Csongor Lehmann triumphant at Supertri Toulouse
Csongor Lehmann of Stars & Stripes has today won the overall Supertri League title for 2025 in Toulouse, France, after recording back-to-back victories in the series.
The breakout star of the Supertri season moved to the fore on the first stage of the day and never looked like relinquishing that lead, striding to victory ahead of Stars & Stripes teammate Seth Rider to win by seven seconds.
Crown Racing’s Vasco Vilaça would finish third in Toulouse to secure second in the overall series, and his teammate Ricardo Batista would take third in the overall series after finishing fourth in Toulouse.
Having placed second in Toronto and won the Jersey event of the four-date series, Lehmann, the 26-year-old from Tiszaujvaros in Hungary, swiftly established himself as a Supertri force over the 2025 season. And, in front of huge crowds in the French city, he again raced at the fore on the swim, bike and run on every Supertri stage to produce a complete Supertri performance.
“I’m almost speechless, it was crazy was the very beginning,” said Lehmann at the finish. “I was working perfectly with Seth on the swim, bike and run – it was just a dream team. And this is like a dream coming true for me. It was a really tough race today and we pushed so hard on the first run to create a gap in front of the other guys and from there we pushed all the way until the end. Stars & Stripes was rocking today!”
Supertri Toulouse details
Ahead of the race, Csongor Lehmann of Team Stars & Stripes was in control of the 2025 title’s destiny having emerged as a surprise series leader after placing second in Toronto and winning in Jersey.
Sitting just behind 26-year-old Lehmann in the standings was Crown Racing’s Vasco Vilaça, however, who knew that placing above the Hungarian in Toulouse would be enough for the Supertri stalwart to take the overall series win.
Today’s race was contested over the Supertri format with no breaks between the three swim, bike and run stages. The course was arguably the toughest Supertri course, with a rare Supertri river swim in the choppy and chilly waters of the Garonne, before narrow and twisting city centre bike and run courses continued to challenge the skills and stamina of the Supertri triathletes under sunny skies in one of France’s most beautiful cities.
STAGE 1
Off the starting pontoon into the chilly 17C waters of the Garonne rivers for the first 300m swim of the day and Marcus Dey of Brownlee Racing was straight to the fore, with Seth Rider of Stars & Stripes in close pursuit. Dey’s lead was huge going into transition, with the first Short Chute of the day secured by Dey’s for Brownlee Racing.
The lead group was instantly strung out by the start of Stage 1’s 4km bike, with slippery cobblestones proving tricky for the riders. A breakaway group containing Dey, Rider, Tayler Reid of Podium Racing and overall series leader Csongor Lehmann of Stars & Stripes was formed by the halfway stage, with Crown Racing’s series contender Vasco Vilaça in the chase pack 5secs behind. Securing the second Short Chute of the day would be Lehmann for Stars & Stripes. The first departure of the day would be Dorian Coninx of Podium Racing, with the tri star dropping out due to a puncture.
Lehmann was first out onto the 1.2km run, swiftly establishing some daylight over the chasers with his full-throttle racing style. That lead remained until the end of Stage 3, with the Hungarian’s advantage 7secs by transition, which also prevented any other teams from gaining a Short Chute, which could prove vital by Stage 3.
STAGE 2
The second 300m swim saw Rider, Reid, Vilaça and his Crown Racing teammate Ricardo Batista 7secs in arrears to Lehmann, with triathlon legend Jonny Brownlee 22secs behind for his titular team. Rider would overtake Lehmann by the end, however, to establish a 2sec lead, with Vilaça 13secs behind Rider.
The second 4km bike leg, the fifth of today’s nine discipline race, witnessed Reid, Rider and Lehmann clip-in their cycling shoes to make what looked like a significant breakaway in the day’s overall positioning. The Stars & Stripes duo and Reid saw their advantage of 17secs whittled down by Vilaça and the chase group to 13secs by lap three of four, but that was 15secs by T2.
The frenetic racing continued straight into the 1.2km run, with the Stars & Stripes duo of Lehmann and Rider breaking free of Reid, who was gobbled up by the chase pack that still featured Vilaça. Stars & Stripes’ Reese Vannerson had moved into third to make it a one-two-three for Parker’s Spencer’s team.
STAGE 3
The final 300m swim was preceded by Lehmann slipping in transition to lose a second or two to the chasers, but that didn’t lose his place in the lead pack with teammate Rider. Their lead would be 7secs by T1, but Vilaça was still in the lead chase pack.
The final 4km bike was dominated at the front by Lehmann and Rider, with the Stars & Stripes pair working together to establish a 14sec advantage that looked unassailable at the front by the halfway stage of the bike, and with Lehmann boasting a Short Chute too. The rain started falling by lap three, throwing another dynamic into the day’s racing, with Vannerson the first casualty of the slippery surface, with the back wheels sliding out from beneath him.
The final 1.2km run of the season would begin with the Stars & Stripes pair still bossing it at the front as Lehmann closed in on the 2025 overall title. Crown Racing’s Vilaça and Batista were still in the hunt for the series podium, however, but it was Lehmann who was flying at the front to wrap up the series in style, winning by 7secs ahead of Rider. Vilaça would place third, Batista fourth and Ian Pennekamp for Brownlee Racing would come home in an impressive fifth.
