Gustav Iden and Ashleigh Gentle win first PTO race in Canada

Norwegian GUSTAV IDEN and Australian ASHLEIGH GENTLE are the winners of the first PTO race in Edmonton, Canada. Both of them secured a prize money of 100,000 dollars. The new format will be a 2km swim, 80km bike ride and 18km run. This is where the best short-distance and long-distance athletes meet.

The women's race

In the women's race, ASHLEIGH GENTLE, a surprise winner, prevailed against strong competition, led by LAURA PHILIPP. GENTLE, a short-distance athlete, has always stayed within striking distance of the top in her swim and bike ride. In cycling, Canadian PAULA FINDLAY initially took the lead with the strongest bike split of the day and switched to the running track a little over two minutes ahead of a five-man chasing group, including ASHLEIGH GENTLE. This then showed off its qualities in the final discipline. After eight kilometers she had accumulated the deficit to the leader FINDLAY, took the lead and did not give it up until the finish. FINDLAY secured second place.

Laura Philipp - drama for 3rd place

A thriller developed around the third place on the podium: LAURA PHILIPP came out of the water almost four minutes behind the leaders and started her race to catch up on her bike. Here, one athlete after the other collected, and after 80 kilometers of cycling she switched to running shoes in seventh place. Resolutely she kept the pressure up and worked her way up to third place. But an athlete who made even more speed came flying up from behind: the American CEHLSEA SODARO - she got off her bike in tenth place and literally plowed through the field. LAURA PHILIPP had to pay tribute to her high initial pace over the last few kilometers, so that SODARO was able to catch up with PHILIPP in the last of the four laps. The decision was then made in the finish sprint. There, LAURA PHILIPP had nothing to oppose the American, so the finish line was: SODARA on three, PHILIPP on four.

Placements and prize money LADIES

Placements and prize money LADIES

• 1. Ashleigh Gentle - $100,000
• 2. Paula Findlay - $70,000
• 3. Chelsea Sodaro - $50.00
• 4. Laura Phillips - $40,000
• 5. Julie Derron - $35,000
• 6. Holly Lawrence - $30,000
• 7. Vittoria Lopes - $25,000
• 8. Ellie Salthouse - $20,000
• 9. Sophie Watts - $18,000
• 10. Nicola Spirig - $16,000
• 11. Jocelyn McCauley - $14,000
• 12. Jackie Herring - $13,000
• 13. Tamara Jewett - $12,000
• 14. Skye Monk - $11,000
• 15. Rach McBride - $10,000
• 16. Pamella Oliveira - $9,000
• 17. India Lee - $8,000
• 18. Lotte Wilms - $7,000
• 19. Nikki Bartlett - $6,000
• 20. Luisa Baptista - $5,000

The men's race

It was similarly dramatic for the elite men, but ended with a favorite victory for the strong Norwegians: GUSTAV IDEN secured victory ahead of his compatriot KRISTIAN BLUMMENFELDT and the Australian ARON ROYLE.

In the swim, a top group of six, including ALISTAIR BROWNLEE and later third-placed ROYLE, pulled away. The lead at the first change to the chasing field with the two Norwegians was around one minute, but FREDERIC FUNK was also one of them. SEBASTIAN KIENLE switched to 28th place, just under three minutes behind the leaders. BROWNLEE took the initiative on the 80 km bike course and, together with the Frenchman SAM LAIDLOW, broke away from the competitors in the leading group - also the advantage over the group with IDEN, BLUMMENFELDT and FUNK grew to almost two minutes halfway through the race. In the second part of the race, however, it was above all IDEN who pushed the pace - and thus also brought BLUMMENFELDT, ROYLE and FUNK back up to within a minute at the second exchange.

Running - 18 kilometers of pain

As with the women, the entire drama of the race unfolded on the running track. Amazingly, it was Frenchman LAIDLOW who set an extremely high initial tempo that BROWNLEE couldn't follow. The Brit held his sides after the first kilometer and even had to take a break from walking. BLUMMENFELDT and IDEN were now chasing the Frenchman head to head. Then BLUMMENFELDT suddenly stopped, holding his left thigh, obviously a severe cramp. As a result, FUNK and ROYLE pass the Norwegian, both of them now on third and fourth. After a minute of stretching, BLUMMENFELDT starts running again and continues the race. At the front, IDEN already has the leading Frenchman in sight, who ran a frantic race, but then suddenly stopped at the 5K mark, his face contorted with pain, trying to get a grip on cramps. GUSTAV IDEN took the lead without a fight, continued his pace unimpressed and apparently without cramps.

BLUMMENFELDTS catching up

BLUMMENFELDTS cramp attack put him about one and a half minutes behind his compatriot, who was now in the lead. However, the reigning IRONMAN Champion not only managed to continue running and secure his place backwards, but also to set such a high pace again in order to orient himself to the front again. In a short time he pushed past ROYLE, LAIDLOW and FUNK again, in second position he closed second by second to IDEN, reduced the gap to less than 30 seconds - but it wasn't enough anymore. GUSTAV IDEN crossed the finish line as the winner after the final 18-kilometer run, BLUMMENFELDT followed 27 seconds behind. Three minutes later, the Australian ARON ROYLE secured third place after a consistently strong performance in all three disciplines. After an equally convincing overall performance, FREDERIC FUNK took fifth place, 30 seconds behind third place. SEBASTIAN KIENLE managed to catch up, especially in running, he finished the race with the fourth fastest mileage of the day in 12th place overall.

Placements and prize money MEN

• 1. Gustav Iden - $100,000
• 2. Kristian Blummenfelt - $70,000
• 3. Aron Royle - $50,000
• 4. Sam Laidlow - $40,000
• 5. Frederic Funk - $35,000
• 6. Pieter Heemeryck - $30,000
• 7. Lionel Sanders - $25,000
• 8. Max Neumann - $20,000
• 9. Kyle Smith - $18,000
• 10. Mikki Tagholt - $16,000
• 11. Colin Chartier - $14,000
• 12. Sebastian Kienle - $13,000
• 13. Clemente Mignon - $12,000
• 14. Matthew McElroy - $11,000
• 15. Felipe Azevedo - $10,000
• 16. Pablo Dapena Gonzalez - $9,000
• 17. David McNamee - $8,000
• 18. Thomas Steger - $7,000
• 19. Jackson Laundry - $6,000
• 20. Jason West - $5,000

The PTO races 2022

The PTO Tour is a new series of professional triathlon races with exceptional prize money created by the Professional Triathlon Organization. For 2022, the PTO Tour includes the PTO Canadian Open (July 23-24), the Collins Cup (August 20-21) and the PTO US Open (September 17-18). In 2023 the series will be expanded to include the PTO Asian Open and the PTO European Open.

Each Open event has a minimum prize purse of at least US$1 million and will be held over 100km – a 2km swim, 80km bike ride and 18km run.