Speedy Gonzalez Garcia storms to Supertri Chicago victory
In one of the most dominant performances in Supertri history, Alberto Gonzalez Garcia has today bossed Supertri Chicago from the get-go in only his second Supertri event.
The 27-year-old Spanish star assumed control on the first bike leg of the day, and dominated the next eight stages to record a famous Supertri win and to lay down a marker for the 2025 Supertri season.
Despite a late surge by Tyler Mislawchuk of Crown Racing, Gonzalez Garcia would hold on to record Podium Racing’s first win of the 2025 season, with his teammate John Reed finishing third to make it a men’s race to remember for John Anthony’s team.
Gonzalez Garcia was a top 10 finisher at the Paris Olympics in 2024, but he’d only raced one Supertri event until Chicago (a fourth-placed finish at the previous event in Toronto, Canada, in July). Not that Gonzalez Garcia’s inexperience showed in the nine-stage Supertri format with three triathlons back-to-back, with the Spaniard delivering a masterclass in racing alone at the front in produce a statement victory that will make him one of the favourites for the overall 2025 Supertri title. Mislawchuk would finish 6secs back, with Reed 14secs behind.
“I believed in myself from the beginning,” said Gonzalez Garcia at the finish. “I knew Marcus Dey was going to try and get the Short Chute on the first swim so I followed his feet. I always give everything I have and every year I believe I’ll have a top level performance and I’m getting closer every time.”
After a thrilling Supertri race in Toronto, Canada, Chicago followed in the four-leg 2025 series, with stops in Jersey in the British Isles (21 September) and Toulouse, France, (5 October) to come.
Today was Supertri’s second event in Illinois, with the race now firmly part of the Chicago Triathlon, which welcome around 10,000 age-grouper triathletes in 2025 to make it the largest urban triathlon in the US and one that’s been running for over four decades.
Huge crowds and the backdrop of Chicago’s skyscrapers greeted athletes on the Supertri format, which saw athletes face a 300m Lake Michigan swim, a flat 4km bike before a 1.6km run three times in a row, all without a break between stages.
STAGE BREAKDOWN
STAGE 1
The first 300m swim of the day saw Brownlee Racing kick-off on the left-hand side of the pontoon in a bid to utilise the currents in Lake Michigan. And the tactic reaped the rewards, with Brit Marcus Dey moving to the front and Jonny Brownlee leading the chase pack. The Short Chute would go to Dey, with Podium Racing’s Alberto Gonzalez Garcia next out of T1.
The 4km bike leg began with Dey pushing the pace alongside Spanish star Gonzalez Garcia to create a breakaway of 8secs over the chasing pack led by Brownlee. That lead had doubled by T2, with Gonzalez Garcia stealing a Short Chute for Podium Racing.
The debut 1.6km run of the day saw Gonzalez Garcia break free of Dey to establish a sizeable advantage over the field, which had now reeled in Dey. The time gap was 14secs by the end of Stage 1, with the Spaniard preventing any other teams from gaining the remaining Short Chute. Advantage Gonzalez Garcia, who ended his run by wearing goggles for the swim leg, with Crown Racing’s Tyler Mislawchuk his closest rival.
STAGE 2
Onto the second triathlon of the day and the 300m swim was led throughout by Gonzalez Garcia, with his lead intact at the end of the lap in Lake Michigan.
The 4km bike saw Stars & Stripes’ athlete Márton Kropkó of Hungary briefly chip away at Gonzalez Garcia’s lead on his Supertri debut, but the gap stubbornly remained at around the 20sec mark thanks to the Spaniard’s proven cycling prowess. Gonzalez Garcia’s advantage was 20secs, but the drama was happening behind him with a crash caused by Crown Racing’s Morgan Pearson on the T2 dismount line, which nearly took out half of the chasing field.
The 1.6km run again saw Gonzalez Garcia all on his own at the front, his lead looking more insurmountable as each kilometre passed by. The Podium Racing Short Chute would go to John Reed and not Gonzalez Garcia, however, with Brownlee set to take Brownlee Racing’s Short Chute card.
STAGE 3
The final 300m swim in the choppy waters of Lake Michigan saw Mislawchuk nibble into Gonzalez Garcia’s lead a touch, but the Spaniard looked unshakeable at the front and entered T1 for the final time with plenty of daylight still between the 27-year-old and the chasers.
Gonzalez Garcia’s advantage was 24secs at the start of the final 4km bike leg, with Mislawchuk and Crown Racing’s John Reed Tayler Reid leading the battle for the remaining podium places. Brownlee was 34secs behind Gonzalez Garcia but his team was faltering, with three Brownlee Racing athletes out of the reckoning by the halfway stage of the bike. With Gonzalez Garcia looking a sure bet for the win, Crown Racing were now pushing for a clean sweep of the podium, with Reid and Reed battling Podium Racing’s Mislawchuk and Ricardo Batista for the silver and bronze places. Gonzalez Garcia’s pace at the front was witnessing a host of athletes being DSQ’d at the back of the field thanks to the 90-second rule; his advantage at T2 was 22secs over teammate Reid.
The final 1.6km run began with three Podium Racing athletes in the top five, but Mislawchuk was flying behind him to smash the chance of a clean sweep for Podium Racing, even with Reed utilising his Short Chute. Despite Mislawchuk closing the gap, Gonzalez Garcia held him off to win by six seconds, with Reed in third, Batista fourth and Reid fifth ahead of Jonny Brownlee, who was 34secs adrift of Gonzalez Garcia.
