My news archive

Archived "News of the Don"

May 2006: Commonwealth Games reflections

Dec 2005: Commonwealth Games Test Event

Sep 2005: European Championships

Jul 2005: Corner Brook World Cup

Jun 2005: Madrid World Cup

May 2005: Pre-season and Honolulu World Cup

Older issues are stored as Adobe PDF files:

CWG reflections

When all is said and done, Tim came away from Melbourne happy. He would have been happier if he had won a medal, and even happier if it had been gold. He was happy because he had gone into the race trying to win (not just get a medal) and on the day, did the very best he could. He was 6 or 7 seconds off third place and when he crossed the finish line he was gutted.

Preparations weren't perfect. He missed over two weeks of running in early February. The Aussie Sprint Champs, three weeks before Melbourne, were cancelled. And the the last week of training on the Gold Coast was interupted by a cyclone. Not excuses, just facts. Rarely does everything go exactly to plan but these combined with the fact the race was early season, meant that Tim wasn't in his all-time best shape. That said, what a great swim, leading the field out of the water!

Tim made the decision not to go to the Opening Ceremony - and it was the correct one as it was a long, long day for those that did - and so it was not till after his race that he got a feel for what being a part of Team England was about. Going to Melbourne Zoo for a BBQ in Official team kit with everyone dressed the same showed the camaraderie and spirit within the Team and Tim was very proud to be part of it. Watching Craig Mottram run the 5km in front of his home crowd was another highlight.

Racing for Beauvais

Tim starts his season again this weekend at the first round of the French Grand Prix (FGP), in Jard sur Mer. He will be racing for the town of Beauvais and has committed to race in 3 of the 5 races plus the French Cup in October. It is a strong team, runners-up last year and obviously looking to go one better by signing Tim: Poulat and Bignet are experienced campaigners and Sudrie and Vidal young lads coming through with lots of talent alongside the talented German, Daniel Unger. The FGP is a tough competition with team tactics playing a major part in the outcome of the race and with the likes of Kahlefedlt, Henning and Poliparpenko aswell as the world class Frenchies, the races will be very competitive indeed.

2006 Race Schedule

MAY 14th FGP, Jard sur Mer

JUNE 4th ITU World Cup, Madrid : 11th Royal Windsor Triathlon (also British National Champs) : 24/25th European Champs, Autun, France

JULY 2nd FGP, Beauvais : 15th LifeTime Fitness, Minneapolis : 30th ITU World Cup, Salford

AUGUST 6th London Triathlon - maybe

SEPTEMBER 3rd World Champs, Lausanne, Switzerland : 9th ITU World Cup, Hamburg : 16th FGP, La Baule : 24th ITU World Cup, Beijing

The next couple of months

Tim has been training in Loughborough for the last month but on May 21st will head to Spain for some guaranteed sunshine (that's the kiss of death!). He will spend a week at the La Manga Club before joining the rest of the BTA squad a bit further south in Aguila in preparation for a full-on June. The Madrid World Cup will see Tim defend his win from last year and then a week later, defend his National Champion title at Windsor. There is a weekend off before the European Champs in Autun, France which will see a massive team effort from the French trying retain the title won by Frederick Belaubre last year.

Commonwealth Games Test Event, St. Kilda

After the World Duathlon, Tim's preparation for St. Kilda were excellent. He knew he was in good form and determined to put all three disciplines together and dominate the race. The swim was a two lap affair and the water was cold, allegedly 14C. Because the pontoon had not been built yet, the athletes started in the water. Tim felt this could be an advantage as traditionally southern hemisphere races start on the beach and normally are non-wetsuit. The field was small with a wide range of abilities, just like Melbourne will be. Making the lead swim pack was as crucial as ever. Tim's hard work during the last couple of months on his swim paid off by doing something he couldn't do at the London Triathlon in August, and swim on Craig Walton's feet. He was second out of the water, and with his customary quick transition, out onto the bike first.

