James Edgar and Estelle Perriard triumph at Dublin City Triathlon

James Edgar and Estelle Perriard have won the most prestigious races of the triathlon calendar at the Vodafone Dublin City Triathlon.

They came out on top of an elite field competing for the Draft-Legal Sprint Distance National Championships - Triathlon Ireland's marquee event with a prize fund of €10,000.

Luke McCarron was second in the men’s race following a close battle with Belgian athlete Thomas Guilkmot in third.

In the women’s race Ailbhe Carroll finished second to Swiss athlete Perriard, and claimed the national title in the process, with Shannon Kelly in third place.

A total of just under 900 people swam 750m, biked 20km and ran 5km in the environs of Dublin’s River Liffey and Phoenix Park for the event, which was making its return for the first time since 2019. The winners of the main non-elite age group event were Colm Turner and Ciara Wilson.

In the draft-legal event, Lisburn man James Edgar led the men’s race from start to finish, emerging from the water with a slender lead.

He was caught on the bike by South African athlete Dylan Nortje during the 20km bike and the pair worked well together to hold off the rest of the field right through to the second transition. On the run Edgar pulled clear and moved on to a comfortable victory, completing the race in a time of 56mins and 59secs.

Behind him, McCarron and Belgian's Guilkmot overtook Nortje to make it a two-man race for second place. There was practically nothing to separate the pair and in the end there were just seven seconds between them, with McCarron claiming a major result with second place ahead of Guilkmot.

Speaking after the race, Edgar said having Nortje with him on the bike was a major help in establishing the slender lead he gained from the swim.

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