. I just didn’t make the right moves at the right time. But I found it really hard today.”
On today’s performance:
“I’m really happy with this performance today. The run was the best part. I mean, there’s still quite a lot to work on. My swim wasn’t great. My bike was ok, but overall it was decent. I’m happy enough. I’m not, like, super happy, but I’m happy enough.”
Fourth: Paula Findlay (CAN)
“I was on the fence about doing this, but I’m really glad I did. I felt actually good, and I was able to push really hard. I kept some high intensity training throughout the full training [for the Ironman she’d done a couple of weeks ago], so I don’t think I lost the speed completely. But this was a really competitive field, so to come fourth was beyond what I ever expected.”
On the home crowd support:
“Yeah, that was the biggest reason I wanted to come do this. I knew that the crowd support would be amazing no matter where I was in the race. So to be up on the podium contending for third was even more exciting. It was amazing.”
HOW THE RACE UNFOLDED
With an air temperature of 21°, the beautiful Locarno Beach launched the professional women into the 2026 Vancouver T100. Reigning T100 World Champion Kate Waugh (GBR) led at the start of the swim, and was joined by Taylor Spivey (USA), Imogen Simmonds (SUI), Lena Meissner (GER) and Sara Pérez Sala (ESP) in the leading group, with Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR) leading the next group seven seconds behind after the first lap. At the end of the swim, Spivey was leading, followed closely by Waugh, Sala, Meissener and SImmonds. The gap to GTB’s group grew to 41 seconds behind the leader. A long run in the sand to T1 followed the 2km swim. Spivey lost time in transition, with Briton Waugh leading onto the bike by three seconds to German Meissner.
The 80km bike leg took the athletes along the Spanish Banks with 5 laps of 14.1km taking in the University of British Columbia Campus. Swiss superstar Julie Derron made her way through the field, having started the bike with an almost 90 second deficit. She fought her way back to the front of the race, joining Paula Findlay (CAN), Waugh and Simmonds with over half of the 80km bike left to ride, and left T2 second with a 48 second gap to close to leader Waugh.
Canadian Findlay worked her way through the field from 13th after the swim all the way to leading her home race at the 55km to go mark. Waugh eventually retook the lead and pulled out an advantage of 48 seconds over Simmonds and Derron heading into T2, and Findlay was not far behind after recording the fastest bike split of 2:01:13.
A smooth transition ensured Waugh maintained her lead to start the 18km run back along Locarno Beach and Spanish Banks Beach Park. Derron immediately left behind compatriot Simmonds to chase down Waugh and the victory. Simmonds was soon joined and overtaken by Findlay, who then began to increase her buffer to the Swiss for that final podium place.
Derron was on a charge! She took the lead from Waugh with just less than 9km to the finish. With less than 6km to go, Findlay was overtaken by the 2026 Spain T100 Triathlon winner, Georgia Taylor-Brown, who moved onto the podium.
Derron was victorious in Vancouver, crossing the finish line in a time of 3:33:26, almost 2 minutes ahead of Waugh on her return from injury. The final podium place was taken by Britain’s Taylor-Brown, 3 minutes down on Derron, with home heroine Findlay a further 27 seconds behind in 4th.
Race Finish
| Position | Athlete | Finish | T100 Race To Qatar Points | Prize Money |
| 1 | Julie Derron | 3:33:26 | 35 | $50,000 |
| 2 | Kate Waugh | 3:35:06 | 29 | $40,000 |
| 3 | Georgia Taylor-Brown | 3:36:27 | 26 | $30,000 |
| 4 | Paula Findlay | 3:36:55 | 23 | $25,000 |
| 5 | Imogen Simmonds | 3:38:10 | 20 | $21,000 |
| 6 | Bianca Bogen | 3:38:54 | 18 | $18,000 |
| 7 | Alanis Siffert | 3:39:16 | 16 | $15,000 |
| 8 | Taylor Spivey | 3:40:16 | 14 | $13,000 |
| 9 | Hannah Berry | 3:40:30 | 12 | $10,000 |
| 10 | Nicole Van Der Kay | 3:42:04 | 11 | $7,500 |
| 11 | Sara Pérez Sala | 3:42:34 | 10 | $6,500 |
| 12 | Audrey Merle | 3:44:06 | 9 | $6,000 |
| 13 | Lena Meissner | 3:44:51 | 8 | $5,500 |
| 14 | Daisy Davies | 3:45:33 | 7 | $5,000 |
| 15 | Lotte Wilms | 3:46:04 | 6 | $4,500 |
| 16 | Lydia Russell | 3:46:15 | 5 | $4,000 |
| 17 | Lizzie Rayner | 3:48:32 | 4 | $3,500 |
| 18 | Rebecca Anderbury | 3:50:28 | 3 | $3,500 |
| 19 | Ellie Salthouse | 3:52:19 | 2 | $3,500 |
Earlier in the day, it was the amateurs who kicked off the weekend by taking on Olympic and Sprint distance triathlons. Following the professional women’s race it will be the turn of the youngsters in a Junior Sprint triathlon. Tomorrow will see more than 1,000 amateurs take on the T100. In total the event will see more than 2,000 amateurs take part.
