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Viva La France!
A crazy 50m run down the beach in La Baule with the other 90 guys is a sweet way to start a race. You know it's going to be tough when the first buoy is only 150m away. This is the place to hone your skills as a triathlete, whether you’re a seasoned Pro or fresh behind the ears. This is where it's at, end of. I came out the water 15secs off the lead but there were about 40 other guys in between, nice ! I was lucky that the first 4 were my team mates (Go Beauvais). The bike was up and down the promenade 3 times which was nice as last year it was an Olympic distance (and so twice the distance), so it was a pleasure. We rolled round with most people just going through the motions waiting for the run. Once onto the run I thought it was 1500m race - the boys were shifting ! I dropped to about 40th thinking the Kenyan national team were racing, but thankfully after 1500m they all blew and I moved up the field managing to finish just outside the top 10 (in 11th) and second scorer for my team.
Everyone was supper chuffed as it secured 2nd overall in the FGP series to back up our 1st last year. The team was super happy and there was a party that evening that well was very very French!!! Top weekend (and the Sun was out). There are some pictures in the gallery, see pics 42, 51 and 56.
Top Team!
One week later and it was off to the South this time for the Coupe de France - a 5 man team time trial over the sprint distance. I had just been retooled by John Denis at Velomotion on my Giant TT bike so was keen to put the little pocket rocket to the test. Boy oh boy was it tested as we nailed a 44.2km/h average speed on a windy windy 20km bike leg, more than a minute quicker than anyone and dropping one of our team (the poor Russian) ! The run was a cruise as the clock stops when the 3rd person crosses the line and we knew we had a big cushion till the next team. Crossing the line was a holding hands classic 3 abreast, the French loved it!! It was an awesome weekend and my team are such good lads. I have been with them now for so many years it is a pleasure racing for them. Thanks guys.
Gold Coast - unofficial World Championships!
I love racing, I really do, but there is something special about racing for your country. To put on the GB kit (even without a flag on it) is great. Sometimes I think we take it for granted but it is special, whether an age grouper or pro, to see everyone on the course with national kit on.
After Paris I had a few days at home in Loughborough to get ready for the long, long trip down under. We were going to be staying with Liz and Glen (Murray !!! congratulations on your recent marriage) for the first week, then move into the team hotel with the rest of the guys on the Wednesday before the race. The flight was long but painless - no lost bags or bikes, so all good there.
My build-up had not been too great but I was finding some decent run form and looking forward to racing. It was cool to hang out with the rest of the team and the support staff were great, I think we had 99 of them !! They were so geared to helping and making sure everyone was happy and ready to race. I did my last few tune up sessions leading into the race and felt pretty good and it was so good to see the U23 Girls kick some ass which shows there is some serious talent coming through!
The swim was rough - the first buoy was crazy, it was only about 230m away from a beach start and I guess I did not handle the kicking too well as I had a below average swim. But once on the bike I felt strong and set about chasing the lead group. I knew we would catch them as they were messing around at the front. My small group could have caught them a lap earlier but it’s the usual story about people not working etc. All I know is I want to come off the bike in the lead group and to try and WIN (and that's where you need to be), so I work to get there, end of.
I had a shocking T2. I was near the front so thought, sweet, but ran past my run shoes... It was a nightmare, running back into the ‘traffic' for about 4 metres and I lost valuable time. I exited T2 about 10 seconds down which may not seem like a lot but at this level it is light years. I managed to hold the gap of about 15sec on a big group up the road for the first lap and even reeled them in a bit on the second, but running on your own compared to a group is chalk and cheese and I was about to be made Swiss cheese!! As the group in front started to attack a few of the boys came back to me and I gladly went past them. I ran solid for 16th about 1min off the podium.
One word - Alistair!!! What a race, what a year, fair play to the Yorkshire lad, the boy done good!!
The support out there was like racing in the UK at Windsor, it was crazy. I think the Ashes got all the Poms out and they were great. Thanks Guys!! Also Ben, my coach, was great, thanks man!!
Tim
Paris French Grand Prix
Great fun as usual racing with the Beauvais boys. They took it out hard in the swim, and had about a minute off the bike in the end. I was second pack but ran strong to take 7th with second fastest run split so happy about that. Also, I was second scorer and the team were second. Go Beauvais!!! Also a great hit out from the Avil, a solid second, looking good for U23 Worlds!
