Vermeylen Reigns Supreme At Blenheim Palace As Mathias Delights Home Crowd

Jolien Vermeylen produced a commanding performance to take victory at Supertri Blenheim Palace, finishing clear of France's Léonie Périault with Great Britain's Olivia Mathias delighting in third at the second round of the Supertri Pro Series.

The Belgian, who won last year's Supertri Toronto opener and swept the European Championship titles at both sprint and Olympic distances in 2025, was in a class of her own across the Blenheim Palace estate, crossing the line in 1:02:18 to win by a commanding 30 seconds.

Vermeylen was in a lead bike pack with the big hitters in the race and surged away on the run.

Jolien Vermeylen said: “The power for me was the most I have ever done in a sprint distance so I am very happy about that and then I had to see what I had left on the run. I had a pretty good swim and the first transition went very fast and on the bike we were in a group with four. The main horsepower on the bike was from Jess (Fullagar) and Olivia (Mathias) and I tried to take over and do good pulls. I really wanted in this race to bike as hard as I could. I am very excited for Jersey. I love being there and the swim course around the boats is very cool.”

Behind her, Périault — the highest-ranked WTCS athlete on the start line — took second in 1:02:48, having started the run 35 seconds down on Fullagar and Mathias.

Mathias completed the podium in 1:02:59 to send the home crowd wild. There was real strength in depth behind the leading three, with Britain's Jessica Fullagar next home, France's Emma Lombardi in fifth, Eve Whitaker in sixth and Austin third-place finisher Zuzana Michaličková of Slovakia in seventh.

Supertri Blenheim Palace was the second race of the Supertri Pro Series, which sees athletes — from elite to first timers — race under a unified race format. The pros competed over a sprint distance, draft-legal format. The Pro Series race also doubled as a stage of British Triathlon's Super Series, giving the cream of British elite and development talent the chance to line up alongside international stars. The event pays prize money 10 deep, and three athletes per gender qualified for the Supertri Pro Series Final in Jersey on September 6, with its $800,000 prize pool.

With Vermeylen, Périault, Fullagar, Lombardi and Michalickova already central Supertri athletes, the three who earned qualification for the Pro Series final were Olivia Mathias, Eve Whitaker and Lottie James.

The day also crowned a British Triathlon Super Series podium, decided by the leading home finishers. Mathias took top honours as the first Brit home, with Jessica Fullagar and Eve Whitaker joining her on the Super Series podium in second and third.

The series continues in Toronto on July 26 before the Supertri Pro Series Final in Jersey on September 6.

Supertri Pro Series results:

1. Jolien Vermeylen (BEL): 1:02:18

2. Léonie Périault (FRA): 1:02:48

3. Olivia Mathias (GBR): 1:02:59

4. Jessica Fullagar (GBR): 1:03:09

5. Emma Lombardi (FRA): 1:03:14

6. Eve Whitaker (GBR): 1:03:51

7. Zuzana Michaličková (SVK): 1:04:58

8. Lottie James (GBR): 1:05:48

9. Isla Hedley (GBR): 1:06:05

10. Isabella Hayes (GBR): 1:06:14