French Grand Prix 4

After Cognac I returned back to Issy Les-Moulineaux to spend my last week in Europe and I was also lucky enough to see some of the sights in Paris including the Effiel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, The Louvre and Notre Dame. Spent five days training in Issy before we headed Noeux Les Mines for the last FGP race, was very glad this place was only a two hour drive away but will still stayed the night before the race. As we came into Noeux Les Mines, we saw an artificial ski slope which was pretty cool and the swim was in a wake board park, pretty awesome place. The weather was a little cold when we arrived in the afternoon but still got in an hour ride before heading to the hotel. The team picked a sweet Italian restaurant for dinner and had a round of ten pin bowling afterwards. Race start was at 1400 so we could have a little sleep in before heading to transition check in at 1100.

Race day was perfect, a lot warmer and no wind, although I found out that French professional triathlete Laurent Vidal was here to race and a lot of other tough competition. After check-in we chilled in the shade for a while to watch the racing and then it wasn't long before I started warming up. Another solid run warm up and this time a solid swim as well. The teams were called up by their ranking and placed into the gates, Issy was 7th, we managed to get about 4 across from the side so it wasn't too bad. With over eighty athletes lined up for a beach start race, it was going to be pretty hectic. We were underway, short run, one dolphin dive and I was in clear water already. The beach we started on was slightly curved so the two outside teams had a little advantage as I saw on the left and right side the guys got an early lead but I was able to swim over to the left lead pack and get on feet as it was a left turn first. The first two turn buoys I swam wide as the fight close to them was crazy and I wanted none of it. Came out of the water in about 10th position and with the best transition I have ever had, I was onto the bike in 4th. Was now in the lead pack of about ten or so and the first couple of km was insane but held a good position in the pack. There was a small chase group just behind and it wasn't long until they were in amongst us. The pack rode strong but there was a lot of people who didn't want to do any work at the front, I did my fair share of turns, even if they were short. On the 3rd of 4 laps, two guys broke away and no one reacted hoping that they would reeled in by the end of the bike, this was not the case, they kept putting more and more time into the group. Last km of the bike I moved my way up to the front and got off the bike in the top five. Super quick transition and I was onto the run with a small group. This run course did not suit me at all with 75% of it being cross country, it was extremely hard. A few guys had got a bit of a gap but throughout the run I got quicker and quicker and started pulling them back. Around half way I was running with two guys and it was not long till I dropped them both, I was now on the heels of 7th place in the last 500m. The finish consisted of a few corners before the final straight, I picked the last one to try and pass him but someone in the crowd called out and he saw me coming, it was very close but he had another gear and just pipped me at the line.

Overall very happy with 8th in FGP4, good end to the French Grand Prix series and also my European trip. With the results from other Issy members, we finished 5th and also 5th overall for the season which was really good. Hopefully next year we will finish in the top three and be promoted to 1st division. Huge thanks to Issy triathlon for the past three months, they have been great for travelling me to each race, feeding me and being awesome to be with. Cant wait to come back next year.
I Arrived back in Australia on the 11th of September and have 1 more race before I will break. In October I will compete in the Neapean Triathlon in Penrith, NSW. Really looking forward to that race as it is non-drafting and a very strong field is expected to turn up.

 
                             

French Grand Prix 3 (teams)

Could not believe my time in Vitoria-Gastiez had come to an end, I had an awesome three months with the Aussie crew and everyone else who came to stay. I had perfect weather 90% of the time, fair bit of rain the first couple of weeks when I arrived but a great European summer with one day peaking around 43 Degrees Celsius on my 3hr ride. On the 26th of August I left Vitoria-Gastiez to travel to France to spend my last two weeks with Issy triathlon and compete in the last two French Grand Prix races, I was lucky enough to have two weeks accommodation free with Issy members Regis Marchand and Linda Guinoiseau. During my stay I was able to see the sights of Paris and get some training done around Issy Les-Moulineaux, only 15min away from  Paris.
The third race of the FGP was in Cognac, five hour drive South West of Issy so we had to travel the day before and stay overnight in Cognac. We arrived late afternoon, just enough time for ride course familiarisation. The course was very undulating and technical which is not suited for a team time trial but there was a couple of straight roads we were able to get moving. Back from ride, off to dinner then bed, although we could have a bit of a sleep in as race was not until 1430 but had to be up to transition check-in at 1100.

