What the Dubai T100 Podium Rode: The Bikes Behind Wilde’s and Taylor-Brown’s Wins
🏁 Race Tech
What the Dubai T100 Podium Rode
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Saturday’s Dubai T100 was the last regular-season stop before next month’s world championship final in Qatar, and both races came down to the run. Hayden Wilde won the men’s race less than 24 hours after taking bronze at WTCS Abu Dhabi, leading a New Zealand one-two with Kyle Smith. Georgia Taylor-Brown fought through cramps late on the bike and held off Nicole van der Kaay by just 10 seconds to take the women’s series lead.
Here’s what the six podium finishers rode over 80 km at Al Mamzar, the brand that showed up on most of them, and which parts of a pro setup are worth copying.
The Podium at a Glance
| Athlete | Finish | Bike Split | Frame |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Hayden Wilde (NZL) | 3:11:43 | 1:46:58 | Canyon Speedmax CFR |
| 2. Kyle Smith (NZL) | 3:12:52 | 1:47:00 | Canyon Speedmax CFR |
| 3. Mika Noodt (GER) | 3:14:01 | 1:46:58 | Canyon Speedmax CFR |
| 1. Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR) | 3:35:19 | 2:00:21 | Specialized Shiv TT |
| 2. Nicole van der Kaay (NZL) | 3:35:29 | 1:59:14 | Ventum Tempus |
| 3. Julie Derron (SUI) | 3:37:25 | 2:01:26 | Canyon Speedmax |
The Men’s Podium
1. Hayden Wilde — Canyon Speedmax CFR
Wilde raced twice in two days and still won comfortably, finishing 1:09 clear of Smith. He came out of the water just behind the leaders, rode 1:46:58 in a lead group that stayed together for most of the bike, then ran 56:46. He reportedly did it on a broken toe from the swim exit. He’s raced Canyon since leaving Specialized in 2023, and Canyon credited his Speedmax CFR with all six of his T100 wins when he took the 2025 title.
2. Kyle Smith — Canyon Speedmax CFR
Smith’s second place caps a comeback from a broken collarbone that ended his 2025 season early. He rode 1:47:00 in the six-man lead group, with only 21 seconds separating the leaders 10 km from T2. Smith famously started his pro career on a secondhand Scott Plasma bought with most of his savings. These days he races a Canyon Speedmax CFR.
3. Mika Noodt — Canyon Speedmax CFR
Last year’s T100 runner-up rode 1:46:58, the same split as Wilde, and finished third in 3:14:01. The top three men were within two seconds of each other on the bike, so this race was won on the run. Noodt is a Red Bull athlete who, like Wilde and Smith, races a Canyon Speedmax CFR, and he lists HED among his wheel sponsors.
Worth noting: Noodt has said roughly 70% of his riding is on gravel or off-road, with the TT bike saved for key sessions. You don’t have to do every ride on your tri bike to race fast on one.
The Women’s Podium
1. Georgia Taylor-Brown — Specialized Shiv TT
Taylor-Brown rode 2:00:21 and came into T2 30 seconds down after easing off to deal with adductor cramps, then took the lead about 4 km into the run. She’s been with Specialized since 2021. When Slowtwitch published her Shiv TT setup at the 2025 70.3 World Championship, it ran SRAM shifting with a 54/41 double chainring and a 10-33 cassette, 165 mm cranks, Roval 60 front and disc rear wheels, 30 mm cotton tires, a Fizik saddle, and an EZ Gains rear mount with a TriRig bottle.
Worth noting: While many pros have switched to a single big chainring, Taylor-Brown kept a double. A 54/41 setup gives an age-grouper a wider gear range for hilly courses without giving up much speed.
2. Nicole van der Kaay — Ventum Tempus
Van der Kaay had the best T100 race of her career. She bridged up to the front on the bike with Germany’s Caroline Pohle, posted the second-fastest bike split (1:59:14), and nearly ran Taylor-Brown down in the final 3 km. The result moves her to third in the series heading into Qatar. She’s the only podium finisher on a Ventum, racing the brand’s Tempus. Ventum is a smaller, triathlon-focused brand that rarely shows up at the front of a pro race.
3. Julie Derron — Canyon Speedmax
The defending Dubai champion came in five weeks after her third place in Kona, started the bike almost a minute back, and rode 2:01:26 to work her way to third. She lost the series lead but sits only six points behind Taylor-Brown going into Qatar. At Kona, her Canyon Speedmax ran Shimano shifting, DT Swiss ARC 1100 wheels, Continental tires, a Selle Italia saddle, and Canyon’s stock cockpit and hydration. (See our Kona podium bikes breakdown.)
The Pattern: A Canyon-Heavy Podium
Four of the six podium finishers race a Canyon Speedmax, including the entire men’s podium. That lines up with Kona, where Canyon was also the most common frame in the age-group field. Canyon sponsors a lot of top pros, so this says as much about who they sign as about the bike itself. Still, it’s hard to argue with a frame that keeps landing on both short- and long-course podiums.
What Age-Groupers Can Borrow From the Pros
Hydration you can reach in the aero position. Dubai’s air temperature runs in the high 20s to low 30s °C in November, and hot-weather racing punishes anyone who has to sit up to drink. A between-the-arms bottle is one of the cheapest upgrades on a tri bike.
Shop the XLAB Torpedo Versa 200 front hydration system at Amazon →
Sodium, not just water. Racing in the heat means losing a lot of salt through sweat, and pros plan their electrolyte intake as carefully as their calories. A strong electrolyte drink mix makes it easy to take in sodium from the same bottle you’re already drinking from. Test any new mix in training before race day.
Shop Precision Hydration PH 1500 drink mix at Amazon →
A fueling plan for the bike. At T100 distance, the bike leg runs close to two hours for the pros and longer for most age-groupers. That’s long enough that what you eat on the bike shapes how you run off it. Gels are the easiest way to get steady carbs in without sitting up.
Shop the Maurten Gel 100 Mix Box at Amazon → · Shop SiS GO Isotonic Gels (30-pack) at Amazon →
For a deeper comparison, see our gels guide.
Wider, faster tires. Taylor-Brown’s 30 mm tires reflect a broader shift: wider race tires roll as fast or faster at lower pressures and are more comfortable over 80 km. Check your frame’s clearance before you go wide.
Shop Continental Grand Prix 5000 S TR 700×30 (2-pack) at Amazon →
The same frame family, for less. You can’t buy Wilde’s exact build, but Canyon’s Speedmax CF 7 Di2 puts you on the same frame family with electronic shifting and integrated storage for $5,999. For other options, see our Best Value Triathlon Bikes guide.
Shop the Canyon Speedmax CF 7 Di2 at Canyon.com →
What’s Next: The Qatar T100 Final
Both series titles will be decided at the Qatar T100 World Championship Final on December 11–12, with Wilde and Taylor-Brown arriving as leaders. We’ll break down what the Qatar podium rides, too.
A Note on Our Sources
Results and splits come from the official results as reported by Tri247, Slowtwitch and the PTO. Equipment details come from sponsor announcements, Slowtwitch’s published gear lists and athlete profiles. Some setups are from earlier in the season, and pros often swap wheels, tires or gearing for a specific course, so treat them as each athlete’s usual setup rather than a guaranteed race-day spec.
Shopping for your own setup? See our Best Value Triathlon Bikes guide and our Black Friday deals roundup.