-ends-
Note To Editors:
- Vancouver is a west coast jewel set in an ancient rainforest, where the Coast Mountains meet the Pacific Ocean. The PTO and T100 Triathlon World Tour gratefully acknowledges that we live, work, compete and connect on the traditional, unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) and we thank them for their stewardship of these lands and waters since time immemorial.
How the 2026 T100 Triathlon World Tour works:
- Athletes score 35 points for first place to 1 pt for 20th place at each of the races; 2nd – 29 points; and 3rd – 26 points
- The Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Final has increased points to up the ante (55 pts down to 4 pts)
- Each athlete’s best three T100 race scores plus the Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Final will count towards the women’s and men’s T100 World Championship titles
- $275,000 USD prize fund at each T100, totalling $2,750,000 across the nine races (1st place – $50,000k; 2nd – $40,000; 3rd – $30,000 at each race)
- The series winners following the Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Final will be crowned T100 Triathlon World Champion and collect $100,000 USD from an additional total prize pool of $1,450,000 (2nd – $80,000; 3rd – 75,000)
- Between the T100 race prize fund and T100 Triathlon World Tour pool, the series provides $4,200,000 in athlete compensation, and is distributed in a way that not only rewards the winners, but also recognises the significant achievement of racing at this level
- For more details, visit https://t100triathlon.com/pro-racing/
For Further Information:
PTO – Anthony Scammell E: [email protected]
About Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO)
The PTO is a sports body that is co-owned by its professional athletes, seeking to elevate and grow the sport of triathlon and take it to the next level. Its T100 Triathlon World Tour was introduced in January 2024 and is designated by World Triathlon as the ‘official World Championship for long distance triathlon’. This is part of a 12-year strategic partnership with the sport’s international governing body to develop the sport and it will grow further in 2027 with the launch of the new Triathlon World Tour. The T100 Triathlon World Tour is a season-long schedule of World Championship level races competed over 100km (2km swim, 80km bike and 18km run), where the world’s best triathletes go head-to-head in iconic locations. In 2026, the T100 Tour will deliver its 9-stop T100 Race To Qatar to: the Gold Coast (21-22 March), Singapore (25-26 April), Spain (23-24 May), San Francisco (6-7 June), Vancouver (15-16 August), French Riviera (19-20 September), Dubai (12-15 November), Saudi Arabia (November) & Qatar (11-12 December). T100 weekends are ‘festivals of multisport’ and feature a range of opportunities for amateur athletes of all levels to get involved. From experienced amateurs tackling the 100km distance to first-time swim, bike and run participants taking on single discipline, untimed events. For more information visit www.t100triathlon.com
World Triathlon
World Triathlon is the international governing body for the Olympic and Paralympic sport of triathlon and all related multisport disciplines around the world, including duathlon, aquathlon, cross triathlon and winter triathlon. Triathlon made its Olympic debut in Sydney 2000, with a third medal event, the Mixed Team Relay, added to the programme at Tokyo 2020, while para triathlon was first added to the Paralympic programme at Rio 2016. World Triathlon is proudly committed to the development of the sport worldwide, with inclusion, equality, sustainability and transparency at our core as we seek to help triathletes at all levels of the sport to be extraordinary.
