The Bahrain Endurance 13 team will be toeing the start line in Spain and North America this weekend, racing distances from Olympic to Ironman.
Ashleigh Gentle, Vicky Holland, Vincent Luis, and Javier Gomez continue their Olympic campaigns at World Triathlon Series Bermuda, racing over the standard distance.
Holland returns seeking to improve on her second-place result here from last year. She says, “Bermuda was the turning point of my season last year and after finishing second there in a really tight sprint finish my season went from strength to strength. The island itself and the atmosphere was incredible – a real destination race, and was possibly my favourite race of 2018. The course is brutal with 10 laps up the infamous Corkscrew Hill on the bike, but I’m looking forward to testing myself out on it again this year.”
Luis is coming across from training camp at sea level in the Balearic Islands in Spain. “A lot of miles done and the freshness is now just around the corner. I made different choices compared to last year when I DNF’ed due to overtraining. Hopefully this year goes better,” he says.
Gentle took a different approach to training, with an altitude camp in Perisher back home in Australia before making the long trip to Bermuda. She notes, “The travel from Australia to the east coast of the US was obviously long, but the plan was to come here early to get over the jet lag and have easy travel over to Bermuda. I’m excited for my first Olympic distance triathlon of the year. The course sounds demanding but also beautiful.”
Ben Kanute seems determined to show his versatility across different distances. This weekend he is racing the Olympic distance at St. Anthony’s Triathlon in Florida, just a week after winning the CAMTRI Sprint Triathlon American Cup in Bridgetown, Barbados and three weeks after winning Ironman 70.3 Oceanside.
Meanwhile, Alistair Brownlee formally begins his season at the Ironman 70.3 Marbella in Spain. After finishing second at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship back in September, Brownlee went to ground at home in Yorkshire working on his fitness and also dialing in his aero position as he has shifted focus toward long-distance racing.
Daniela Ryf and David Plese are converging on Ironman Texas after putting the finishing touches on their fitness in different parts of the USA. While Ryf made California her training base since winning Ironman 70.3 Oceanside, Plese did an altitude camp in Arizona. He says, “I’m feeling good, healthy and ready to give my everything on Saturday. Preparation towards this Ironman were successful and I don’t see why I wouldn’t be successful also on the race day. Looking forward to show myself again what I’m capable of.”