Super League Malta: Men’s Eliminator – Stage 1

All the action from Stage 1 of the Men’s Eliminator competition from Super League Triathlon Malta.

The Eliminator tests the resilience, stamina and velocity of the athletes in a pressure-cooker format where field position proves key over timing. Athletes must finish high enough to not be eliminated whilst managing their effort against fatigue. Three stages of traditional swim-bike-run whereby athletes need to hold their ground and watch their backs in each stage to be eventually crowned as the most tenacious and tough athlete on the Super League Circuit.

It’s just brilliant okay before you know it seems to get yesterday one of his word started normally is he’s half appointment clear of the field when he hits his stroke and then you know he’s fast anyway so he’s going to be there who’s taking it out fast so here’s a

Pretty quick swimmer as well and then there’s these guys in the middle here who are really having in the absolute the bun fight in the middle of it all Vinson Louie has another a great starter he’s back fighting with Johnny Johnny but they’re in the back of the field

Almost the last to actually you know polyansky leads it though and Henry scoob’s managing to get on his feet so that’s a good spot that the Jonas Schomburg who is a great swimmer as well I think that’s him in third position and then as you say if you look further back

For the pictures you’ve been slowly is in the washing machine in the middle and he has to be looking at limiting the damage coming into transition– the first time because this is a very very very fast swim we’ve already around the turn boy halfway to the second he’s

Moving on the outside he’s a good enough swimmer he’s moving around Leo Bergere who’s there’s three of them in the line there with Johnny Lee abuja and Vincent lui but Bergere is absolutely killing both of him here actually if it if he just pulled back and was actually I’m just

Gonna sit on Johnny’s feet it would be so much easier for them all he would get to the front you won’t have to try half as hard it’d be so much easier Vince Louie actually pulled out left there to get round because he knows if

He pulls up close he’ll be on his hip and slow him down and that’s why he swam round into clear water he’s okay now okay just a reminder that we lose the bottom five at the first stage of the Eliminator swim bike run a ten minute

Break and then we lose the bottom five in stage two when they hit the swim bike run again and then the top seven through to stage three so it’s a tactical race for these guys make sure you’re in the front pack you’re not in danger and then

Conserve energy and don’t try and burn all your matches before stage two and three here but if you’re on the bubble you need to try a little bit harder we saw that in the women’s race with Claire Michelle had to really try really bust that run to stay in and then that hurt

Her in the following stage because ten minutes when you’ve got to walk three minutes down the hill is not enough as they get to the second turn boy in turn for home in Eagle polyansky leads from Henry Scoob I think this is one of the first time

That skubick won’t leave out of the water would polyansky the rush in a renowned swimmer and certainly showing that today Vince Louise moved up into third position so nice beautifully of water per game and as the men in the white jerseys the youngest who seem to

Be taking up the back of the field so the other boys that are really concerned about being eliminated had the opportunity to talk to young all eternity he was very very nervous about this he said he’s been swimming well but he just never experienced pace like this

In a swims in a swim race before in the triathlon that’s one of the things I think moving a printer top little truffle attached to whatever world series it’s just I think the pace is on it’s fast handsome it’s fast out onto the bike and it doesn’t really let up

And you hear that quite a lot these three guys have got a bit of a gap Vincent lui so I’m really well in the middle part of that swim there to to move up into third place and there’s now got some nice clear water and the guys

Behind them I think it was one of the Canadians was there was fighting with shawn mcafee open Berger has moved up to there so I mean this is close like we were talking about before that this is going to be close racing polyansky Henry screaming Vincent lui are your top three

As it stands and polyansky had a good transition and he’ll lead them out tyler ms lechuck was Neffs out of the water the Canadian from Leo Berger a Jonas Schaumburg Jonathan Brantley and seventh bent Knut and Matt sharp the Canadian in ninth but there’s plenty going on here

As the guys trot who are at the end and Ollie Turner shillings just went to the rock he’s crossed himself five seconds by going to the rock transition support Walt wilds a long way back jersey was right up close the French had a really average swim he got caught early and

He’s very very good on the bike he said it he climbs very well he’s gonna have to be aggressive about this first climb and close the gaps and Felix’s in trouble here yeah really got to and ride well you see yeah attacking into the coat Marie’s knocked bally’s just