In fact, he put his head down. Not flat out trying to make an early solo break but enough to keep the pressure on everyone else behind to catch him. The bike course is flat and fast -- a classic five lap criterium around the streets of the Port Phillip Bay area. It was also the CWG selection race for the Aussies and Kiwis so there were races within the race, and what it did mean was that there was no let-up in the pace on the bike as everyone in the lead group had a reason to maintain their advantage over the chasers. Similar to the English, first across the line was going to earn them automatic section and it was the Kiwis, Docherty and Gemmell, who took it out hard at the start of the run. Tim was happy running with them and at about 5km, they had a 10 second advantage. Gemmell then started to hurt and the Aussies (Bennett and Kalhfeldt) began to come back at them. With 2.5km to go, Tim upped the pace again to give himself a 15 metre cushion. He won in 1.48.17, 10 seconds ahead of Bennett with Docherty in third. He had done what he had set out to do -- get selected for Melbourne '06 and control the race from start to finish -- and as a respected and experienced BTA coach said afterwards "It was the best international performance from Tim that I have ever seen".

The squad then had a couple of days in Melbourne. It was a useful time confirming the arrangements of the lead into race day, March 18th, and the period before that in the holding camp at Geelong. Then it was back to the UK to prepare for the last couple of World Cups of the year. Hurricane Wilma changed that though. The Cancun coastline took a severe bashing and it very quickly became obvious that the resort would take awhile to get back on its feet. The race was cancelled but hopefully will be back next year as it is one of Tim's favourite places.

He then hurt his knee. He has a standard Saturday - swim/bike brick in the morning, bike/run brick in the afternoon. And it was while he was running a flat out kilometre having done 5 minutes solid on the turbo, that he slipped on some wet leaves. A little shocked and also a little embarrassed, all Tim saw was lots of blood. He had a deep cut next to his knee but once he was home and cleaned it up, he thought it was OK and so the next day, as usual, did his 2 hour easy run. Then it went a bit pear shaped, literally. His knee swelled up big time and he knew that it was not quite as innocuous as first thought. With some excellent work from Renee, it slowly calmed down and although Tim wasn't able to do any biking or running, he was at least still able to swim.

New Plymouth World Cup

Tim travelled down to New Zealand lacking in a bit of fitness (after 10 days of only swimming) but feeling relatively fresh considering he raced his first World Cup back in April. As there was almost double prize money and double ITU World Cup points on offer, all the sports big guns were there. Also, as it was the last World Cup, the end of year ranking (and prize bonus) would also be decided and Tim wanted to hang onto his 2nd place. No worries in the swim, Tim felt comfortable and got out in 6th place. The bike was very St.Kilda-esque, flat, fast and furious. Again, no dramas, Tim going with the flow. Docherty and Gemmell, racing on home soil, again set the early pace and with a sense of deja vue, Tim went with them. He has seen Kahlefeldt, his only real threat for the No.2 ranking, hanging onto the back of the group and Tim wanted to take advantage while he could. But at about 6km, on one of the small uphills, Tim's lack of conditioning began to show and he slipped back to the chase group. It was a very tight finish, the top eight all finishing within 31 seconds of each other and sadly Tim slipped a place in the rankings as Kahlefeldt finished ahead of him.

Although very disappointed at the time, Tim quickly appreciated what a fantastic season he had had -- his best ever. A look at the seasons results show his success and consistency throughout the whole year which was also recognised by the BTA membership who voted him Male Triathlete of the Year, for the first time ever.

What's happening now...

Tim is on a 10 day training camp in Sardinia. It is compulsory for World Class Performance athletes and has come at a good time as the weather has turned so cold. He will spend Christmas with his parents and then head off to the sunshine in Stellenbosch on January 4th. It's all about getting in even better shape than last year, with the early season focus obviously the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne on March 18th. The rest of 2006 is hard to plan at the moment as not all the dates have been confirmed but another major focus will be the World Champs in Lausanne, Switzerland on September 2nd.

European Championships

As mentioned earlier, Tim did not taper for the Europeans, and even the couple of easy days beforehand didn't really materialise. The course is the one that will be used for the 2006 World Champs, so it was very valuable to have a look at the course under race conditions. Tim had a fantastic swim, staying in the lead 3 or 4 throughout the whole of the 2 lap wetsuited first discipline. Out onto the seven lap bike leg and the pace was on. There were 2 hills per lap, one short and steep (up to 13% incline) and the other long and steep, and there seemed to be someone attacking on each climb. Tim ran with the lead group chasing down the 5 who had managed to get away on the bike. On the second of four laps, he suffered with stomach cramps and although he tried to sit at the back of the group till he recovered, he did drop off the pace. As the pain subsided, Tim picked up his speed again and finished a very credible 5th place. It was his best ever finish at the Euros and he was first Brit home.

