🚴♀️ New Zealand has suffered another injury blow ahead of this weekend’s World Triathlon Sprint and Mixed Relay Championships in Hamburg with Nicole van der Kaay forced out with an “overload” injury.
With Hayden Wilde on the comeback trail following his well documented Tokyo training ride crash in May, it means Team NZL will be without both its male and female No.1s for the duel WTCS round.
After a tough Paris Olympics campaign and a inauspicious start to 2025 at World Cup Napier (16th), van der Kaay had been trending nicely with bonze at the Oceania Championships (standard distance) in Devonport before a pair of wins at the continental sprint and super sprnt championships in Mooloolaba and the Gold Coast respectively, the forner reduced to a duathlon due to water qualifty issues.
The Taupo 29-year-old then won her maiden Ironman start at 70.3 Shanghai in late May. However, it appears the training for the step up in distance has taken its toll in the form of a leg injury.
In trademark fashion, van der Kaay is accentuating the positives, thankful she can still ride the world famous roads around Girona where she is dossing at Kyle Smith’s pad. Ironically, the T100 Kiwi is himself coming back from a bike crash.
“Life’s been simple lately – swim, bike, swim, repeat,” van der Kaay said on social media.
“My body’s asked for a little break from running and racing for a bit due to an overload injury. A couple consecutive falls back in Australia complicated loading and biomechanics.
“I’m taking this as a mid-season pause, a chance to reset and recharge. Grateful for the endless hours I can spend on the bike, especially in this Spanish summer heat! ☀️🚴♀️.”
Team NZL will be represented by Ainsley Thorpe, Eva Goodisson, Brea Roderick, Tayler Reid, Saxon Morgan and James Corbett in Hamburg.
The top two female and male finishes in the individual sprint next Saturday are likely to make up the Team NZL quartet for Sunday relay, subject to final sign-off from the Tri NZ selection panel.
Goodisson (7th), Thorpe (10th), Corbett (20th) and Morgan (22nd) are coming off World Cup Saidia in Morocco. Roderick is coming off a slightly longer block than Goodisson at altitude in Andorra while Reid will look to improve on 18th and 32nd places at WTCS Yokohama and Alghero respectively.