 

Woke up around 0900 for breakfast with the team and a little briefing. This race was very different to anything I have done before as it was a team time trial triathlon. Each team had five athletes and had to finish the course in the quickest time possible with at least the top three athletes finishing together. Race start for the first team was at 1430 and each team started one minute after the one before. Issy Triathlon was off six minutes after race start. Long run warm up and only a short swim, I was now lined up with the team ready to start, Issy had a bit of team tactics for the swim. Myself and the other strongest swimmer was to dive in last and the weaker before, the aim was to fill the gap between the weaker swimmers around half way so they could sit on feet,  surprisingly this worked quite well. All five of us came out of the water together and was onto the bike leg fast. Most of the team had the clip-on bars while the strongest cyclist had a TT bike and disc which was a huge benefit to the whole team as he was able to drive the pack along those flat straights, then myself and the other guys would swap turns up the hills. We worked awesome through the bike leg even though we lost one of our athletes early on, we posted the 2nd fastest ride time for the whole race. The guy on the TT bike was now spent and decided he would not run and leave it to me and the remaining two guys. The run course was very undulating with a bit of cross country, steps and road running. One of they guys had been having a bit of trouble with his breathing the past few weeks so I was there to push him along during the run... and I don't just mean encouragement, I was running beside him with my hand on his back pushing him along, up and down the hills and grabbing extra water for him, luckily I was feeling really good. Just after half way we were going strong, still the three of us together but then the other guy started to battle and I was now running between the both of the pushing them along to the finish line. Coming into the last couple of hundred meters, every second counted so I decided to 'slingshot' them for a sprint and finished just behind them. I was absolutely stuffed after that run, one of the hardest runs I have ever done but we did good and ended up finishing in 5th overall.

The team was very happy with that result and I was glad that I am getting back my strength in the run after my injury. Back to Issy Les-Moulineaux for five days before I will race my last French Grand Prix which will also be my last race of the European season.

Tiszaujvarous Junior European Cup

Shortly after San Sebastian triathlon I got myself an Injury and was not running for almost four weeks, it wasn't until the end of the second week I actually found out what it was, posterior tibialis tendonitis. During this time I still competed in two races but was only able to do the swim and bike, went to France to race for Issy Triathlon and also Liverpool for the British Championships. Once I was able to run again it was very slow and only managed to get a weeks worth of running in before heading to Hungary for the Junior European Cup. This was one of my main races for the season as it was the only junior race I would compete in. My preparation was terrible for running but still had a lot of confidence that my swim and bike would be strong enough. The race format was a sprint distance, four semi-finals, the quickest seven from each semi and the next two quickest times qualified for the final the next day. Each semi had around twenty five athletes.

Was feeling fine before the race, my swim has been going great, riding strong and hoped to just hold on for the run. As soon as I dove in for race start I was in trouble, under the water for too long and came up underneath two athletes. With only one hundred meters to first buoy the fight was intense and I struggled big time. After the second buoy I was towards the back, a lot of energy wasted and I couldn't come back. Out of the water in the third pack. Straight onto the bike and put the pedal down, no time to waste. Went to the front of the pack and rolled turns with the boys, the group consisted of bout eight or so and the pack ahead was not far away. By half way we had caught the second pack and dropped some along the way. The group we caught had about five and we were down to the same so we now had a group of ten and kept pushing to catch the front pack. I was able to communicate with the group to roll through properly and we were flying. Unfortunately I couldn't catch the front pack but came off the bike under ten seconds behind. They only had seven and thought I still have a chance here.... got off the bike and I felt terrible. I was passed by the whole pack within the first two hundred meters, I didn't think I would be running this bad, the bike hurt but. The whole run was a battle but had to finish. Finished 18th, very disappointed as I expected a lot more, although it was first race back running I should have been out of the water in first pack but outcome focus took priority over process and it did not end well.

I will put that race behind me and focus on my run for the next 2 weeks before travelling to France to compete in the last two French Grand Prix Races.

San Sebastian Triathlon

It had now been just under a month since I raced my first Basque race which I crashed out and broke my bikes forks. Thanks to Ruben Gonzales at VIBIkE for lending me his bike since then, I only just received my replacement forks on Friday night, just in time for San Sebastian on Sunday. I was very keen to do this race, heard a lot of good things for example the weather and epic ride course. The drive to San Sebastian was only an hour away from Vitoria so we didn't have to leave until 6:30am. Also making the trip was training partners Charlotte McShane and Natalie Van Coevorden, they both raced this event last year and had a very good result. I was unsure about my competition, there was a few people the coach pointed out that were pretty good but other than that I had no idea.
Jamie dropped us at the top of the hill so we could ride the last 10k into San Sebastian as the ride down was very sketchy and the rain did not make it any easier. We got to the bottom, weather was slightly better than up top, registered and prepared for warm up. This was an Olympic distance race, swim was in the bay, just a 1500m loop around the boats. The bike course was very hilly, 40k loop with several short sharp climbs in the first 20k and a 6k climb which was brutal but finished with a 8k downhill back to race site. The 10k run was 3 laps just along the beach front.