World Aquathlon Championships

On the Thursday before a race, Tim will complete a final key run workout. High in intensity and relatively short. The World Aquathlon Championships were perfectly timed. There were only 16 on the start line and Tim led them throughout the opening 3.2km run. For the first time ever, the Aquathlon was held at night under floodlights. The swim was in the Gamagori Motorboat Complex which is used for motor boat racing and waterskiing, and the same place as the triathlon. So it was a bit spooky diving in for the swim, especially as Tim was first in. He was caught by Stannard and Reed at about 400m and so sat on their feet for the rest of the kilometre swim. The second run was just one lap (1.6km). Tim put a burst in at 400m to take himself clear and coasted the rest. Result, another World title.

World Triathlon Championships

Tim was full of beans and quietly confident going into the "main" race three days later. He felt fine after the Aquathlon, no tiredness or muscle soreness. The race started at 1.30pm, after the women, and it was hot and humid. In fact, afterwards, Tim said it was the hottest race he had ever been in, but he didn't have any sunburn marks, meaning that it was the humidity that was stifling.

Not a great swim from Tim but as Marc Jenkins pointed out in his commentary for the BBC, it was a very physical swim with lots of people losing their hats and goggles in the battle for clear water. Tim got out of the water with Docherty, Robertson and Quirke (all solid riders) so wasn't too worried when the long chain of athletes broke as they exited transition and he ended up in the second pack. By lap three (of seven) Tim was up with the main pack. As you would expect at the World Champs, the pace was on so he was reacting and responding to the many attacks, and more often than not the pack were strung out in a long line. He did, as usual, drink both his waterbottles.

Tim was not in his usual position at the front of the pack as they entered T2 - there was a tight final bend before transition and Tim was cautious going into it. It was where Andrew Johns was driven into a garden wall by another rider who was trying to improve his position by cutting the corner. It took Tim half a lap to catch the lead group of nine who were sitting about 40m behind Robertson, who had done his typical bolt out onto the run. Tim didn't want Robertson to gain confidence by being out in front for too long and started to work to reel him in. By the end of the first lap, the gap was down to 10m. As they came out from the tunnel at the start of the second lap, Tim felt that the others were knocking into him and then realised that it was him who couldn't run in a straight line. He veered off to the left and 500m later was being sick by the side of the road.

The ambulance came and the medics were reluctant to release Tim until his core body temperature started to drop. It took a while, but as soon as it did he began to feel better and by the evening was back to feeling 'normal'.

Beijing World Cup

With the Beijing World Cup (on the proposed 2008 Olympic course) just a week later, it was a good opportunity to put the previous race behind him and get back to challenging for the World No.1 ranking. Tim felt fine physically, but mentally was still hurting a bit from Gamagori. The first 200m of the swim, in the dam of the Shisanling Reservoir, showed that he wasn't quite physically 100% because when he needed to go flat out to stay with the lead swimmers, he didn't have it. He also felt below par on the bike. A few of them were leading the chase from the second group and when it came to jump across to the front pack he didn't have it in his legs to go with the other three. The six lap bike course has hills and some technical sections and, as the roads have been made for the triathlon, a beautiful surface to ride on. Out onto the run, Tim gave it his all. He felt it was always a battle rather than flowing. He moved up five places to finish 10th, and in turn returned to being ranked No.2 in the World. It was an amazing experience going to China. Everyone was really friendly and as helpful as possible. The closing ceremony was held on the Great Wall of China ! It will be an amazing Olympics in 2008.

World Duathlon Championships

Without being at all disrespectful to Japan and China, Tim was delighted to get to Australia. He was in need of some Western culture. He has lived and trained on the Gold Coast before, so he is familiar with the set up and knows a few of the ride/run routes. The next big date on the calendar is the Commonwealth Games Test event. However, before that there was the World Duathlon Champs to have a good go at.

Tim took the opening 10km run out hard, with three others, running 31.08. He was keen to hurt as many of them as possible, and most of the pre-race favourites were about 20 seconds behind. Then it was six laps of what the event website called a "technical and hilly" bike course but which was described by one of the triathlon sites as "a brutally tough bike course that took competitors six times over a steep, 200-foot-plus hill and around several dead-slow, tight 180° corners" - it was severe, and the turn of the strong bikers to make everyone hurt. On the second to last lap, Benny van Steelant, the duathlon legend, got away and Tim knew that if Benny had any kind of lead going into the second run, then he would be very hard to beat. Tim did lots of work to reel Benny in and then, just as the peleton caught him, Paul Amey broke away. Even if he had wanted to chase him down, Tim couldn't have after his efforts on the previous lap. In fact, within the GB team there was a gentlemen's agreement that if one of them did make a break on the bike then the others wouldn't work to try and catch him.