Image courtesy of Mathieu Beunier
The London races
Apologies for the inconsistent news updates. It has been a busy couple of months with two visits to St. Moritz to train at altitude, London Tri and the World Championship Series race in Hyde Park.
The first trip to St. Moritz was for most of July and with more of a squad thing going on. Fraser and myself arrived first and then were joined by Ben, Hollie and the Brownlee brothers after they had raced Europeans Champs. It worked really well and we did a few sessions together - boy those boys are strong! St. Moritz is just an awesome place to train. Perfectly placed at an altitude of 1800m, I lost count of the number of top class runners and cyclists I saw who use the miles of trails and smooth roads during the summer months.
Having done a really good block of training I was hoping to put that to the test at London but it wasn’t to be. It was really annoying. I had a great swim, getting out on Stannard’s feet, really hustled, as usual, out my wetsuit and to my bike. I thought we had a little break going and then I slipped over. My first thought was my shoes would come off my pedals, but they hadn’t. I put my chain back on as well, so I thought I had got away with it. But I couldn’t ride to save my life, my legs felt trashed, and I couldn’t go with the break. I rolled around in the 2nd group not understanding why I swam so well but couldn’t ride. For the first lap of the run (5km), I was still suffering from the ride, but ran a good second lap to finish 10th. It wasn’t till I was showing Marc Jenkins my HED wheels in transition that I realised what had happened. When I slipped over in T1, my brake block got knocked against the wheel, meaning I rode the whole 40km with my brake full-on! As I said, annoying and bloody frustrating!
Two weeks later came Hyde Park, and I was determined to show some form. The swim is quite tight in the Serpentine because it is so small, so there are a fair few turns which makes it more of a bun fight than usual. I got out about a minute down but wasn’t too concerned as I was with some strong bikers. There were several groups up ahead which we reeled in with some good turns from the Germans good working unit, and the leaders on lap 6. T2 was a bit messy with Vidal falling over and I was caught a bit behind him, but I ran up to the leaders and a group of us ran together till about 5.5km. I finished 9th, 41 seconds down and very much feeling my season was heading in the right direction. A solid race but having spent 4 days in bed between the two races is not ideal and having issues again with blood blisters in the last 3km on the balls of my feet!! I know there is a better result out there!!!
Then it was back to St. Moritz for more altitude work. This time it was just me, Ben and Hollie and we got Hollie in the kitchen cooking up a storm and had a few good meals at the Beach Club. We had a good 12 days to top up the cup so to speak and the sun played its part as well!!!
I’m going to race for Beauvais in the French Grand Prix at Paris on the way back to the UK for a couple of days before heading to the Gold Coast for the WCS Grand Final.
Oakley Armchair Sessions
This was a lot of fun with the Oakley boys: www.youtube.com/armchairsessions Apparently triathlon comes under the 'Traditional Sports' heading ?!?
Across the pond
Just back from the States, a successful trip racing the Washington World Championship Series and a week later, HyVee Elite Cup. First stop was Washington and it was great there was such buy in from the city and especially the mayo. I was staying 400m from the White House just like Independence Day!! It was so cool running round it and the Monument.
The torrential rain the day before the race was not so welcome, and at one point there was talk that it would be a Duathlon ! There was so much debris in the water, branches, full on trees (not cool at all for such a big race !) that you had to keep your eye out for, not just the feet in front of you. The front group got away in the swim and stayed away. It was windy as, and also hard to organise a decent chase. I ran solid, nothing spectacular, to finish 18th and pleased to be back racing ! Legs felt sweet the day after so all good there .
Then it was onto Des Moines. It was super hot when we arrived, but some rain (and tornado warnings !!!) took the sting out of it. Chris Volley did a really good job for us there, so a big thanks is due to him, top man. Obviously it was a big money race and I wont deny that can affect how some people race, but my goal was to improve on last week and build on Des Moines for the 2 big races in London !!
I was just at the back of the lead group out the swim but had a good transition and caught them with Matty “Boom Boom” Reed at 2km. The bike was full on, attacks going all over the place - it was such good fun (and hard). Matty and Stu Hayes got away and looked like it was going somewhere. I was feeling strong and knew I would not have the run speed (yet !!) to go out with the boys, so had a little dig at 25km and Sapunov came with me. We worked well and built up a nice little lead, we just could not catch the boys up front but we gave it a go. I had a sweet T2 and ran OK. I held my form and was pleased to finish strong in 8th. A big improvement on the week before.
