The course of victory was set when she broke away from the leading group of 15 women on the bike leg and laid out a pace that nobody could match as she broke away from the group.
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Teammate Taylor-Brown attempted to go with her, while the chase followed 25 seconds behind, but on the bell lap it was only Lee who managed to keep the chase at bay while Taylor-Brown fell back to the large pack.
From there, it was no stopping Lee, as she dropped off her bike and shot out to the run. Despite running a few extra metres on the back of the first lap, which saw her lead dwindle from from 42 seconds to 37, the mistake wasn’t enough to cause her the win.
Germany’s Lisa Sieburger secured second after fighting her way back into the race on a challenging bike course, while bronze went to Austria’s Lisa Perterer.
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The 2016 Brit tri girls winning streak…
Gold for Brit Lucy Hall in Spain
Non Stanford claims stunning victory in Cape Town
Helen Jenkins wins WTS Gold Coast in Australia
Jodie Stimpson wins in Mooloolaba
Jodie Stimpson takes season opener in Abu Dhabi
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Need a new watch this season? How about the Forerunner 735XT, the latest lightweight multisport-capable running watch from Garmin? It features 24/7 heart rate monitoring, without the need for an additional strap, and built-in activities including running, cycling, swimming, multisport, hiking, XC skiing, strength training, paddle sports and cardio.
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Connect IQ compatible, the Forerunner 735XT is the first device to come with the Strava Live Suffer Score app pre-installed so users can track how hard they have been working based on heart rate data. Users can download additional free custom apps, watch faces, data fields and widgets from the Connect IQ™ store to further customise the Forerunner 735XT.
“The Forerunner 735XT is the ultimate GPS smartwatch for athletes who want dialed-in data for training and a lighter load on race day,” said Andrew Silver, Senior Product Manager Fitness, EMEA. “It offers comprehensive data for all of their activities, keeps them connected with smart features including notifications and automatic uploads to Garmin Connect, and lets them customise their device to fit their needs with Connect IQ’s free apps, data fields and more.”
Triathletes can add a chest strap during training and receive data including stride length, ground contact time balance, vertical ratio and more.
The watch also pairs with the Vector™ pedal-based power meter system and is compatible with the full line of Varia™ cycling awareness accessories. Water rated 5 ATM (50 meters), its swim features will push users to crank up their training in the pool as the Forerunner 735XT will guide them through their swim workout. Users can also easily transition sports with the press of a button utilizing the auto or manual multisport feature.
The Forerunner 735XT is Connect IQ compatible and is the first device to come with the Strava Live Suffer Score app pre-installed. Suffer Score is based on users’ heart rate and tells them how hard they’ve been working.
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Priced from £359.99, however the tri bundle is £449.99 (includes HRM-Tri and HRM-Swim™) and every purchase will include a free 60-day trial of Strava Premium.
The triathlete’s complete guide to heart rate zone training
GPS run watches: 10 of the best tested and rated
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We caught up with the Brownlees to talk about their fitness ahead of their ITU homecoming in Leeds, their Rio Olympics prep and what tips they have for us age-groupers…
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JONNY ON… THE WTS IN LEEDS
Leeds being part of the ITU WTS Series in June is something we’re incredibly proud about and supportive of. It should be an amazing event. I’ve been lucky to compete at a home Olympics but to have a truly home, home WTS race is incredible. If 100,000 people come out to watch and support, it’s going to be an amazing thing for triathlon.
JONNY ON… HIS LEEDS GOAL
As for my own goals, Rio is the big aim and I’m coming into decent shape but I’m not super-duper fit. After Leeds it’s Stockholm and then training at altitude again in St. Moritz for the final bits of training.
JONNY ON… PEAKING FOR YOUR ‘A’ RACE
I learnt last year about getting too fit, too soon. I was in the best shape I’d ever been in at the ITU Gold Coast race last year [where Jonny comfortably won] but I got a stress fracture after that; when you’re lean, running fast and biking hard you’re on that edge when it puts so much stress on your body and the bones to take. The idea for Leeds is to get fit for the Olympics, which are eight weeks around the corner, but not really, really fit.
JONNY ON… HEAT PREP
The Gold Coast was very close to being a really good race. I was very fit and I felt amazing until 8km of the run [Jonny still came third but collapsed at the line and required medical treatment after the race]. But it taught me that I need to do some more heat training before Rio. I went to the 35C Gold Coast from a snowy Leeds, which is too short a time to acclimatise. So St. Moritz will help with the heat training, and if it’s not too hot there we can use the heat chambers there. We arrive in Brazil two weeks before the event, so I should definitely be ready for the heat by then.
