San Francisco, USA: Great Britain’s Kate Waugh and Belgium’s Jelle Geens have opened up going into this Saturday’s second T100 Triathlon World Tour race in the iconic city of San Francisco.
One is seeking to live up to the promise of their debut victory in Singapore last month; whilst the other is looking for redemption after a disappointing DNF.
Ahead of tackling the legendary Escape From Alcatraz course, both are talking exclusively on the Countdown To San Francisco T100 preview show, which is available now on YouTube.
“I quite liked being the underdog into the race,” said Waugh, a 26 year old British Olympian, who burst onto the scene at the Singapore T100 with the biggest margin of victory in the history of the Professional Triathletes Organisation’s 100km races. “I quite like being able to slip under the radar and do my thing. But I obviously didn’t expect the race to go quite like that.”
“I’d be lying if I said I haven’t got a lot of confidence from Singapore and now I’m thinking I can dream big and I’m thinking, okay, how can I make this year really great.”
“It would be cool to have the pressure of the target on my back. I think it’s a privilege to be in that position and to be seen as one of the ones to beat.”
On her duel with 2024 T100 World Champion, American Taylor Knibb, who was unbeaten over the 100km distance last year, Waugh said:
“I’ve raced Taylor for 10 years now. We’re a similar age so I think I first raced her at a European Cup when we were 16 (picture above). I know the kind of athlete she is, I know how strong she is on the bike. She’s always been such a powerhouse and I’ve always had a lot of respect for the way she races. I love how she takes the bull by the horns and just goes for it. I’ve always thought of myself as an athlete who wants to do the same. I want to be a complete triathlete, I’ve always been determined to do that. I want to be strong across all three [disciplines] so I’m excited to race her.”
On the men’s side, Belgian Jelle Geens caused shockwaves in his first T100 race in Lake Las Vegas last October, beating his all conquering compatriot Marten Van Riel.
But the new guard of New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde, who took control and won in a hot and humid Singapore, changed the dynamic. Unfortunately, a serious bike accident for Wilde in Japan has meant he will be missing from this race, so there’s an opportunity for others to make up ground while he recovers.
“I was on a good winning streak since the Lake Las Vegas T100 last year,” says Geens. “But I guess everything has to end. After that win, there is a bit more expectation from the outside world but also from myself.”
Looking ahead to the challenge of jumping into the deep waters of the Bay from the San Francisco Spirit, Geens said:
“I really want to finish on the podium or fight for the win. I like these races where you know in advance all the best people are there. I think it’s the highest level [of racing] there’s ever been in middle distance racing.”
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.
How To Watch
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 T100 Triathlon Live Data Dashboard is available at t100triathlon.com/live/ and is packed with extra information on the races. Including pivotal moments in the races, such as lead changes, fastest discipline times, penalty information and more. Fans can also stay abreast of how the action will affect the T100 Race To Qatar Standings as the race unfolds via the ‘Virtual Standings’ tab. All this is on top of the live leaderboard, which shows key data such as splits to leader, groups, speeds, positions gained and Heart Rate effort.
For the full start lists visit https://stats.protriathletes.org/race/san-francisco-t100/2025/participants
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
-ends-
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
