Lehair cements Podium Racing’s dominance at Supertri Chicago
Jeanne Lehair has secured a day to remember for Podium Racing today in Chicago, USA, recording her third Supertri victory after breaking free from Georgia Taylor-Brown on the final run leg of the day. The rising Brownlee Racing star, 17-year-old Fanni Szalai, would finish third in a statement result from the Hungarian.
Lehair’s victory came an hour after her Podium Racing teammate Alberto Gonzalez Garcia had destroyed the field in the men’s race to leave the team championship wide open with just two races of the 2025 Supertri series to go.
Lehair, the 29-year-old who formerly raced for France but now competes for Luxembourg, looked in the mood from the off, regularly pushing the pace at the front of the nine-stage triathlon and finally making the decisive move on the final run leg of the day.
Taylor-Brown edged Lehair to win the 2024 Supertri series but had no answer to Lehair’s run pace today, with Lehair assuming control of the race with 1km to go and never looking like giving it up to record her third-ever Supertri win after victories in London in 2023 and Boston in 2024.
“I was a bit disappointed after Toronto but I knew I was coming here in good shape,” said Lehair at the finish line.
The third place for Brownlee Racing’s Fanni Szalai was one of the most abiding memories of the race. “I really didn’t expect this, I was shocked when I crossed the finish line,” the visibly emotional 17-year-old revealed at the finale. “This will give me confidence and it’s a good feeling that I can stand up with some of my racing idols.”
THE CHICAGO LOWDOWN
After a thrilling Supertri League 2025 opener in Toronto, the next event in the four-leg 2025 series was Chicago, USA, (23 August), 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 witnessed 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.
Crown Racing topped the standings before the Windy City contest, but Brownlee Racing were breathing down their necks in the table.
STAGE BREAKDOWN
STAGE 1
As in the men’s race, Brownlee Racing hogged the left-hand side of the pontoon ahead of the 300m swim to a bid to gain an advantage, but a big bunch soon formed in the waters of Lake Michigan. Brownlee Racing’s rising Hungarian star Fanni Szalai was first out of the water and narrowly edged the Short Chute ahead of Podium Racing’s Zuzana Michalickova.
Onto the 4km bike and the young stars Szalai, 17, and Michalickova, 22, led the way ahead of the experienced Jeanne Lehair of Podium Racing. A pack of 12 led the charge, arriving into T2 together with Lehair claimed the Short Chute for Podium Racing.
The 1.6km run began with Lehair pushing the pace at the front, wanting to go one better in 2025 having finished a close second to series champ Georgia Taylor-Brown in 2024. Lehair’s advantage was eight seconds by the end of the stage. Could anyone reel the Luxembourg racer in?
STAGE 2
Lehair commenced the 300m swim with her eight-second advantage intact ahead of the chasers, with Szalai still in the reckoning but with two of her Brownlee Racing teammates flirting with elimination at the rear of the field. Stars & Stripes’ Rosa Maria Tapia Vidal was also in the mix.
Lehair’s advantage had been whittled down to 3secs at the start of the 4km bike, with Szalai and Tapia Vidal in her slipstream, and Taylor-Brown struggling to bridge the gap in sixth. A group of six had formed at the front by the halfway stage, with pre-race favourites Lehair and Taylor-Brown in their number. The Short Chute allocation could prove pivotal.
A lightning-fast transition by Miriam Casillas García of Crown Racing saw her lead at the start of the 1.6km run, but only four second separated the front six. Szalai and Lehair were announced as the recipients of the Short Chutes, which could have a major impact on the outcome of the race. The lead group was down to five by the end of the second run leg of the day, with Desirae Ridenour dropped from the back in increasingly warm conditions.
STAGE 3
The final swim of the day saw Lehair enter the water first after a slick transition, but the group of five would remain locked together for the duration of the 300m effort in Lake Michigan. Lehair would exit the water first, gaining a slight advantage over Taylor-Brown that increased with another smart transition.
The 4km bike was initially led by Lehair with Taylor-Brown in hot pursuit, but soon reverted to the five racers jostling for position and saving their matches for the run leg.
Casillas García was first onto the deciding 1.6km run leg ahead of Lehair and Tapia Vidal, with Taylor-Brown and Szalai losing crucial seconds in transition. Lehair would assume control almost instantly, however, stamping her mark on the final run, and with a Short Chute to boot. Taylor-Brown would emerge into second ahead of her Crown Racing teammate Casillas García. Lehair would move across into the shade as the two experienced racers would drop the chasers, and would start to create daylight over Taylor-Brown, doubling her advantage over Taylor-Brown to assume full control of the race.