ALISTAIR ON… THE ORGANISATION OF TRI
There’s so much co-ordination that goes into organsing tri events. For Leeds, when you’re partially shutting a city down, there’s a huge number of things to be taken into account, like provisions for people who live in a care home. The organisation is incredible and I don’t envy the people putting on the race. It’s given me an appreciation of the kind of work that has to go into organising these races.
ALISTAIR ON… RIO PREP
I’ve had a really good winter of training. Rio is the big goal this season and the course suits me. I had a tough race when I was there last year [Alistair finished 10th], but I knew that I wasn’t fully fit. I’ll be training as hard as I can and racing until then.
ALISTAIR ON… RACE RIVALS AND MAKING HISTORY
I pretty much don’t check any social media, especially not what my rivals are up to. [In terms of becoming the first triathlete to win back-to-back Olympic titles] I’m obviously going into Rio to win that race, that’s the goal and all you can do is stand on the start line and be in the best position you can be in. And that’s what I hope to do.
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ALISTAIR ON… MOTIVATION
Training in a group is a really good thing for motivation. It gets you out of the door and there are always people who are really good at brightening the atmosphere and having a laugh with you. Going out to enjoy the countryside and escape being inside banging your head against a brick wall.
ALISTAIR ON… RECOVERY
I always go for protein-heavy foods after a heavy session. I drink a pint of milk when I get home and eat something like chicken with green vegetables and a baked potato.
Jonny and Alistair were speaking at a Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon Leeds promotional event. More info on the race, held from 11-12 June in Leeds, is at http://leeds.triathlon.org/
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IMAGE: JANOS SCHMIDT/TRIATHLON.ORG
Spaniard Mario Mola has earned his third WTS victory this season with a win at the 2016 ITU World Triathlon Yokohama in Japan. While silver went to Mexico’s Crisanto Grajales and bronze to Norway’s Kristian Blummenfelt, both of whom graced the WTS podium for the very first time.
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Their medals also meant that Mexico and Norway were represented on a World Triathlon Series podium for the first time in history.
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After surviving the masses during the swim and bike legs that saw more than 60 men enter the second transition together, Mola executed on his run right out of the T2 gate and was able to stride his way into his third WTS victory of the season.
Mola said: “I am very happy with how things went today. I think I managed to do a good swim. I was able to stay among the front of the pack; the British guys did a great job in front so it made it a bit easier to stay there. And then on the run I felt great, so I could not be happier.”
“I am very pleased with how things are going. I know it is a long time until Rio, but my goal at the beginning of the season was to keep working and keeping racing as I did in the past, which has worked so why change what normally works. So now I will keep working in the next couple of months toward the Olympics, but of course with Javi racing it is going to be a different game.”
Also capitalizing on the run was Grajales who captured the silver medal, when he overtook Blummenfelt in the final kilometres of the course to advance into second place, while Blummenfelt was left to finish off the day with an impressive third.
“I am very happy. It is my first podium in the WTS, so I am very happy for me, for my coach, for my family and my country. It was a hard course, but I just am happy. It was an amazing race, but I am waiting for Rio so now I will go home for two weeks to relax and train for the Olympic Games,” Grajales said.
Adam Bowden was the best of the British squad, finishing in 12th place in a time of 01:47:24, just under a minute behind Mola.
In the swim the men stuck together with no obvious leader. USA’s Ben Kanute and Henri Schoeman (RSA) managing to exit the choppy waters in the lead, but they were followed by the masses, which created a busy first transition.
It was a similar scene on the bike leg with a pack of 50 contenders heading into T2 at the same time.
However, it was Mola who was able to avoid executed a swift and quick exit lead lead out onto the run. He immediately took control out front, setting the pace. But Blummenfelt would not let Mola escape alone, as the Norwegian powerhouse surprised by running right on Mola’s heels.
Halfway through the run, Mola was able to step it up a gear and eventually drop Blummenfelt, finishing the race with a comfortable lead that brought him into the finish chute first.
A group of men that included Grajales, Jacob Birtwhistle (AUS), Fernando Alarza (ESP), Pierre Le Corre (FRA) and Schoeman grouped together right off the bat and ran together chasing Mola and Blummenfelt. Not until the final kilometres did Grajales seize the opportunity to get away from the others and chase down Blummenfelt.
In a final surge, Grajales pushed past Blummenfelt to capture the silver and his first WTS podium. Blummenfelt was then left to finish his day also earning a medal with the bronze.
