Ellie Salthouse dominated the PTO-supported Big Husky Triathlon over the weekend, producing a stellar all-round performance to leave a talented field in her wake.
The PTO World Ranked #21 came into the event in fantastic form, have taken victory at ‘Hell of the West’ earlier in February, beating Amelia Watkinson in the process.
Ellie, who turns 28 on March 9, dominated from start to finish and completed the clean sweep of fastest swim, fastest bike leg and fastest run split.
Her swim leg of 24:56 was only matched by Annabel Luxford, who left the water at the same time to enter T1. The two maintained their lead through the bike portion of the race, with Ellie recording a race-best 2:19:54 over the 90km course with Luxford 15 seconds behind.
The Australian, who usually splits her time between Brisbane and Boulder, soon opened up a gap to Luxford on the run course as she scampered to victory in emphatic fashion.
Only Watkinson could keep pace on the run with Ellie, but by that point in the race the New Zealander was two minutes behind the leader and unable to erode the gap.
“The Elite Energy Big Husky Triathlon was an incredible experience! With this win I am also proud to now call myself the Australian Long Course Champion,” Ellie said after the race.
Her performance, and form since the turn of the year, will no doubt put her very much in contention for an automatic berth to the rescheduled Collins Cup in Šamorín in August.
Ellie currently sits sixth in the qualification protocol for that landmark event, and here are her ‘Weapons of Choice’ for 2021:
Swim
Goggles: Vorgee Missile
Wetsuit: Zoot WikiWiki 2.0
Speedsuit: Zoot Ultra Swimskin
Trisuit: Zoot LTD Tri Aero FZ racesuit
Bike
Bike frame: Trek Speed Concept
Frame size: Small
Aero Bars: Bontrager Speed Concept Mono S-Bend Bar extension
Front wheel: Bontrager Aeolus 4 clincher rim brake
Rear Wheel: Zipp Super-9 clincher rim brake disc wheel
Tyres: Bontrager R4 320 25mm
Component Groupset: Sram AXS Etap 12 speed
Power meter: Quarq AXS
Head Unit: Wahoo Elemnt Bolt
Crank Length: 167.5mm
Pedals: Shimano Dura-Ace 9100 carbon
Cleat System: Shimano
Cycling Shoes: Bontrager XXX road cycling shoe
Helmet: Giro Aerohead Mips
Eyewear: Oakley Radar EV Path
Gearing: 55/43 10-28
Saddle: ISM PN 3.0
Hydration System: X-lab Torpedo Versa Slim
Run
Shoes: Hoka One One Carbon X
Headwear: Zoot tech trucker cap
Sports Watch: Wahoo Elemnt Rival
