Flora Duffy On Her Race Tomorrow In Leeds
[Written by Stephen Wright]
Dame Flora Duffy admits she will be hard-pressed to beat home favourite Georgia Taylor-Brown in the AJ Bell World Triathlon Championship Series Leeds tomorrow.
Duffy, who is pursuing an historic fourth world title, is looking to overhaul Taylor-Brown at the top of the standings, with the Briton on 1,925 points, 69 ahead of the Bermudian.
The 34-year-old made a blistering start to her title defence, storming to victory in Abu Dhabi last November before battling to third in Yokohama last month behind Taylor-Brown and Leonie Periault of France.
Taylor-Brown will lead a powerful British squad including Sian Rainsley, Beth Potter and Sophie Coldwell, all of whom are in the top 15 of the world rankings.
“Georgia Taylor-Brown trains in Leeds, it’s her home race, and I’m sure she will be the favourite to win,” Duffy told Bernews.
“I expect her to be tough to beat as it’s an important race for her.
“It could be a battle between us and a few others on the start line.”
Duffy’s preparations have been less than ideal after testing positive for Covid-19 shortly after Yokohama, which ruled her out of the Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga in Tennessee last month.
In January, the Olympic champion also tested positive for coronavirus, which disrupted her pre-season training programme.
“I’m looking to build on Yokohama and see where I am after having a few strange weeks,” said Duffy, who will represent Bermuda at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham this summer.
“I caught Covid again after Yokohama, so my preparations aren’t ideal. I’m excited to race here. It’s a challenging course, a sprint distance [750-metre swim, 20km bike and 5km run], which is new for Leeds.
“There will be no Covid protocol, so we should have a great crowd, which will be really nice. There’s a lot of people who know a lot about triathlon in Leeds. It’s a really great environment and atmosphere.”
Among the other challengers in Leeds will be Periault, who has claimed two WTCS podiums this season, and her French teammate Cassandre Beaugrand.
“I always find that following an Olympic year, a few different athletes start to shine as you transfer from one Olympic cycle to another,” Duffy added.
