Europe Triathlon Championships Vichy

Held over the weekend of 21st 22nd September, The European Championships covered Sprint and Standard distance Triathlon as well as para-triathlon. These events drew in almost 2,000 athletes from 46 different countries. With the expo & registration starting on the Friday, athletes could join the opening ceremony in the evening. The Sprint race was held on the Saturday morning with Standard on Sunday.

Four out of five of our athletes who qualified travelled for the event with their Team GB kit . Bob Rogers, James Mapley & Stephen O’Donnell raced the Sprint distance, whilst Jon Cassell raced the Standard distance.

First up a fantastic result from Bob as he explains:-

Bob, top of the podium

‘On a sunny morning in Vichy I set off on the 750m swim in the River Allier with about 45 other competitors.  With four age groups in the same wave it was impossible to assess my position but in T1, judging by the bikes still racked, I calculated I was second in my age group coming out of the water.  Ahead of me, by just under a minute, was a German competitor, Steffan.  During the second of three laps another German, Werner, overtook, putting me in third place. Each lap of the 20km bike included two 180 degree turns so I could see the two Germans ahead of me and I thought ‘I wonder if they can run?’  I arrived in T2 and could see they were still changing shoes for the 5km run, something I didn’t need to do because I cycle in my running shoes. As a result, I caught them up and the three of us started the run together. Race on!

‘After a bit, Werner dropped back but Steffan was on my shoulder the whole way.  Around 3km he briefly overtook me but I quickly retook the lead.  For the rest of the run he stayed close behind me and I half expected him to try to overtake again.  To assess how he was, I listened to his breathing and he seemed to be tiring.  With 150 yards to go I thought, ‘Right I’m off!’ and I pulled away, beating him by 12 seconds.  I enjoyed the blue carpet to the Finish knowing I had won. It was a great race’.

Bob

There is a very interesting article on the England Rugby website about Bob, detailing his Vichy success but also interesting detail about his career which is worth a read here huge congratulations from us all.

James

James Mapley also raced well as he crossed the line 9th in his age group and third Briton to finish. James reports:-

‘All went well and I was very lucky with the weather.’

‘There were just over 50 in my wave. A combination of 16-19,20-24, and 25-29’.

‘The Swim was a floating start off the pontoon. It was fast and absolute carnage rounding the buoys. I got kicked and dragged back around the first two buoys which certainly made me lose a bit of flow. Out the water I was towards the rear of the mid pack. I had a good transition and found myself in a group of 4 onto the bike. We worked well together to bridge to the next group up the road. That combined group didn’t work that well together – certainly, the Swiss and French were not interested in any through and off. We caught a few riders who were in no-man’s-land and came into T2 as a group of 12 or 15.’

‘I had a good T2 and put down a solid first mile off the bike. The aggressive bike leg certainly took some spring out of my step on the run, but I tried hard to pace the middle mile before upping it for the final mile. I came toward the line with another GB chap and just managed to hold him off on the line. I certainly emptied the tank (literally as my fiancé will attest to – picture not to be shared), and I was chuffed with my run. Overall, my swim was a little disappointing, but the rest of the race was as good as I could have hoped for’.

‘We watched and admired the Elites in the afternoon and stood next to Vicky Holland whilst watching the men. She was awesome. (winning elite ladies race) I’m going to channel her 10km running prowess for Torremolinos next month in the hope that I too can run a 33-minute 10km off the back of a swim and bike 🙂 ‘

James

Jon & James

Stephen (left)

Stephen O’Donnell was our third representative in the sprint event. Stephen advised:

‘Arrived in Vichy on Thursday afternoon after a flight to Lyon and a drive to Vichy in a rental with my bike wife and 2 year old toddler Vichy is lovely. The race venue was out of Town 3km in an aquatic and sports venue just by the river. Racked our bikes on Friday for race the next day’

‘Day of the race went through helmet and trisuit check and final pre race check pumped tyres etc Then down to pontoon and the oldies were off in 3 waves. I was in 60 to 65. Conditions on the day were good and as we started early the river was flat. Water temp was surprisingly cold at 16C as prior to that people were talking of a non wet suit swim My swim off the pontoon went poorly and I was 10 sec per 100m off the pace. I later found out this was down to my wetsuit being too tight on my shoulders So I came out of water 1:30 down on first wave so missed all the fast Peletons and had to complete the draft legal bike leg on my own. I pushed really hard but was 2 mins off the pace there’.

‘The run leg went better due to my weight loss and I overtook 6 age groupers in my category. To come in 20th I think out of a field of 49 in my wave. Unfortunately a poor swim and solo cycle dropped me from what could have been 7th or do All in all a good venue well organised

Stephen

Jon

Jon Cassell had qualified for the Standard distance which raced on the Sunday, where like the sprint, the swim occurred in the River Allier. Jon finished well up the order with some competitors not making it past transition two.

‘Swim was tough, bike was good, run was survival. Result was decent, but was hoping for top 10, more work needed in the pool on the track and in Watopia. Vichy was stunning and the French hospitality, coffee and patisserie amazing. A great event, met loads of new people who are now in my WhatsApp group and I recommend anyone who’s interested in going for age group qualifying to go for it, it’s worth the extra miles’. 

‘Highlight for me was Bob finding me on the run course and cheering me on for both laps and then thanking me for my swim coaching in helping him achieve his amazing gold medal. Not sure how much I really helped, but I nice moment none the less…’

Jon