I am now in Switzerland for a big block of training with LLcoolFrase leading into the London events (Docklands and Hyde Park) and eventually World Champs on Gold Coast. Things are looking good and I’m loving racing and training so bring it on !!
Tim
Madrid WCS
My calf has not been 100% which as why I decided not to race in the cold at Strathclyde (Nationals) and was also the reason I didn’t finish at Madrid WCS last weekend. It’s been a frustrating time because I was in good shape and wanting to regain my British title and then have a good go in Madrid. But it’s a long season, with plenty more racing to come, so it is the right decision to rest in properly now, but boy do I want to be racing full on.
What a race from top man, Yorkshire Lad, Alistair. Now that's how you win your first ITU WCS race. Super chuffed for him, a truly world class performance. Awesome.
I head to the US shortly for Washington WCS and Des Moines World Cup. I don’t know what kind of run shape I’ll be in there but I have booked my flights . I know I’ve been swimming really well in training and getting miles in on the bike (as I couldn’t run), so I’m fit for sure, but we’ll just have to see how I’m running.
Hope everyone’s been enjoying the weather !
Laters
Tim
Korea WCS
As I said, it was a long way to go for one race but I really enjoyed being back racing on the circuit and catching up with a few of my mates and the different characters + personalities that make racing such fun. Delly Carr was also there taking some shots of us, a few of which you see on the site.
I was pretty happy with the race. I had a solid swim and it all came together on the bike pretty quickly. The pace was quite pedestrian at times, but then also pretty full on. Freddy went up the road and the Russians did right at the end and there wasn’t a lot of interest in chasing them down. I didn’t have the best T2, but a solid run, maybe ran out of gas on the last lap but those boys up front have got a few solid races under their belts this year.
Bring on Nationals and then onto Madrid.
Laters
Tim
The video is out
It was a lot of fun making it with Al and Hollie and I think Iain May has done a top job:
You can watch it HERE
Top week
Another solid week done, and only 2 left till the first ITU WCS race in Korea. I did a nice 5km on the road on Wednesday night with Ben’s development camp; it was a bit windy but all good. Then a bolt down to London for a cheeky curry (Aii !!!) on Friday night with the Downey's, and a little hit out on Saturday at the Ful-on Duathlon for Prologue Bikes. It was a 5km, 20km, 5km duathlon - the run was good fun, half off-road and with a night of rain, it was a bit slippery and my new custom Asics are new no more !!! A nice 5km loop on the bike and then the same run. Solid. It was a top race, everyone had a ball and there did seem to be a lot of Champagne at the end (get down to the next Ful-on Triathlon I say !!!!) Thanks guys, it was a sweet hit out.
8 days of training left then a quick flight to Korea (all 16 hours !!!). Can't wait.
Keep it in the big blade,
Tim
Giro report
Well I didn’t go to Australia in the end, and have been back in England for a couple of weeks.
After a really successful few days racing in the Giro del Capo, my calf was still tight and sore after my first run back. Ben and I agreed it was worth getting a scan, and the prognosis was initially not that positive. I did have a tear in my calf. Having felt in tip top shape, it was not worth risking going onto Oz if I wasn’t 100%. I came home and got it checked out in Loughborough. What we think happened was that my calf was sore, probably with a slight tear and Frankie (ace masseur) did as he was asked by me, which was work hard on my tight calf, not knowing it was a tear. His good work inflamed the damaged area so that when it was scanned, it looked miles worse than it was. So it was no way as serious as first thought, but I’m pleased I came back and got it checked out.
As I said, the Giro was really good. It was meant to be a 5-day stage race but turned it into 4 individual one day races. The first day was 106km, I finished 60th, 7.53 off the winner. Only about 80 or so out of the 180 starters made the cut-off. There were cross winds like I’ve never before experienced. It was some of the hardest riding I have done, just to stay on the wheel and out the wind - bloody Barloworld !!!!!!!
