With Yee Favored for Gold, France Looks to Upset Brit on Their Turf

Good morning everyone,

I can’t believe it’s already been three years since I couldn’t dive in to Tokyo Bay because a boat’s propeller was right in front of me.

Boat issues notwithstanding, the triathlon events in Paris will no doubt showcase incredible performances and crown worthy champions.

• So let’s sit back and enjoy the show. First up, the men’s race.

Thanks for being here,

-Matt Sharpe, newsletter editor

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TEMPO AT THE GAMES

With Yee Favoured for Gold, France Looks to Upset Brit on Their Turf

What is it: After a shortened three-year gap, the men’s Olympic triathlon should - water quality withstanding - be held tomorrow morning in Paris.

The podium returns: The reigning gold medalist, Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR) returns to Paris to defend his Olympic title. Since his impressive win in Tokyo he’s been tearing up the long course world winning the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship, placing second at the IRONMAN World Championships, and winning the T100 Asian Open.

• His return to short course racing has been less than golden with a 10th place in Yokohama as his best result this year.

Alex Yee (GBR) will be looking to upgrade his Tokyo silver to Paris gold. Wins in last year’s Paris test event and WTCS Cagliari in May showed his dominance. But he hasn’t always risen to the occasion in big moments.

• At the 2022 Grand Final, Yee had the World Championship within grasp, but a poor swim sunk his race and Frenchman Leo Bergere took the crown.

• And it was Deja vu at the 2023 Grand Final as a shocking swim saw Yee lose the world title to Dorian Coninx (FRA).

But with Sam Dickinson (GBR) being tasked to guide Yee through the swim and bike, we could see the Brit breakthrough on the big day.

And the bronze medalist from Tokyo, Hayden Wilde (NZ), has shown an improved swim and his class on the bike and run speak for themselves with plenty of World Triathlon Championship Series podiums.

• But a difficult pre-Olympic build battling Covid and rumblings of an injury could set him back in his quest for gold.

The likely race scenario: In World Triathlon series races we typically see a large pack of 30-40 athletes form on the bike and roll onto T2 together. We will probably see this play out but with roughly 20-30 athletes.

• In this scenario, elite runners like Yee, Wilde, and Morgan Pearson (USA) are most likely to land on the podium.

The intriguing breakaway: However, the Olympics is unlike any other race for two reasons:

1. There are less athletes in the field with only 55 lined up in Paris.

2. There is a greater spread in performance levels due to lower numbers of athletes from powerhouse countries.

This means there are less athletes to fill in gaps, and allows for a greater likelihood of a breakaway. In a breakaway scenario, unlikely as it it, select athletes could medal, or even bring home the gold,

• Matt Hauser (AUS)

• Martin Van Riel (BEL)

• Leo Bergere (FRA)

• Dorian Coninx (FRA)

• Pierre Le Corre (FRA)

• Vasco Vilaca (POR)

Tempo’s take: If I was going to lay some serious cash down, my money would be on Alex Yee. Even in the unlikely event of a breakaway, they would have to gain a serious time advantage going into T2.

• He’s shown his run is in a class of its own race after race. And with the addition of his Domestique it’s incredibly hard to see him without a gold medal around his neck on Tuesday.

History has shown that in big races a breakaway can win the day. But it will require a true team mentality to pull it off, at least until they hit the run…

Start time: The race kicks off at 8 AM in Paris.

FAVOURITES

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