USA Triathlon Project Podium athlete from EagleVail wins first career Americas Triathlon Cup event

Porter Middaugh captured his first Americas Triathlon Cup victory last Saturday in Magog, Canada.

The former Battle Mountain star completed the 750-meter swim, 20-kilometer bike and 5-kilometer run in 55 minutes, 31 seconds, sprinting past Canadian Liam Donnelly in the homestretch to top the 70-person field.

“Last weekend’s race went pretty perfect for me,” Middaugh told the Vail Daily in an email on Thursday. “I was nervous going into it but we had a really great block of training in Park City that built a ton of confidence for me. I feel like I made massive improvements in all three disciplines, so I was excited to show the work that I’ve put in.”

After graduating from Battle Mountain in 2024, Porter Middaugh joined his older brother, Sullivan, with USA Triathlon’s Project Podium — a men’s elite development program based at Arizona State University. In high school, Porter Middaugh ran the second-fastest 3200-meter time in Colorado high school history (8:41.05) at the Arcadia Invitational. He also finished runner-up in the cross-country state meet as a junior and was second to his teammate, Will Brunner, in a state-record 3200-meter performance on the track as a senior. In his last fall prep campaign, Middaugh was named the Gatorade Colorado cross-country athlete of the year after finishing sixth at Nike Cross Nationals.

At the start of Saturday’s race, Middaugh said he took advantage of a longer beach front run into the water.

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“This set up for a solid swim where I felt comfortable the whole time,” he stated before adding that the field was compressed coming into the first transition. About 40 athletes hopped onto the bike together.

“I focused on my position and tried to stay safe,” Middaugh continued. The EagleVail athlete rolled through the group with a 30:28 split on the two-lap bike course and found himself in a leading trio with Donnelly and his Project Podium teammate, Braxton Legg.

“I felt good on the second of two laps and decided to push,” Middaugh said. In the final 300 meters, Donnelly made his bid for glory, but Middaugh maintained contact. The American pushed past the Canadian on the blue carpet finishing stretch to snag the victory.

“Super happy with it overall,” said Middaugh, who finished the final 5K run in 15:03. “(I) felt like my run is back to where it needs to be.”

Middaugh plans to stay in Canada and race in the Americas Triathlon Cup Montreal against a similar field this Saturday. The Americas Triathlon Cup is the World Triathlon’s development circuit. It is one step below the World Triathlon Cup and the World Triathlon Championship Series, the latter of which is the top level of competition.

Sullivan Middaugh, who picked up his first Americas Triathlon Cup victory in May of 2024 and has been on the podium several times since, competed in his first World Triathlon Championship series event in Hamburg, Germany on the same day his brother picked up a victory in Canada. Sullivan Middaugh, who is ranked 58th in the world, finished 45th (54:27).

“Going into the race, I did not have any expectations,” he said. “And (I) knew going into the race that it would be one of the most competitive races that I have ever competed in.”

After his runner-up finish in Calima, Colombia earlier this spring, Middaugh’s world ranking was high enough to give him a World Triathlon Championship Series start.

“So I thought that I would give it a shot and see where my fitness is compared to the best in the world right now,” he explained. “I knew that the swim was going to be most challenging for me.”

About halfway through the first leg, Middaugh lost contact. The XTERRA short-track world champion came out of the water in 9:50, 38 seconds after the nearest competitor and over a minute behind the leader, Italian Alessio Crociani.

“This set up a challenging day for me,” Middaugh said. “And I rode and ran the rest of the race by myself, which was not ideal for a draft-legal race.” 

Sullivan Middaugh said he plans to race the Americas Cup event in Montreal before heading to Chicago for a SuperTri event.

“I am excited to take what I learned from Hamburg and try to improve throughout the rest of the season. I am really happy with how strong I felt on the bike and run,” he stated. “I have made a lot of progress on my swim but I was not able to express that in the race. But it was a good indication of what I need to work on. It was a great experience to see what that level of competition was like.” 

While the Middaugh brothers are focused on trying to qualify for the 2028 Olympics in draft-legal road triathlons, the pair also plans to join their dad — 15-time XTERRA national champion Josiah Middaugh — in Italy for the XTERRA World Championships this September.