Collins, Kaye Win Life Time Tri Minneapolis

Americans Ben Collins and Alicia Kaye took the victories at today’s Life Time Tri Minneapolis race, the third stop in the six-race pro Life Time Tri Series and the kickoff of the Toyota Triple Crown Triathlon Series.

Each race in the Toyota Triple Crown Series follows the iconic “equalizer” format, with the women taking off ahead of the men. The male or female with the lowest cumulative time (from the time the men start each race) for all three events (Minneapolis, New York and Oceanside) will be named the Toyota Triple Crown champion and take home the $50,000 prize. Today it was Kaye who had the fastest time and crossed the finish line in first.

Men’s Race
Life Time Tri Series leader Cameron Dye (USA) led the men out of the water in a time of 18:42, with Hunter Kemper (USA), Kevin Everett (USA), Collins and a few others close behind. Dye once again had the fastest bike split (55:46) to lead into T2, but the gap over Collins was minimal. Collins turned in a 32:30 run split to pass Dye and take the win in 1:50:09. Dye followed in second at 1:51:10. He narrowly held off Kemper, who rounded out the podium at 1:51:20.

Women’s Race
With pre-race favorite (and series leader) Sarah Haskins (USA) out of the event due to an injury, the attention shifted to 2013 series winner Kaye. It was McLarty out of the swim in first at 18:52. Lauren Brandon (USA) followed at 19:09, with Kaye out in third at 20:24. Kaye’s race-best 1:00:39 bike split gave her the lead. She followed that with a 35:27 run to easily take the win in 1:59:51. Radka Vodickova (CZE) had the fastest run split (35:27) to earn second at 2:04:07. Jillian Petersen (USA) was third at 2:08:17.

Life Time Tri Minneapolis
Minneapolis, Minn. – July 12, 2014
1.5K swim, 40K bike, 10K run

Men
1. Ben Collins (USA) 1:50:09
2. Cameron Dye (USA) 1:51:10
3. Hunter Kemper (USA) 1:51:20
4. Chris Foster (USA) 1:52:48
5. Greg Bennett (AUS) 1:53:37

Women
1. Alicia Kaye (USA) 1:59:51
2. Radka Vodickova (CZE) 2:04:07
3. Jillian Petersen (USA) 2:08:17
4. Sara McLarty (USA) 2:09:39
5. Lauren Brandon (USA) 2:10:48

Complete results.