Behind Johnny laughing they’re probably about Symphony position but yeah this is Polly on skis taking honor I think you want to ride quite hard he knows uh technically he’s not superb so I think it’ll be a bit nervous about that downhill as well so he’ll want to hold

His position hold himself in the top three or four into that corner at the top and that means he’s got a bit of space to play with us Tyler Mitchell shoku is the Canadian that that made it there so he’s it easily good position and his compassionate Matt sharp is just

A few places back but you know there’s really not a lot in this and you see Murray just looking great there you know he’s in good position he’s on the wheel he knows he doesn’t need to go around he’s just he’s just happy with where he is our championship leaders are leading

This one and to Henry screaming leading from Vince Louie there is shilling who made that mistake and he’s found himself rocketing down but is the first time down the drop and it is a real drop and for the guys with good bike handling skills they can make time in this corner

And Vince Louie probably has the superior biking skills of almost anyone polyansky dropped back to fourth position there’s a good fight Connolly yeah as well you know looking cool around the corner you saw Murray or is the good race we he’s jumped up two or three slots there you know just making

It that little bit easier for himself job Pereira there I think he will probably struggle a bit on this kind of format from in this course of racing as well yeah Pereira currently in twelfth and that means he is right on the bubble ahead of Luke Scofield Hayden wild who

Is at sixth place right now in the championship Olli Turner jatin Scofield the second half of the twin brothers and Jack Felix Jaden Scofield quite an inspirational story to even get here was stung by a stingray on the foot ten days ago when he arrived here in Malta it was swollen to twice

Almost I spent six hours in hospital between about 9 a.m. and 3 a.m. on Wednesday night something happened to Johnny 8 on that last corner actually I don’t know whether he crashed but he lost about five or six places yeah this is now at the back of the field so back

With wild I thought yeah I don’t so something happened that these guys are controlling it at the front you know Schumann looking calm and collected just making sure they don’t have to do too much work in the back end of the race you know really similar to what we saw

The fear is doing the in the woman’s earlier on the one thing about Richard Mario never seen move up to the phonies tactically very very good e he moved up as you said he’s sitting back he he knows he’s in no danger there at these guys right here can just

Control everything they’re doing they’re there they’re strong enough on the run to make sure they put themselves in that top 12 mr. Shaw just pushing along maybe he’s a bit nervous about Mike what might happen on the road John’s written himself a straight back up which is is

Good and he’ll be happy with his position and so Hayden Wilde there you know like you said great bike rider you don’t always need to do and the guys behind they’re struggling now that gaps going out and the thing is for those guys they’re going as hard as they can

To make it on and you know I think that costs a lot like we saw a lot in the women’s race so even though the guts going up well they’re actually trying a lot harder than a lot of the other guys if he could if we got shot and see what

Was going on when he actually went around that corner but unfortunately the camera moves away so well the boys just the boys said they didn’t want the motorbike on the Descent yeah – dangerous for the bottom is inside ten seconds top to bottom they’re going at speeds I don’t know how how

Quick they’re going probably 60 at one point and the bike can get in the ride height in Walled he’s really got his head down and he knows he’s in a little bit of trouble Ptolemies lechuck bleeds though louis cumin burger a Maori canoe polyansky dropped back to seventh from

Schaumburg Brownlee and shilling but they’re all in a group of about five seconds between them so the toilet machine shock on the front you know it’s not going to be really complicated so it seized up and that’s why they’ve all put back together Matt sharp sit back into

That group isn’t he but I count 13 they’re in the front I’m a serious 13 there’s 13 sharp the 13 so which one of them is going to drop out it’s very close to the most bike it’s part of racing and he’s at the front so that’s a headwind sir yes yeah

Absolutely so this whole group on its 12 isn’t it yes this 12 is 30 in this groups and that shop is at the end and if it stays as it is we’re losing all eternal Luke Schofield and Jack Felix and Jaden Schofield so one in this group

Of 13 if it stays the way it is is going to get dropped off the back and that’ll be the end of their stage one so we’ve got a clear group of 13 13 does noise as well the white jerseys here together but they’re about nine seconds at last time

Through transition anyway behind that main pack yeah that main pack spread over seven seconds so yeah no it doesn’t look massively far down but it’s probably enough you know if one of the men are flying you might catch a couple depending on if these guys have gone too