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“I have been training hard the last couple of weeks so I thought I had a good chance on the run, I have been in good running shape and I have had some good sessions. But I am a bit surprised that I was able to get a medal after there was like 40 guys getting off the bike together. Running felt quite easy in the beginning, so I thought I would just try to hang on for a good seven or eight kilometres and see what could happen, but suddenly I hit a wall and just had to survive for the last five kilometres.”
It is gold for USA’s Gwen Jorgensen at the 2016 ITU World Triathlon Yokohama, her first WTS victory of 2016.
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Producing a consistently strong performance throughout the whole competition that saw her among the leaders in the swim and bike that set her up for her signature unbeatable run execution, Jorgensen was able to reclaim her spot on the top of the WTS podium. The victory also granted her the Yokohama title for the fourth consecutive year, a feat that no other elite athlete has done been able to do at the same venue.
Jorgensen said: “I really like it here in Japan, the crowd is always cheering, there is always a ton of people out so it makes it really exciting. There is one goal for the year and that is the Olympics on August 20th, I have been working towards that for four years, so I am just going to keep working towards that.”
Earning the silver medal was Aussie Ashleigh Gentle. After composing a very tactical and necessary doing after starting out on the bike with over 30 seconds down from the main pack, Gentle constructed a monster of a race to come from behind and ultimately take the second spot on the podium. Her silver medal also allowed her to demonstrate a strong case going forward with her national federation’s Olympic selection for the final two Australian women’s spots.
“I was disappointed with that, I was a little displaced in the swim and it was really choppy and I knew I could swim so much better than that in the pool, but I need to improve there, there are no excuses, but I worked hard on the bike and really pushed the pace those first few laps to get in the game again,” said Gentle.
“ Ai Ueda is a fantastic runner and I knew with the home crowd support she was going to put up a fight, so I really just tried to stick with her. At the end I tried to hold back just a little bit so hopefully I could have the legs for the sprint.”
The bronze then was awarded to Japan’s own Ai Ueda, who was able to enjoy a WTS podium in front of a home crowd.
It would be the run that would prove crucial as despite USA’s Summer Cook and New Zealand’s Nicky Samuels exiting the waters first, the swim saw no stand alones and that carried into the bike. After only one lap of the nine-lap total course, a massive pack tallying over 40 women was created and it never changed.
While Gentle and Ueda found themselves down by over 30 seconds coming out of the water, they initially were placed in the chase group. However, it only took Gentle only three laps to put the work in and close the gap and push herself and the chase group into the lead pack.
In the run leg it wasn’t long however that Jorgensen took to her signature pace and catapulted herself into the lead position. Her lead only gained more space and she was able to comfortably carry herself into the finish chute uncontested. Her run split time of 32:15 also became the fastest 10 kilometre run time on the Yokohama course.
The battle was on then to complete the podium, Ueda pushed ahead, but the group did not start to space out until the second half of the discipline. Ultimately however, Ueda and Gentle were able to get a wide enough gap and stride away from the others. Sticking together until the final metres, Gentle had a little bit more left in her legs to get ahead of Ueda and grab the silver. While Ueda followed behind in third.
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After winning the first three WTS races of the season the British girls were not in Japan and their next race will be on home soil at WTS Leeds. Bring it on…
Gwen Jorgensen – run secrets of a speed demon
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Would you like the chance to race with Chrissie Wellington at Challenge Galway? Challenge Ireland are giving 2 very lucky athletes (1 male and 1 female) the once in a lifetime chance to race with this triathlon legend on her Half Distance relay team at Challenge Galway this coming June
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Four-times Ironman world champion Chrissie Wellington holds, or held, all three world championship records relating to iron distance races; including the overall world record, the Ironman World Championship course record, and the official world record for all Ironman branded triathlon races over the full Iron distance.
She won the World Championship in three, consecutive years (2007–2009)., and was the first British athlete to hold the Ironman Triathlon World Championship, and was undefeated in all thirteen of her races over the iron distance. She is the only triathlete, male or female, to have won the World Championship less than a year after turning professional.
She lowered the world record on all three occasions (2009–2011) she raced Challenge Roth in Bavaria, Germany. Her current record of 8 hours 18 minutes 13 seconds is more than 32 minutes faster than the record which stood from 1994 to 2008.
Chrissie is one of only three women to have achieved three consecutive victories at the Ironman World Championships, the other two being Natascha Badmann and Paula Newby-Fraser.
