James shares The Boys of Verneuil's stellar racing tips

Allow plenty of time to get to the event and plan your route accordingly.
Don’t leave it until the moment before the race to prepare your bike - pump your tyres and attach pedals etc. well in advance.
Don’t leave the transition zone with stuff you should have left behind, such as wearing your running shoes or race belt. With set-up done, we finally had some time to catch our breath and check out the surroundings – the Base de Loisirs Val de Seine is very much like Cergy, with the entry/exit to the water from a small sandy beach. The water was clean and a not-unpleasant 16 degrees, with good visibility and the weather (at that point) seeming fairly calm. Teams were released together at 1-minute intervals, and so as team number 64 we had an hour to prepare ourselves and warm up. This kind of staggered release avoided the normal chaos of a bunched start, and so would be welcome for those who prefer swimming to open-water wrestling. So began our swim, which unfolded without any problems, César helpfully offering James and Bruno the occasional nudge in the right direction when their sighting veered off. We finished all together at a moderate overall pace – 17:50 in total for 800m.

Where possible study the course beforehand, to know what you’re doing during the race. This slip-up caused the two main domestiques, César and Gauthier, to be dropped from the group, leaving the others to complete the second loop as a three. Almost as divine punishment, this was followed by a huge and heavy downpour of rain with gusts of wind stinging the skin and eyes and making the roads slippery. Return to the transition for T2 was completed after a cycling time of 31:17 – not bad given the unfortunate circumstances we had to overcome. Wet trainers were then pulled on for the final run to the finish; except for César that is, who had decided at this point his cheering and encouragement talents would be more beneficial than running! Two laps of 2.4km on grass / gravel offered a chance to make up some of those lost minutes. So legs were pushed to their limits, with Luca bravely going outside his comfort zone to run at 4 mins/km. Thankfully the rain had now disappeared to be replaced by sunshine, giving us that extra little lift during the final few minutes.

When in need of a post-race apero, ensure there are plentiful supplies of beer and humus! Having none of those essential elements, we were forced to settle for soft-drinks and the normal ravitaillements as we had the obligatory post-race debrief. In short, we highly recommend this for another year – perhaps targeting also the all-female and mixed categories. With the right collection and balance of talents within the team, this could make for a very fast and intriguing competition for the Expatriés to return to in the future. Karen will take part in a similar competition two weeks later in Longueil, as part of a 1-man / 4-woman mixed group, see meetup here if interested: https://www.meetup.com/ExpatriesTriathlonParis/events/239300947/

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