Gianluca Bortoli claims first national triathlon title
Gianluca Bortoli and Lynsey Palmer battled through challenging conditions to be crowned champions at the 2026 Liberty Mutual National Sprint Triathlon on Sunday morning.
Bortoli conquered the gusty winds to cross the line in 56min 31sec, more than a minute clear of Jackson Langley after completing a swim that was shortened to 500 metres because of issues with the current and course, a 20km bike ride and a 5km run.
After leading out of the water, many expected Bortoli to be dropped by stronger cyclist Langley on the bike leg, but he battled hard to stay in contention before regaining the lead coming out of transition and pulling away on the run.
“This was a hugely competitive field with all of the locals and juniors and we all train together,” he said.
“I didn’t have great expectations because I’m just coming off of illness but I believe this is my first time on the podium at a national event, so I’m really happy and it felt amazing.”
It was only on the run that Bortoli harboured hopes of winning the race after the previous two legs had gone better than he expected.
“I had a really good swim in the end and surprised myself because I’ve been having a bit of trouble in the pool lately but it came together really amazing,” he said.
Disaster was narrowly averted on Front Street after a member of the public was nearly wiped out by a bike during the race.
Despite repeated warnings not to cross the street with cyclists blitzing down the road in both directions, a number of visiting tourists and local pedestrians cut it fine when attempting to make it to the other side.
On a couple of occasions, cyclists were forced to brake and one lady was inches away from being struck by a competitor before being pulled to safety.
A photograph of the incident will appear here in due course
“My bike's been going good lately, but I did not think it was that good. I’m not sure I really was the strongest cyclist on that leg, but I just made sure with half a lap to go to put in 100 per cent effort to just get in front because those five seconds coming to transition just multiply on the run.
“I’ve been feeling really good on the run but I was still wary as to where Jackson was because I didn’t want to look back and it’s just not good to do that.
“Coming around that first lap, I put a bit extra in and then I was just surviving from there.”
Runner-up Langley was disappointed with his effort and was at a loss to what had gone wrong.
“Today, for whatever reason, I just felt like I didn’t have it and it’s really weird,” Langley said.
“I tried to go for it on the back but Luca stayed with it and then I had a terrible T2 transition, with my bike getting in the way of my things and then I let him go.
“It was a great move from Gianluca, well executed to take it quite hard for the first lap of the run. He dropped me and I was on the back foot for the rest of the race.
“It’s part of racing to feel disappointed when you lose and I raced so well in Pennsylvania last week, where I came third.
“But it’s not how many times you get knocked down, it’s how you come back up, so onwards and upwards, but I must give full credit to Luca, he did a great job.”
Palmer came home an easy winner of the women’s race, completing the course in 1:08:04, more than six minutes clear of her nearest rival Georgia Evans (1:14.35)
Madeleine Friend beat the boys to win the 11-12 junior triathlon, with Spencer Haldeman coming out on top in the 13-15 age group.
Feargal Murphy won the 11 to 15 junior duathlon, with Elliott Davidge leading the field home in the 7 to 10 duathlon.