To be in with a chance just fill out the following application here, and answer the question: “I want to race with Chrissie and TYR at ChallengeGalway 2016 because…….”
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Winners to be announced in the next 2 weeks. Good luck!
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We named Chrissie as third in our top 10 female triathletes of all time – do you agree wth our choices or should Chrissie be higher?
Female triathletes: top 10 greatest ever?
Flying in the day before from Gatwick with a complexion translucent enough to make the Invisible Man jealous makes attempting a half-iron distance race in Antigua as sensible as facing local fast bowler Curtly Ambrose without wearing a helmet. In other words, it can do your head in.
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SoI don’t. I throw in the beach towel, not the tribars, borrow a bike from the local cycle club in St John’s and opt for the SuperSprint-ish 500m swim, 10km bike and 2km run instead. It might be the only other multisport option, but in a world of braggarts where longer always equals better, this is a dramatic come down – both in distance (and social media standing) – and as the 11, yes, count them ELEVEN, triathletes stand high-fiving in the waist-deep waters of Morris Bay before the start, my guilt is tinged with envy that I’m not among them. It doesn’t last long.
To describe the AUA Rohr Tinman triathlon as a mere 1.9km swim, 90km bike ride and 21.1km run, hardly does it justice. It’s more throwback to tri in its infancy when it cost a pittance to enter and you sweated over whether mind, body and frameset would emerge intact. This isn’t to say the road surface is poor but Neil Armstrong (whose first lunar broadcast was first picked up in Antigua) would have dismissed the moon’s craters as innocuous divots had he stood on this coastal highway.
Not that this is meant as criticism of a unique event now in its fifth edition that is less race and more heartfelt memorial to one of its founders. Jonathan Rohr, a medical student at the American University of Antigua, tragically died in 2011 at just 25 from a rare heart disease, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Race director and friend Rory Butler says next year’s contest will have a name-change to Rohrman in his honour and Jonathan’s father in handing out the awards also pledged to compete every year in the shorter
distance events. “It’s the best memorial you could ever give a great kid,” Jonathan Snr says. “He wanted to prove to everybody he could be successful at triathlons and go to medical school at the same time.”
The two-lap swim is uneventful apart from the sight of France’s former professional Benji Sanson rounding the final buoy before heading for the wrong shoreline and adding a couple of hundred metres to his effort. He still emerges 6mins clear of his nearest – and let’s be honest – only rival, Francky Favre, of Martinique. After both deliver solid bike rides, Favre claws back nine minutes on the run to win in 4:20:26. The enigmatic Sanson, who coaches in Bordeaux is magnanimous in defeat: “Listen my bro, he’s the Caribbean champion. Respect. Christmas was yesterday and I was on the wine, the foie gras and the oysters.”
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Over the next few hours the rest troop in. It’s attritional stuff. Andy Croft from sunny Lincoln flies the GB flag with a credible fourth in 6:33:18 and last man barely standing Jerome Henry completes a long day in 8:12:02. By this time the relays, the kids races, my supersprint tri (completed just in time to duck into the 5km fun run too) are all done and dusted, the reggae tunes are pumping and the rum punch is flowing. For more information visit: http://www.antiguatinmantriathlon.com/
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Giro Sport Design has launched a new aero helmet the Aerohead™ Ultimate MIPS. It features the fastest helmet shape Giro has ever tested, plus MIPS multi-directional impact protection system, and the class-leading ventilation of Roc Loc Air®.
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The helmet will be available this summer in two versions: the Aerohead MIPS (with venting for longer timed events) at MSRP £229 and the Aerohead Ultimate MIPS, featuring a TeXtreme™ shell to combine a smaller frontal area and reduced venting for even less drag at MSRP £499.
“In 1985, Giro pioneered the aerodynamic helmet with the original Advantage,” said Rob Wesson, Giro Director of Helmet R&D. “The Aerohead MIPS is our fastest helmet ever and represents the culmination of everything we have learned over the past 30 years.
“In addition, we have been able to integrate MIPS to provide more protection in certain impacts, as well as including the Roc Loc Air® fit system and hydrophilic padding to improve ventilation and cooling. With its combination of reduced drag, MIPS, and increased comfort, the Aerohead MIPS simply wouldn’t have been possible only a few years ago. By utilizing a TeXtreme® carbon fiber shell for the Aerohead Ultimate MIPS, we were able to further reduce frontal area, making our fastest shape ever even faster.”
