San Francisco, USA: French Olympic triathlete Vincent Luis will look to win the local support in tomorrow’s San Francisco T100 Triathlon which takes place on the legendary Escape From Alcatraz course by wearing a San Francisco 49ers tri suit, complete with the team’s iconic golden shorts and helmet.
Luis, who is new to the T100 Triathlon World Tour this season, having stepped up from Olympic distance racing and having competed at two Olympic Games in 2016 and 2020 – winning a bronze medal in the mixed relay in Tokyo – modelled the new suit in front of the Golden Gate Bridge this morning as well as playing a bit of football. See here for how he got on.
“We decided we’re going to do a few custom suits this year,” said the 35-year-old Frenchman. “The idea is to make seven or eight custom suits for the T100 races. And coming to San Francisco we thought it’s such an iconic city, between the bridge and the football fans, we thought we could do something really cool. I had to pick the San Francisco 49ers. I just thought the 49ers are really cool. I am also sponsored by Nike as well, so it worked from that point of view as well, given the 49ers are too.”
“The trickiest part was to replicate the shorts, because they play with the golden shorts. And on a tri suit, it’s really hard to do. But I’m working with great companies [including Specialized who made the helmet] and combined with the painter they can do amazing stuff, so we managed to pull out something crazy.”
Talking about the city, Luis went on:
“It’s good for training for a big city. I’m nicely surprised that you can ride your bike. There are not too many cars. You’re not getting honked all the time!. There are also a lot of options for coffee, which I’m happy with. And yeah, America, it’s cool and really convenient with everything. Seeing Alcatraz for real is also something a bit special. It’s an opportunity of a lifetime to be in a city like this.”
Luis is a big sports fan and supports soccer team Paris Saint-Germain, so whilst he’s obviously focused on tomorrow’s second T100 race of the season, which starts at 0600 local time for the men and 0645 for the women – he’s also got half an eye on their UEFA Champions League Final against Inter Milan which kicks off at 9pm CET / 12pm in San Francisco.
“I do have to make sure I’m back at the hotel for 12pm, because at 9pm French time, Paris Saint-Germain is playing the final of the Champions League. So yeah, that’s something special too. So I’m going to swap my 49ers tri suit for the PSG shirt and watch the game.”
How To Watch the San Francisco T100
The men’s San Francisco T100 race will start at 0600 local time, with the women’s race beginning at 0645. The broadcast commences from 0545 and you can tune in live for free globally on PTO+, or watch on our partners channels such as TNT Sports 2 in the UK, Max or Discovery+ in Europe, or beIN in North America. You can catch the highlights on FanDuel Sports Network in the US. For a full breakdown of where to watch, please visit: https://t100triathlon.com/san-francisco/pro/#how-to-watch
The San Francisco T100 Triathlon is a collaboration between the Professional Triathletes Organisation and IMG, who own and run the legendary Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon, which has been a bucket-list event for more than 40 years and seen the best professionals and amateurs try the impossible – to escape from Alcatraz Island. 2,000 more amateurs will attempt to do just that on Sunday 1 June starting at 7am, following the San Francisco T100 men’s and women’s professional races the day before (Saturday 31 May). An accompanying fitness festival will open on Sunday from 7am until 2.30pm. Further details here.
Notes To Editors
How the 2025 T100 Triathlon World Tour works:
- Athletes score 35 points for first place to 1 pt for 20th place at each of the nine races, with increased points for 2nd (up from 28 to 29 points); 3rd (up from 25 to 26); and 4th (up from 22 to 23), to encourage more competitive racing
- The Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Final has increased points to up the ante (55 pts down to 4 pts) as well as a similar upweight of points from 2nd (now 46 points from 45) to 13th position.
- Each athlete’s best four T100 race scores plus the Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Final will count towards the women’s and men’s T100 World Championship titles
- $250,000 USD prize fund at each T100, totalling $2,250,000 across the nine races (1st place – $25,000k; 2nd – $17,000; 3rd – $13,000 at each race)
- The series winners following the Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Final will be crowned T100 Triathlon World Champion and collect $200,000 USD from an additional total prize pool of $2,940,000
- The T100 Contenders Rankings will pay 1st to 40th place from a total prize pool of $560,000 (1st place – $16,000; 2nd place – $15,000; 3rd place – $14,000 down to 40th place – $3,000)
- Between the athlete contracts, T100 race prize fund, T100 Triathlon World Tour pool and the T100 Contenders Rankings, the series provides more than $8,000,000 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 and a pathway that feeds into the T100 series
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For Further Information:
Anthony Scammell E: [email protected]
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’, which is part of a 12-year strategic partnership with the sport’s international governing body. 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 on a global broadcast showing the races live around the world in 195+ territories, courtesy of the PTO’s partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery as well as a range of other international, regional and local broadcasters. In 2025 these will include: Singapore (5-6 April), San Francisco (31 May-1 June), Vancouver (13-15 June), London (9-10 August), France (29-31 August), Valencia (20 September), Lake Las Vegas (25-26 October), Dubai (15-16 November) and Qatar (12-13 December) for the first Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Final. 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
