By Will Castle

Belgian wildcard Jelle Geens claimed his first T100 win at his very first attempt in Lake Las Vegas during a dramatic duel in the desert with compatriot and close friend Marten Van Riel.

Geens’ debut win came courtesy of a blistering run leg, where he averaged 3:13 minutes per km on a brutal run course around the stunning Reflection Bay Golf Course, which had 500 metres in elevation of savage inclines and steep descents.

Geens also broke Van Riel’s unbeaten six-race winning streak in middle distance triathlons, which dated back to November 2019.

“It sounds crazy, but a month ago I wasn’t sure if I could even start here, so now to win here, it’s a great honour – and it was a hard and tough battle with Marten,” he said.

“We said for years when we were still doing short course it would be cool to be on the podium together and it never happened in short course, but it’s happened now in our first battle over middle distance.

“I felt really good on the run. Even when Marten came back, I felt in control and felt I was going to go for it on the last lap.

“I kept trying to put pressure on the uphill because that’s where I’m strongest and I tried to get every lap better at the downhill but it really wasn’t easy for me.

“My knees are really hurting now. But I felt confident. I was still running a bit on fear during the downhill sections. But once I had a gap on the downhills, I started believing it.”

Geens and Van Riel played cat and mouse on the run, with Van Riel resiliently holding on up the climbs and then squeezing the gap down on the descents.

However, Van Riel’s efforts to catch back up took their toll and Geens was able to hold on to cross the line in first, with Van Riel happy to relinquish his unbeaten streak to a man he has raced against since they were teenagers.

“It was very tough from the start to the end actually,” said Van Riel. “The course is brutal but I was actually suffering on the bike already.

“I saw Jelle was yo-yoing with the group and then it was the same on the run. He’s lighter than me so on the uphills he had the advantage but on the downhills I tried to use the gravity to pull him back.

“But in the end I cracked, I didn’t have it. So I’m very happy it’s Jelle that takes away the [winning] streak.”

The second place finish still puts Van Riel in pole position to win the first T100 men’s World Championship crown in Dubai next month - where a first, second or third place result will secure him the inaugural series title.

“That’s obviously very important,” Van Riel added. “I was quite scared on the bike because I felt like midway on the bike my watts were very high and I was starting to suffer a little bit and I was thinking, ‘oh, it’s better to finish high than completely burn myself and completely fade’.

“It was definitely playing a little bit in my head. But I’m in a very good position going into Dubai so that’s obviously a nice cushion.”