The Aerohead Ultimate MIPS proved 3 seconds faster over 40km than Giro’s previously class-leading helmet, the Selector. The Aerohead MIPS, which features additional ventilation for longer courses such as triathlons, is 14 seconds faster over 180km while thermodynamic testing also show it to be nearly 10 % cooler than the Aerohead Ultimate MIPS.
The Aerohead Ultimate MIPS has already been raced to victory on both the road and track by the world’s top professionals, including Rohan Dennis (BMC) who used it for the stage one time trial around Utrecht in the 2015 Tour de France, which he won. Top professional triathletes including Linsey Corbin and Andreas and Michael Raelert will compete in the Aerohead MIPS this summer.
Related:
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10 of the best TT bike helmets
Aero cycling helmets: how to choose the right shape
Aero helmets for triathletes – how and why to use them
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The cream of the sizeable pro athlete field today assembled in Puerto del Carmen ahead of the 25th edition of the Club La Santa Ironman Lanzarote on Saturday 21st May, which included world champion Jan Frodeno, Brits David McNamee and Carolin Livesey and Olympian Ivan Rana.
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Ironman officials hailed the 52-strong pro athlete field as “the strongest ever assembled” in Lanzarote, with the men’s course record holder Timo Bracht also racing. British hopes will lie with David McNamee, the quickest runner in Kona last year, and Caroline Livesey, who came 3rd in Lanzarote in 2015. There will also be considerable interest in super-swimmer Lucy Charles (GBR), who some are tipping to be first overall out of the water.
At the press conference in Puerto del Carmen the athletes were keen to highlight the difficulty of the course, and it was clear no one was taking the notoriously windy conditions and steep gradients for granted.
World Ironman and Ironman 70.3 world champion Jan Frodeno is racing despite recently recovering from a calf injury, and although not fully fit was relishing the challenge:
“I’ve trained at Club la Santa and around Lanzarote for years and it’s great to be back, it’s going to be a tough race but one I think I can handle. I’m not in 100% my best shape there’s no doubt about that, but this race requires patience and mental toughness and I think I have plenty of those, so we’ll see what happens.”
McNamee played down his chances, highlighting that the tough bike course would be a limiting factor: “Tomorrow it’s going to be about limiting losses on the bike and seeing what’s left on the run. No one’s going to have fresh legs so it’s going to be tough, but if I can come into T2 within 5mins of the top guys I’ll see if I’ve brought my run legs with me!”
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40 Kona slots will be made available to age-group athletes, in which the competition will be extremely fierce due to the large number of competitors.
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Who do you think will triumph at Ironman Lanzarote? Let us know in the comments!
Jesse Thomas pulled off a stunning victory over Ironman world champion Jan Frodeno at the Club La Santa Ironman Lanzarote, crossing the line in a time of 8:42:33. Danish athlete Tine Holst claimed her first Ironman title in the women’s race, winning in 10:02:35.
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It was also a great day for British long course racing, with David McNamee and Lucy Charles (in her first professional Ironman outing) both taking third place. McNamee once again displayed his strong running credentials by chasing down Olympian Ivan Rana, putting in an impressive 2:51 marathon split. Charles as expected was far in front of her competition on the swim, recording a 47:11 split and emerging with only three of the pro men in front of her.
Charles was unable to fend off strong cyclist Bracht, who came onto the marathon course in pole position. Alexandra Tondeur (BEL) recorded a 3:10 marathon time to run past Charles and finish second, only 2mins from Bracht and agonisingly close to running her down for the victory.
It looked to be business as usual in the men’s race for Jan Frodeno, who was first out of the water; however an issue with his helmet visor cost the Ironman world champion 3mins in transition, allowing his competition some advantage going onto the bike course.
The German made up for lost time by also putting in the second fastest bike split of the day (4:58:33) and it appeared to be set up for another Frodeno victory. With Thomas minutes behind, the gap closed and the the second half of the marathon saw him pull away from Frodeno to pull off a shock victory. Frodeno’s marathon split of 2:50:03 was more than 3mins slower than Thomas’ 2:46:56.
Commenting after the race, Thomas said: “It’s an amazing feeling to win here today, I’m dedicating it to my wife and son for putting up with me during the last six months of preparation!”
Frodeno commented: “Obviously coming second is never going to make me happy but coming back off an injury it feels good to cross the line injury-free. And I’ve now booked my place for Kona so I can’t complain.”
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Temperatures were high throughout most of the day, however the notorious wind over the Lanzarote lava fields was calmer than in some previous years. Almost 1,900 triathletes crossed the finish line of the race’s 25th edition.