The girls were off first at 9:15am and men at 9:30am. With over 500 men lined up ready for race start, I was ready to go. The athelets saw smoke from the horn but no noise, I didn't stop them from running out into the water for race start, it only took the official another go about a sec later and the race was on. I love beach starts, especially when there are a couple of little waves rolling through, had a very clean run and was out in the water 1st. After a couple of 100m I could see one of the athletes pointed out earlier about 50m to the left of me, he turned around first buoy about 10sec before I did. I maintained this gap through the rest of the swim and exited the water in 2nd position. It wasn't until after the race I realised I was not urgent enough through T1 which could have saved me riding 40k by myself, as I just missed Godoy and could not bridge the gap in the first few km's. The ride was very tough, the small hills at the start hurt the legs early but with 15k of relatively flat road, I had time to recover before hitting the 6k climb up from Orio. It wasn't too bad the first few km's but slowly started to feel the effects on having a 23 cassette on, although it was raining on the way up so I kept nice and cool. Finally over the top and ready for the sketchy descent which we rode earlier. I was very lucky though as the road was dry on the descent so was able to ride down solid. Last 500m I turned around and noticed 2 riders just behind me, I saw them about 2k into the ride and they must have been just behind all race. If I knew that I could have saved the legs and got off the bike fresher. In and out of T2 no dramas and it wasn't long until one of those guys caught up and I began to run with him. I ran with him feeling quite good until about 5k which he made an attack and left me for dead, he only managed to get 100m up the road and then kept that gap for the rest of the run. Crossed the line in 3rd position not too far behind 2nd place.

Very happy with my race, placing 3rd overall and first U23 with a time of 2:01:08. Was very suprised when I saw the splits, having 2nd fastest ride time overall, even doing the full 40k solo.

French GP Race 1

Soon after I found out about coming to races overseas I was in contact with a French triathlon team Issy Les Moulineaux. After a few emails I joined their team and will race for them while I am in Europe.

Last Friday I took my first flight into Paris to meet up with the team, that night was the annual Paris Music Festival so I took a short trip into Paris with a few of the athletes to see the sights and have an excellent dinner. I stayed with two other athletes at their house that night as we had to drive to La Rochelle the next morning which was just over 4 hours away.
We arrived in La Rochelle to cold and wet weather but we still managed to fit a ride in before dinner. After a good feed at a local restaurant we headed back to the hotel so the coach could give the team a race brief and have an early night.
Up at 7am for a buffet breakfast with the team and then off to race site which was just across the road to put our gear in transition. Our race was not until 10:30am so we headed back to the room to relax before heading back to race at 9:30 for a warm up.

It was now 10:20am, warm up done and waiting with the team up on the boardwalk ready to be called down to the pontoon. Issy had 10th pick on the start and with at least 5 athletes per team the pontoon was very congested. We picked right in the middle to ensure shortest line to first buoy which was under 200m away that narrowed underneath a bridge. The buzzer was off, no warning but luck I was ready and had a very clean dive. I put everything into that first 200m and found myself in clear water placed about 5th. After reaching the U-Turn buoy my arms felt like they were dead and I started losing some places. Came out of the water in the front half of the second pack, the lead group consisted of 6 or 7 athletes including world class French triathlete Laurent Vidal. We only had a gap of around 30sec after lap 1 but the gap increased each lap as the pack was not working strong enough to catch them. I sat in most of the ride and tried to avoid any crashes as it was a group if 20 or so athletes on a slightly technical course. I came off the bike placed about 10th in the group and about 1min behind the leaders. Quick transition and I was off onto the run feeling good. The first km was crazy but it wasn't long until I started passing other athletes. The run course had a lot at turns and one stretch was extremely windy but still managed to run myself into 12th position and 1st Junior.

Happy with my first French Grand Prix race, was a very good experience and can't wait for the next one. Issy Triathlon is an excellent team, the athletes and Coach are great, very helpful (a few also know a fair bit on English too). They made my weekend very enjoyable and I look forward to racing for them again. Now back in Vitoria-Gastiez for a week's training then I'm off to San Sebastian for a local race

ITU European Cup Cremona, Italy

After my crash last weekend I was keen to get back racing and couldn't think of a better place to go than Cremona, Italy. This was my first major race in Europe and with 83 elite men on the start list, it looked to be a tough race. Travelled to Italy alongside Tamsyn Moana-Veale (from my training group) on Friday morning with a short stop over at Frankfurt. We arrived late Friday evening, for some dinner and off to bed. Saturday consisted of some pre-race training, seeing the sights and race brief in the evening. Race start for the men was 12:25 Sunday afternoon. This was the first race which has two separate transitions. Had to put the shoes in at T2 at 7:30am and rego/T1 opening wasn't until 11am at the race start which was a 15min ride from the apartments. Arrived just before 11 to register, rack bike and warm up. Just before the start we lined up and it was officially announced there was 75 starters, I don't even know if the pontoon fits that many athletes.