Junior Duathlon (7 to 10)
1 Elliott Davidge 0:20:07
2 Matteo Bortoli 0:20:18
3 Alistair Friend 0:20:32
4 Ted Brogden 0:20:50
5 Tatem Carr 0:21:00
6 Conrad Rossiter 0:21:02
7 Lucas Ferguson 0:21:38
8 Indigo Kemp 0:21:58
9 Ethan Bernardino 0:22:38
10 Callum Thomas 0:22:55
11 Nola Thatcher 0:22:58
12 Rex Barrowclough 0:23:29
13 Vivienne Fox 0:23:49
14 Elijah Todd 0:23:53
15 Oliver Keegan 0:24:20
16 Nea Fosker 0:24:34
17 Fiadh Lynch 0:25:39
18 Harrison Thomas 0:27:15
19 Lexie Cunningham 0:27:16
20 Leo Cunningham 0:27:46
21 Roisin Murphy 0:31:46
Junior Duathlon (11 to 15)
1 Feargal Murphy 0:46:09
2 Owen Davis 0:48:32
Junior Triathlon (11-12)
1 Madeleine Friend 0:26:01
2 Niklas Bock 0:26:05
3 Heath Kemp 0:26:08
4 Isaac Wookey 0:26:09
5 Joshua Cann 0:26:49
6 Austen Carr 0:27:04
7 Julia Cunningham 0:29:04
8 Calvin Haldeman 0:29:29
9 Sidney Rencken 0:29:49
10 Lukas Eiselt 0:30:02
11 Sloane Wright 0:30:16
12 Izzy Stevens 0:30:19
13 Bethany Davidge 0:31:09
14 Hudson Pitcher 0:32:16
15 Evelyn Mora 0:34:00
16 Holly Cook 0:35:39
Junior Triathlon (13-15)
1 Spencer Haldeman 0:36:16
2 Colette Durkin 0:39:27
3 Elena Bortoli 0:40:00
4 Sofia Leclerc 0:40:27
5 Riana Robinson 0:40:54
6 Iris Duda 0:41:13
7 Lorcan McGlynn 0:41:45
8 Ronan Davidge 0:42:02
9 Thomas Twilley 0:43:41
10 Naomi MacGuinness 0:43:55
11 Maxwell Williams 0:44:13
12 Carter Davis 0:47:38
13 Aidan Taylor 0:48:07
Try a Tri
1 Kelise Wade 0:43:14
2 Kiarrah Simons 0:59:09
3 Keiran Smith 1:08:53
4 Gabrielle Smith 1:10:03
5 Florence Sharpe 1:13:00
Senior Individual
1 Gianluca Bortoli 0:56:31
2 Jackson Langley 0:57:34
3 Oliver Brunnock 0:59:01
4 Lucas Bule 1:04:11
5 Jasper Lau 1:05:51
6 Alex Pilgrim 1:06:50
7 Samuel Tose 1:07:20
8 Lynsey Palmer 1:08:04
9 Philip Woollins 1:08:18
10 Stephen Ryan 1:08:37
11 Kris Hedges 1:10:48
12 Damian Cooper 1:12:18
13 Scott Oliver 1:13:19
14 Gordon Smith 1:13:38
15 Georgia Evans 1:14:35
16 Madison Schindel 1:15:28
17 Steve Horton 1:15:40
18 Vivienne Lochhead 1:16:06
19 Mark Anthony Domingo 1:16:43
20 Claire Gemmell 1:17:38
21 Sam Wehmeyer 1:18:01
22 Steven Doyling 1:18:03
23 Nick Greet 1:18:15
24 Matthew Smith 1:18:40
25 Hanah Cannon 1:18:53
26 Caroline Black 1:19:27
27 Arthur Wightman 1:19:33
28 Handsome Williams 1:20:20
29 Philip Karp 1:20:31
30 Jake Field 1:21:24
31 Cesar Aparil 1:21:44
32 Sergio Edness 1:21:54
33 Holger Eiselt 1:22:39
34 Claire McDevitt 1:24:07
35 Elizabeth Harris 1:24:16
36 Esme Davidge 1:26:31
37 Seamus Durkin 1:26:58
38 Paul Simons 1:27:37
39 Aldous Guevarra 1:29:30
40 Rosanna Strickland 1:30:54
41 Marlon Almonte 1:31:06
42 Lemuel Urieta 1:31:26
43 Kyree Adams 1:32:43
44 Kevin Minors 1:34:47
45 Victor Oyugi 1:37:26
46 Ryan Davidge 1:37:38
47 Maria Duffy 1:38:43
48 Carolyn Conway 1:38:43
49 Abelardo Fernandez 1:46:34
Senior Team (Female)
1 Formerly fast, still fierce 1:05:31
2 Sweat, Tears & Gears 1:08:03
3 Tri R Best 1:35:57
Senior Team (male)
1 Does anyone know a runner? 1:04:24
2 Charkbait 1:07:18
3 Lockton Loaded 1:12:10
Senior Team (mixed gender)
1 Robinsons 1:03:57
2 Tring to Have Fun 1:12:54
Middle School Team Challenge
1 BHS Dragon Girls 0:37:49
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