Amey had a 42 second lead by T2 and held on for the win. Tim ran away from the group, recording the fastest second run to take silver.

Commonwealth Games selection

This coming Saturday (October 15th) is the Commonwealth Games test event in St.Kilda, Melbourne. It is the selection race for the Australians, New Zealanders as well as the English. One athlete could have already qualified for the English team by medalling at the World Champs but no one did that and so it's all down to this race. Winning it will guarantee qualification (actually it is a nomination to the team which the Commonwealth Games Council for England then ratify). Then, it's the athlete with the closest finishing time to the winner, from the Worlds or St.Kilda. There are three places up for grabs, and Tim is aiming to be first English man home to guarantee his nomination. He has been training well and is looking forward to it.

There are still two more World Cups of the year to go - Cancun, Mexico on October 30th and New Plymouth, New Zealand on November 13th. At the moment, Tim is on the start list for both.

Cornerbrook World Cup

Being in such great shape and seeing that the start list wasn't the most competitive, Tim made a last minute decision to cross the Atlantic and race on the challenging Cornerbrook course, now in its 7th year as an ITU World Cup. Tim raced there back in 1999 and 2001, finishing in the low teens both times, so he knew the town and the course well.

A tight three lap swim in wetsuits (the water was 16°C!), followed by six hilly laps on the bike, and then four undulating laps of varying terrain to finish. Tim had a great swim, out of the water in 4th place, and through transition (there is about 450m from the waters edge up the hill to transition) and out onto the bike in the lead. He wasn't at all troubled by the testing bike course and rolled around in the pack knowing he had a fast run in his legs. Bignet and Albert stole 20 seconds on the group on the last lap which Tim knew he would make up easily - which he did, reeling them in after about 2km. Always in control on the run, Tim won by over 30 seconds and became the first man EVER to win three ITU World Cups in the same year. You can imagine the podium celebrations!

Tim was then due to race at the Milton Keynes Triathlon. He went along to support the Big Cow boys and give out the prizes but was not right to race. Direct flights to and from Cornerbrook only happen weekly and the return flight is overnight, so Tim only got back to England in the early hours of Thursday morning very short of sleep.

Salford World Cup

Salford also doubled up as the British Championships. Tim was desperately keen to defend his title aswell as keep racking up World Cup points. The rain stayed away at least and Tim did a load of BBC interviews with Craig Doyle the day before the race.

Craig Doyle, in his intro piece, actually refers to the swim as being a "bun fight" and it was just that. Tim got out of the water in the middle of the pack, having done very well to get into that position after the opening straight melee. The roads were dry and the pace was strong on the bike. Most of the better cyclists had a go at floating off the front of the peleton and most were covered until Belaubre and Albert (once again) slipped away on the penultimate lap and built up a 45 second advantage into T2.

With some quality runners in the field Tim felt confident that they could catch Belaubre. However, it seemed the others weren't that keen to work hard enough to catch him. As Victor Plata said afterwards, every time Tim went to the front of the group, he really picked up the pace and strung out the group but when it was the next persons "turn" on the front, the pace slowed down again. This meant the chase group only clawed back 10 seconds on Belaubre on the first lap. It was only on the last lap that the chasers, now just three, made up any significant time on Belaubre but he was home and dry. Osplay, having sat on Tim's shoulder for the majority of the run, nipped in front of Tim with 150 metres to go to take second. Tim finished a frustrated third but first Brit home to retain his National Champion title. It shows how much he has moved on this year to be disappointed with third place in a World Cup.

London Triathlon

In what the organisers claim to be the "Worlds largest triathlon" and with almost half of them first timers, Tim did his bit on the Asics and EAS stands the day before the race as well as some more BBC filming and so went into the race not as fresh as he would have liked. Pairing up with Liz Blatchford, there was a subplot to the race. Their combined time would work out the fastest "pair" against Walton/Snowsill and Hayes/Dillon.