Each athlete was called down in order of their number, I was ranked 27th. Ran down to the pontoon after being introduced and decided to start on the left as there was only a few athletes. Everyone was now lined up and ready for the start. After a minutes silence for a soldiers death in Afghanistan the race was off. Had a clean dive in the water and the fight was on, others were swimming ontop of me, grabbing me feet, elbows, legs, I copped a bit of a beating but wasn't long until I found some cleat water. After about 150-200m of swimming, athletes just stopped swimming and yelling out stop, I looked up and the boat was in front telling us we had false started, that's just great! Everyone started swimming back ready for 2nd attempt, when I got a bit closer I notice about 30 athletes were still on the pontoon. Climbed back up and ready for race start, only took a couple of minutes and we were underway again. Very similar start a lot of getting bashed except this time I could not find clear water and struggled until I found myself out the back by the first buoy and was hurting, couldn't find any rhythm and knew my position was not good. It felt like I put everything into the swim but found myself coming into T1 towards the back of the field and just missing a big pack ahead of me. Had 3 other athletes to ride with but after a lap it came down to only 2 others as one couldn't keep up the pace. Didn't feel very comfortable on the bike, think it may have been only doing one ride this week and also being on a different bike because of what happened last week. Came off the bike and with a very quick and smooth T2 I was out onto the run. Felt ok on the first lap of the run, by the end of first lap I could see a couple of groups from bike pack that got off over a minute ahead. Lap 2 I was starting to pass some athletes and gaining a couple of extra positions. Although the back half of the 2nd lap my shoulders started to get really tight and I felt a little fatigued and started to slow up. I shook it off pretty quickly and started picking off more athletes. By the finish I had gained several extra places but was still a long way back thanks to my poor swim at the start.

Finished a bit disappointed 58th in my first ITU European Cup, the race started bad and was very hard to recover. I now have 2 weeks training and on the 23rd of June I will compete in my first French Grand Prix race. Very keen for a good result there, very lucky to be apart of an awesome team Issy Triathlon who I will race for the first time that weekend.

Arrived in Europe

Earlier this week I took the long journey from Sydney to Vitoria-Gasteiz, Alava. Left last Sunday night and had a very smooth trip to arrive at my apartment in Vitoria just after 9pm the following night. The first thing I noticed is how late the sun goes down, it was still light when I arrived. Settled into training early the next morning and lucky I did not feel any effects from my travels.

Needed to settle in quickly as I had race that weekend in Ondarroa, Spain with another aussie, Nick Kastelein, who is staying at the same place. On Friday we left Vitoria to travel to Biarritz, France to see some sights and stay the night before the race on Saturday. Biarritz was very nice but the weather was extremely cold and windy, would like to go back when the weather warms up. We left Biarritz around lunch to drive to Ondarroa for a 3:45pm race start. The race was Olympic distance starting at a fishing harbour and the ride followed the coast until coming back inland, through the hills and the run was 3 laps around the harbour. The water temp was 13 degrees Celsius so was definitely not getting in for a swim warm up. With over 450 males lined up on the beach ready to race, I was keen to get my European race season underway. 

With a little sneaky help from one of the local race officials he pointed Nick and I to the best position for the swim start. The race was on and after a 30m run down the beach I hit the icy cold water of Ondarroa which was a big shock. After 30 sec I was in clear water and already had a gap on the field with Kastelein sitting on my feet. The water was cold but didn't bother me too much as I was feeling great swimming and continued to put seconds into the rest of the field. Come out of the water first along with Kastelein just behind. When I got up on the bridge I could see we had about a 30sec gap on 3rd and a huge gap on the next bunch. Smooth T1 and started the climb out of transition. It wasn't until after 5min of climbing I came across a flat section to put my feet in my shoes, right foot in no dramas, as I attempted to put my left foot in the shoe somehow unclipped went into the spokes of my front wheel and jammed into the forks throwing me over the handlebars. I got up un-injured but I picked my bike up and the front wheel was only just hanging on by a couple of fibers of the fork. The shoe had clean cut the fork in half and that was my race over. Couldn't believe it and could not believe how it actually happened, I was so angry considering I led out of the water and had just finished a big cycling block before coming over, the bike would have probably been my strongest leg. The ambulance came to pick me up and the bike was brought down by one of the motorcycles. No injuries, just a couple of bruises and a broken bike.

Big thanks to the ambulance officers and race officials for their help and getting me back down the mountain. I have my second race for the trip at Cremona, Italy this weekend so main focus is getting my bike sorted and coming back strong over there.