Hard but it’s not in a position with what you want something yeah see that’s a great shot of them going around the corner you can see so much tighter you know than we saw before and the women’s racing that’s breath between the front to the back isn’t as much but that guy

Whoever that’s my shark yeah man you see how much harder got to work out that corner really sprinting he’s actually still losing ground on the guys in front of him he’s really starting to he’s struggling up that climb he seems to try and move up along the flat section here

Through Thunder alley they call it and drifts back again on the climb but he can see by his face he’s he’s not happy yeah we’ll see if he can hold on during the next time when it’s coming up they’re about to hit that turn and head up multi mountain last time and then

We’re gonna see one and a half laps on the run before we get to the uphill finish which is another excellent feature of this amazing course here in Malta a group of 13 at the moment sticking together in a train last time up the hill and we’ll see if this splits

Them Arvin at the front it is Vincent Louis your championship leader Johnny Brownlee’s back up into third position bent canoe to the right of screen Richard Murray in the green as well and then the three young athletes that’s why they’re wearing what they’re all classified as young athletes under

21 years of age Oh Lee Turner Luke and Jaden Schofield you cannot tell them apart I tell you what when you see them up close and you can’t tell them apart when they’re all wearing the same thing and recycling next to each other making it difficult

For us so we’ll just call them the Schofield the swollen foot made a big difference that’s it for a while but the swelling’s gone dear and now I have no idea but down the hill for the last time so now right now in fourth position Scoob has dropped back to about eight

Position and polyansky all the way drifted back again as you said struggling on those technical turns they’re already undoing the shoes because they know that this corners tough and I’ve only got a really short probably less than 10 second section here to undo the shoes and rip offs that

Have undone the shoes at the top of the hill or on the descent somewhere at this point that we’re trying to get the feet on top of the shoes or jumping off just to make it it’s clinical and clean as you can and not mess anything up you

Know that these front four or five guys they’re just trying to make it just minimize the chances of things going wrong yeah and they can’t go wrong as Johnny has a little bit of an interesting dismount off the bike it was too much time there but he’s been forced to rush

A little bit no doubt just maybe just wants a little bit of a lack of composure for a second and we can see how every time shoes on you know there’s a few guys there that have lost four or five seconds I don’t know what he’s doing or they just uses really really

Stretchy laces to get his feet and feet in quick but you can afford to over this distance now you can have really loose 50 shoes actually but every time it and he never seems to mess one up Eva hide while sign up for that for that poor

Swim he was very very comfortable in about sixth or seventh position and this Felix’s last man we haven’t talked about him at all yeah don’t think yeah well we’re probably not going to see too much of him and you know Richard marriage means business when he doesn’t

Even take time to put his Red Bull visor on its heart he hardly ever is seen without it and yet he knows just how much every second counts as he leads them through the turn Musil Chuck and canoeing third Vincent lui Henry scheming in fifth Jonathan Brown one of those right

One of these elimination yep so that’s a much sharp Pierre in polyansky so out of those three two are gonna get through and one is going to be eliminated so that that’s where the good race is for this part there these guys have just got to control it and well it looks like

They’re actually running pretty high yeah I’ve got a clock on them to get the first 400 meter split for us I can get us just how fast they’re going and it’s let’s concentrate though if we can on that group of three behind we can see the gaps probably long enough now to

Under a shilling and who’s managed to tack onto the back of this pack as Vince Louie takes another line doesn’t one get stuck behind Peyton wilds found himself in there with Leo Berger a in the front of the second half of this groovin at the front though it’s the green jersey

Of richard murray all of the fastest split time members in the in the four different colors are all up there in the top five or six Henry squirming the last of all in the blue swim jersey but at the moment it’s richard marion here is the group concentrate on and Gio Pereira Eagle

Polyansky Matthew sharp the three tallest athletes in the field all three of them together trying to get up this hill for the last time they’re gonna go down once through transition and then again sorry up the hill for the the finish and all three of them will know

Having seen them on that turnaround that they are on the bubble one goes home to go through to have another crack in stage two who’s your money on gentlemen pair of runs really well most the time but he doesn’t look like he’s in great shape I mean he’s not and he doesn’t run

Downhill very well either you know if Matt sharp here I’d say is the weakest running out of these three if he can really run downhill but none of them are they’re all leaning back you know relatively slow turn over so no one’s really attacked that downhill again you they could have made the

