The swim was a very smooth three lap affair, with an exit from the water before starting each lap. A good swim saw me out in the lead group placed 5th. After a dash across the sand, I was away in my sea kayak for five laps of flat water paddling. Due to the standard of paddlers in the race, and it being my weakest section, I was already digging in hard to stay in contact with the leaders. By half way I was about 3minutes down and fighting the wash from former Olympic paddler Juan Manuel Sanchez as he came by already one lap ahead (he was part of a relay team)!!!!!!!!! By the end of the paddle I was over six minutes down on race leader, the "Czech Pro” Leos Ronsavy, putting me mid-way down the field.A rapid transition saw me pull two places back, and with my two strongest legs still to come, it was time to really dig in.
The 6 x 6.4km lap bike section had been made draft legal due to the single road "out and back" course. After spending a day converting my bike from time-trial to road racer before I left the UK in order to comply with the rules, I was more than a little cheesed off to see some of the lead athletes riding full blown TT bikes, disk wheels and all! By the end of the bike leg however I'd pulled back to 4th place, and was now only 4minutes off the lead, and with my trump card still to play.
Due to a last minute course change to please one of the races main sponsors - the local tourist board - I hadn’t had a chance to check out the new 5x2km lap off road run section, but was still looking forward to making use of my strongest discipline. After lap one I had moved into 3rd place and was making up ground on the two guys in front. With a final time of 23mins for the "10km" (LOL) run the gap was down to under 3minutes to 1st place and just over 60seconds to 2nd.
With my GB team mate Helen Dyke winning the women’s race, and me getting 3rd in my very first Quadrathlon World Cup, it was another great day for the British Quadrathlon Team. Next stop for Helen and I will be the European Championships in Germany next month, where I intend to grace the podium once again.
Elite men:
1. Leos Rousavy (Czech) 2.26.19
2. David Cerdan (Spain) 2.27.58
3. Tim McDowell (GB) 2.29.07
