T100 Triathlon: India Lee, Lucy Charles-Barclay and Holly Lawrence fill podium
- Published
India Lee is a three-time winner on the Ironman 70.3 series
It was a British top three at the start of the T100 triathlon series as India Lee won the women's race ahead of Lucy Charles-Barclay and Holly Lawrence.
The season opener at the Homestead-Miami Speedway included a 2km swim in a man-made lake, an 80km bike leg and a 18km run on the racetrack oval.
Lee, 35, won in 3 hours 27 minutes 12 seconds, 30 seconds ahead of Charles-Barclay.
Denmark's Magnus Ditlev (3:09:08) was the men's winner on Saturday.
Britain's two-time Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee, 35, led in the run but lost pace and finished fifth, with American Sam Long taking second and Mathis Margirier of France coming third.
Reigning Ironman world champion Charles-Barclay, 30, led the women's swim and bike but lost rhythm as Lee took the lead on the run.
"I knew I had it in me," said Lee. "In my head it was just a matter of time. [I had] to be consistent and sensible in the swim and on the bike, and today was the first time I've done a run that I am proud of."
Ditlev, 26, added: "[It's a] great start of the season, I'm super happy. The entire day I felt like I was below the limit, trying to deal with the heat, but towards the end I started pushing more."
Lee and Ditlev won $25,000 from a total race prize fund of $250,000, with the new long distance series boasting more than $7m in prize funds and contracts.
Launched in January by the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) and governing body World Triathlon, the T100 has shorter races than Ironman's 3.5km swim, 180km bike and 42km run, but longer than the Olympic distances of 1500m, 40km, and 10km.
The series features seven races before the Grand Final takes place at the end of November.