Aware of Walton and Sansom's swim/bike strength, Tim knew the swim was going to be crucial. Getting out just 45 seconds down, Tim was very surprised that Stannard and Hayes had "spent their pennies" by swimming so hard to keep up with Walton and Sansom. Stannard was dropped immediately on the bike and couldn't even contribute in the chase group. Hayes, Walton and Sansom started the run with a three minute lead. Tim, having dragged round a large group of 20, blasted the run, catching Sansom to finish third. Again, brilliant to be on the podium but very disappointed on how the race was won. In the "pairs" competition, Tim and Liz were second.

Next up...

The European Championships are next on the calendar (Aug 21st in Lausanne, Switzerland) but with the World Champs so close (Sept 11th in Gamagori, Japan), Tim won't be fully tapering for the Euros. Normally, before a big race, there is a week lead-in of reduced training volume to arrive on the start line fresh. For the Euros, Tim will just have a couple of easy days as he puts in the required hard training in to arrive in Gamagori in tip-top shape. He is also going to decide in the next couple of weeks if he will enter the World Aquathon Champs. They are held on the Thursday 8th Sept and consist of a 3.2km run/1000m swim/1.6km run.

Madrid World Cup

What a result! Second ITU World Cup victory of the season and now ranked No.3 in the World. It wasn't looking quite as promising the week before. Tim caught a cold and in a moment of feeling particularly sorry for himself, was considering not even going to Madrid. After a couple of easy days, Tim was able to resume full training but still had a bit of a cough. There was a massive upturn in spirits on the Thursday when Tim went to the DaimlerChrysler UK head office in Milton Keynes to collect his Chrysler Crossfire! It's a 3.2V6 Coupe in Black with DTM Satellite Navigation, nice.

Madrid was hot and humid. In typical ITU style, there were no changes to last years course so they still had the lane rope in, even though they promised it would be removed. Two lap swim, 8 lap bike and 4 lap run. Tim remembered the bashing he received last year trying to get round the first buoy (still less than the ITU minimum of 300 meters and also having to turn greater than 90 degrees, again contradicting ITU regulations) and so he took the first lap steady and was 29 seconds down at the first timing point. On the second lap, with clearer water to swim in, Tim moved through the field negatively splitting by almost 20 seconds. His usual fast transition meant he comfortably made it into the lead group of 39 out onto the bike.

There were a few early attacks but they were quickly covered by the pack. The Spanish, in particular, were keen that no one would get away in their home race. However, on the fifth lap, Zeebroek of Belgium did managed to break off the front and built up a lead of over 40 seconds at one point, though it was only 30 seconds at T2. Within the first 1.25km of the run, Zeebroek had been swallowed and spat by the lead group of 12. Tim felt very comfortable, taking his turn on the front, pushing the pace and being able to get himself in a good position for every drink station. At about 5km, the group started to shrink, the pace and the heat causing people to drop off the back. And then at about 6.5km Reto Hug really broke up the group with a surge that only Tim could match and they stole a few metres on the others. Only Polikarpenko and Riederer (the Olympic bronze medallist) were able to get back to them, but then when Tim went again, he broke them all. Polikarpenko tried to come back at him in the last 500m but Tim still had another gear, and notched up his third win of the year.

National Duathlon Champs, Milton Keynes

As soon as the National Duathlon Champs moved to the Big Cow Tri Fest, Tim knew he was going to race there. He had raced on the course before on a number of occasions and knew it to be a great location. He also wanted to earn his place on the team for the World Champs in his own right, being the best in the UK, not just from getting bronze at last years European Champs at Swansea. Not forgetting, of course, that it was the lads at Big Cow that facilitated getting in front of the MD of DaimlerChrysler UK!

Tim was understably confident going into the race. Four of them built up a 45 second lead on the 4 lap, 10km first run. Tim and his fellow WCPP triathletes, Richard Allen and Paul Amey, used their experience to work together and build up a commanding lead. Entering T2, Tim raced away from Allen and was able to go into cruise control for the second lap to win by 26 seconds in 1.47.49.

Latest news...

Tim is away training in Switzerland with Andrew Johns for a couple of weeks while the final phase of his house purchase goes through (touch wood!). He has bought a place in Loughborough, only 10 minutes drive from the University. Also, Tim will now race at the London Triathlon on August 7th rather than race in Hamburg and so the race schedule currently looks like this:

July 24th -- Milton Keynes Triathlon
July 31st -- Salford World Cup
Aug 7th -- London Triathlon
Aug 22nd -- European Champs (Lausanne, Switzerland)
Sept 10th -- World Champs (Gamagori, Japan)
Sept 25th -- World Duathlon Champs (Newcastle, Australia)
Oct 15th -- Commonwealth Games Test Event (St.Kilda, Australia)

Pre-season in South Africa

After a really good training block in Loughborough, Tim headed out to sunny Stellenbosch. He was really focussed with a slightly changed training regime, working on getting him to be able to race stronger; meaning more miles on the bike, regular swim/bike and bike/run brick sessions, longer runs and more speed endurance work. He is determined to be a consistent contender on the World Cup circuit and make a real impression at the major Championships.

