After the adjustments to the race format at Etampes the team was looking forward to their first “real” triathlon of the season.
It was a cold morning with a consistent threat of rain, but that didn’t stop Andrea, Caitlin, Kristine, Charlotte and Pascale sliding into the icy cold water. The day had started well for Kristine who while putting on her wetsuit stepped bare footed into something unpleasant that a dog had left behind! The narrow swim start meant a mass of bodies headed towards the first buoy but it was Charlotte who came out first, closely followed by Caitlin and Kristine.
The bike course was tight and technical and it was here that Caitlin made her move to lead the team. Arguably the most exciting part was the bike to run transition which involved a running steep descent while holding the bike as gravity did it’s best to make you fall over. One by one the girls came in and then headed out onto the 5km run.
As the 5 km run came to an end Caitlin was the first to cross the line followed by Charlotte, Kristine, Pascale and then Andrea. We should give credit to Pascale who never seemed to stop smiling for the entire race. Next up was the mens race……..
The first question that needed to be answered was had Paul B finally learned how to swim (he hadn’t) and would Matt start making excuses before he had his wetsuit on (he did) the next question was how good were the new guys? David, Jamie and Tibo are new to the team but had all previous form, plus Rabi turned up with a suspiciously expensive looking bike. We knew David must be good as he sported an attractive aero helmet
The swim was not fast but it was furious with Tibo and David setting the pace. The draft legal bike course gave some of us the chance to work together to gain positions and kudos to Seb for ensuring Matt kept pushing.
The 2 lap run course was the first chance to see how the positions had settled after the bike leg and they didn’t change. David crossed the line in first followed by Richard and then a closely knitted pack of Seb, Valentin, Matt and Paul B. Not far behind was Paul S and Rabi. First one down next one is an Olympic distance where Nick will be back to see if he can recover from his humiliating defeat at the hands of Seb earlier in the season.
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