Difference just there and that’s the difference between getting through and no but I know that didn’t answer the question I hope they stay together until the final climb I’d like to see a sprint I I really want to see who’s as committed I think sharp since the

Beginning was off the back of the bike he’s he hasn’t looked comfortable so nice where he was he struggled on the bike he was last at a transition at the group and he just seems to be the problems not to update you on those men you can see there all of them will

Be safe at this point and go through to stage two the only thing on offer for them in terms of getting up this hill and crossing the finishing line first he’s a thousand US dollars but more important in their minds as been slowly he knows this he’s dropped to the back

He doesn’t need to run hard though here Paris métro so he’s probably safe although it’s probably six hundred meters here we have been uphill so it’s quite a long left and I’ve got no idea of the uphill sprinting capabilities of polyansky to that I haven’t know okay fair Inori I did my homework

Boots Louie has a little look behind him sees that there’s plenty of room and he’s counted exactly how many people are in this group so the top guys par that bother bottom fire we’ll all go through and that big group there is the upper air is behind them you can see the gap

Back to him he’s tried to he knows on the flat is the point for him to try and get a gap maybe he’s not confident of managing to make it to the top of the hill she has a look around sharp seems to just be sitting off polyansky I think

He’s he knows it he’s probably down the numbers he just has to be polyansky to get through and he’s going around him he has one more time up bolt a mountain 275 meters 6% the gradient let’s see who has these two extremely tall triathletes can stride out betters yeah Pereira looks to

Me like he’s going to get home all these guys are gonna get home one of these two are probably gonna get a $1,000 Johnny want the grand journey what the thousands they’re talking to each other they’re having a discussion hey ma you take that has had a stack you

Can see by the look on he’s he’s got some blood on his knees yeah but it looks like Johnny’s gonna keep height and the thousand dollars that’s poison do it’s about $100,000 the exchange rate with a guy maybe they’re gonna split it 50/50 all these guys are

Sizes let’s have a look at the screen if we can let’s get these gentlemen out of the road Pereira comes home and it’s gonna be sharp who’s gonna do the job over polyansky who learned out of the water and instead finishes one spot out and that hurts so much faster those guys

Went up they paced it took 10 seconds up foot goes about hill I mean I know they were running slow but that shows you the difference between the kind of speeds it’s gonna be you got to pay for that in the in the second stage so 15 22 so as

Opposed to stage 3 and the woman’s there are about 1706 it was so that the guys have got around this course swim bike and run in 1522 for Hayden wild and it’s unfortunate for Eagle polyansky they’re talking to leonid boguslav ski who’s one of the cofounders of super league

Triathlon a fellow russian he was so close in the end and so much respect between these athletes Olli Turner from Jersey qualified from his efforts there I heard from either Jaden or Luke Schofield I’ve got no idea at all Jaden look Jack Felix Alec Turner and Igor polyansky eliminated the bottom 5

Out the rest now and you can see the clock ticking there 8 minutes in 45 seconds until we get underway again and this is when the Eliminator really comes into it I into its own the ability to backup the ability to go down and it’s

Quite a way to the bottom of the hill to get ready once again get your heart rate down get composed but let’s have a look back at stage 3 and how it worked out Igor polyansky we know how it worked out for him but it looked good at this point

In any Scoob and sat on his heels Vince Louie did a little bit of extra work to end up coming out of the water in 3rd he would have seen the travails of the women’s and how important that was positionally a bit of an accident or a mistake there for Andres Schilling and

A bit of back and forth there Jack Felix just looking around for his bike and ended up having to go back to and that was pretty much the end of his run Scoob ‘n LED for a while Louis LED for a while Ptolemies lechuck was there or thereabouts Oh that’ll be a confidence

Boost for for Tyler he had a in an Italian World Cup race last week so his confidence is sky-high and he attacked this course with everything he had this group really put the hammer down at one point when there was 13 came into the run Richard Murray took the early control

After having a good swing by his standards he was definitely was in the top 10 on the caspin all of these men knew that was safe by the time they’d gone under the second lap of the run Hayden wall hadn’t discussed with Johnny Brownlee and told him that he needed the

Money more than Johnny did and he got the thousand US dollars for his trouble so that was nice you would have done this John Johnny was never given me $1,000 [Laughter]