Day Two was 143km (3 laps with a dirty hill at the end of each lap), I finished 16th, 7.53 off the winner. It was hot !! It didn’t go under 40°C the whole race!!! In the first 20 min we rode 17km, I knew it was going to be tough! At the first hill it all broke up and a fair few dropped out due to the heat. I was straight on the team radio (oh yes, I had my earpiece) to get more water in true domestique style. I got about 7 bottles for the boys and it was wicked fun riding through the convoy of cars to deliver them. By this time there were 8 off the front and they stayed away. On the last lap it all broke up again, this time good and proper; I was on my own just off a small group of about 4 near the front. I got over the hill and put my head down. I had an Aussie for company and Ben singing the “Eye of the Tiger” from the team car on the radio to 'get me going ' for the last 2km. Nice. After the race it was straight to the team tent for the old “ice in your bib shorts” trick for about an hour eating Nutella sandwiches and protein shakes and bars!!!!!
Day Three was 171km, which included going up Franschhoek and I finished 26th just 46 seconds off the winner. This was the big day: an 8km climb and then a 10km climb and 10km descent to the finish. Again it was on from the start - no chill-out neutral zone. By the top of the first climb about 40km in, there were 2 groups left and we got to the top averaging 40km/hour and in that I had punctured and had to go back to the team car to change my wheel (nice one, Ben). I managed to ride back up to the second group which we caught on the flat on the other side. At this point I thought we had taken a wrong turn to THE SUN as it was topping out at 45°C still with another 110km still to go !! I think we must have drank all the water in Cape Town and we were even spraying our shoes as our feet had swelled up and were aching. On the last climb, after 2km, there is a tunnel about 200m long with no lights (everyone said it goes crazy in there and I wasn’t sure what they meant but I do now!) It felt like a Cavendish sprint and I was thinking we have another 8km of this! James, a Brit, riding for the Marco Polo team had a little crash, so I waited (and got a little rest) and then we worked well together to ride back up to the second group. We were about 30 seconds off the lead and I don't know how we didn’t catch them as I have never done through and off down a 10km climb, we were flying! It was harder than the climb!
Then there was a rest day and Day Four was 110km but I didn’t sign on as Ben was really pleased how I had raced the first three days and wanted me to have a full week back in triathlon training. As it was, my calf started playing up. I loved racing the Giro; it was so cool meeting new people in the peloton and my team mates DCM Chrome (thanks Candiec), you guys are bloody legends. Some solid bike miles and a lot of learning in the bunch. Loved it .
And since I’ve got back, training has gone well and even the weather has been half decent at times ! I was also around for the Garmin filming/photo shoot which was a lot of fun with Iain May who films Top Gear. As soon as the edit is done, I hope you’ll be able to watch it here.
So all is good, and I’m looking forward to Korea WCS at the beginning of May, bring it on !
Laters, Tim
The season ahead
It took a bit longer to work out than I expected but I now have a plan for the first half of the season I’m really looking forward to it having continued my good training since the IM 70.3 race. I’ve also slipped in a bit of racing, winning the Western Province Champs and a fast 5km on the road last week. I’m also racing the Giro del Capo as part of the Team DCM Chrome team, so I will report in next week with news of trying to survive in the peloton !
Cheers
Tim
Happy New Year everyone!
What a great start for me at the Spec Savers IM70.3 race in South Africa. I was fourth and have qualified for the World 70.3 Champs in November, so mission accomplished. The press conference was a good laugh and other than the swim recce being cancelled because sharks were spotted in the bay, I was relaxed going into it. It was a tough race, hotter than the sun, and of course, a brand new distance for me. I learnt a lot about myself and about racing the distance. Things didn’t go all my way but overall I really enjoyed it and the crowds/support was fantastic. My Mum and Dad were here watching as well because they are here on holiday for a month. Great result for Flavour Frase who was second and showed he will be a force on the 70.3 circuit again this year, and well done to the 10+ Brits who were racing.
It is mid January and I’m really pleased with where I’m at training wise. The long break at the end of last year did me a world of good, and I think having to prepare for my first ever 70.3 race (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1mile run) was a good motivator. When I was back in the UK for Christmas, I began to work out a race plan with Ben, and now this weekend is out the way, we will be firming it up. I had three weeks back in Loughborough which was great fun but oh so cold. The treadmill in the heat chamber got lots of use from me! I also picked up my new Giant TT bike from Bruce at Prologue (thanks for staying so late) and the extra time spent tweaking my position was well worth it because I was super comfortable.
Here’s to a good ‘09
Tim