Tim did get a break when he popped back to the UK for the weekend to give a couple of talks at the TCR show at Sandown Park. Most questions were about training, racing and nutrition with the usual less serious inquiries on what shampoo he uses and who cuts his hair! He also picked up one of his new custom painted Trek bikes with matching Fizik saddles.

The plan for the early part of the year is to be based in SA till mid May. Tim is best man at a wedding in Durban and then will fly back to the UK. He is really looking forward to being based in the UK and training at the wonderful facilities in Loughborough and is praying for a hot summer!

All Africa Championships

The traditional season opener for Tim was a success. Wanting to put all three disciplines together under race conditions, it couldn't have gone any better and showed his training was right on course. The only downer was the weather, as it rained the whole day. Solid swim getting out second, feeling good on the bike as the lead group put time into the chase pack, and then running away with it to win by over a minute.

Honolulu World Cup

From South Africa, Honolulu is a hard place to get to. Cape Town to Heathrow, then onto Los Angeles and then onto Honolulu. About 26 hours in the air. And the course itself is one of the hardest on the circuit with the bike course taking in the gruelling Kilauea climb 5 times. But when you win the race and get to stay on for a few days on the world famous Waikiki beach then it's well worth it!

Tim swam well, staying out of trouble on the two lap swim and managing to avoid catching himself on the razor sharp coral. A large pack got out together and were swiftly through transition. Poulat made an early break off the front and it was only when he was joined by Wealing that they started to put time into the pack. They had a two minute lead at the start of the run. Tim had been happy riding with the pack, coping with the climbs no worries.

Tim felt good going into the race but not on top form and so he tagged onto the back of the lead chasers. Tim felt that if they ran the first 5km strongly, which they did, then they would reel in the leaders. By halfway, Tim and Hunter Kemper were in the lead, running side by side. Tim stayed patient, confident of his sprint finish but it was not needed as Kemper couldn't hold the pace allowing Tim to open up a significant gap. The one second difference doesn't tell the whole story as Tim celebrated in style down the carpeted finish chute allowing Kemper to catch up.

Mazatlan World Cup

The surf was up in Mexico. Alot was made about the heat in Mazatlan but it was the waves that were the trouble. The last guy to make the lead pack onto the bike was the 6ft6 Matt Read. He stood up in the surf at the same time as Tim but with his long legs he was able to cover the 30m of swell quicker, and was able to get out on the bike with the leaders. Tim knew how important it was to catch the leaders and rode almost the whole of the first lap on his own trying to catch them. He was eventually joined by 6 others and although only half the group were working, they managed to keep the leaders at 20 seconds. On lap 6 of 8, the big group behind Tim caught his group up causing the chase to lose momentum, and the leaders to have a minute and a half advantage as they hit T2.

Tim was asked afterwards if he was doing a fartlek session on the run. He ran the first lap really strong, leading the chasers, but then suffered with foot cramp for the middle two, before recovering to blast the last lap and finish 11th. He was very frustrated afterwards because he ran the same time as Hunter Kemper who won the race.

Race schedule

Obviously the win in Hawaii was a terrific result on its own, but it has also impacted very positively on the rest of the season. Selection for both European and World Championships are now guaranteed enabling Tim to concentrate on preparing for these major races without having to compete in any qualifying races. The provisional race schedule looks something like this, fitness/injury permitting:

June 5th -- Madrid World Cup
June 12th -- National Duathlon Champs (Milton Keynes)
July 24th -- Milton Keynes Triathlon
July 31st -- Salford World Cup
Aug 7th -- London Tri or Hamburg World Cup
Aug 22nd -- European Champs (Lausanne, Switzerland)
Sept 10th -- World Champs (Gamagori, Japan)
Sept 25th -- World Duathlon Champs (Newcastle, Australia)
Oct 15th -- Commonwealth Games Test Event (St.Kilda, Australia)

tim don -- news archive