Kitzbuhel World Championship Series

Hi, I raced well in Kitzbuhel. It was a cool feeling because I gave everything I could and I felt I pushed at the right times during the race too. It was a hard race, even the swim. I felt like every 2nd breath I got a mouth full of water because we were swimming so tight together. I exited up front in the first bunch. The bike course changed this year, they decided to take us into the centre of town and over 200m of cobble stones. I enjoyed the crowds and the festival each time we rode through. Then onto the run , I didn't look back. I felt fresh. I could control the pace. But still, that final last km got to me. I really felt great up to that point, but the 2hr race caught up to me in the final 2 minutes which pushed me back to 3rd place, a few seconds back from 1st, Paula Findlay CAN . I was still completely happy, as I felt out of breath from pushing so hard. I had given everything.
Kitzbuhel WCS results
Kitzbuhel is a special race for me. 2010 made it my 5th time in a row and every time with a great outcome.
Then all I could think about was the reality of what had happened the day before. Laurent had fainted and lost consciousness at the 2km mark of the run in his race! He made a full recovery within an hour, which was the best news ever. But why did it happen? And how did it go that far was still the question? We flew back home to Sète in France and straight to bed for a few days rest before going to Marseille hospital for heart exams. All tests have showed normal results. So, with a lot of rest now, there are no medical reasons for Laurent not to continue sport. He will begin training when he is ready. :-)

Moved up rankings to 2nd in the World Championship Series

After racing back to back weekends with a 6th place and a 4th place, I have moved up to within 40 points of Emma Moffatt (AUS) with 2 rounds to go in 2010, the last being the Grand Final with 1 1/2 times the points.

Click here - Complete World rankings

I was 6th in Hamburg in a 7 way sprint finish within the final 400 metres. I actually felt as though I slowed down when I tried to speed up! But that's racing. After 2hrs my body had had enough and wouldn't go any faster when I wanted to. I'd had an average swim, exiting at the back of the first group in 14th place and with a little hestitation I was back 15 seconds in the 2nd bike pack on the first lap. I took turns for the first 3 laps of 8 and we finally managed to catch the front then we were a big group heading on the 10km run. I ran behind as Emma Moffatt kept the pace in front. Then to finish 6th was disappointing because we were only seperated by seconds at the end.

Click here - Hamburg WCS Results

In London, I set myself up with a good swim, jumping on my bike in 3rd position and straight into the lead of the race. There was good pace being rotated at the front with a lot of different girls mixing themselves around. I set the pace at the beginning of the run then at 5km could feel my calves getting tight from racing in Hamburg just 6 days before. I held on as long as I could behind the leaders but as the final U-turn approached I dropped off the pace then made my legs go a bit faster to get back in touch. And as that happened, Paula Findlay (CAN) surprised everyone by surging and opening up a 30m gap in just a few hundred metres, then she kept it. I was just managing to hold the pace we were running at, so had no extra gears to go faster. Like last week, my sprint wasn't there. I went for a spot on the podium but finished in 4th. Afterwards, I had 2 really bad blisters and I actually couldn't walk properly as my calves were like rocks. This continued for 10 days, really tight and painful calves are not fun.

Click here - London WCS Results

This weekend I am racing in Kitzbuhel in Austria. I must finish in the top 5 to increase my ranking points.
I have been training well in the French Pyrénées since being based here for 2 months already. After Kitzbuhel, I will be coming back up here at 1800m right up until Thursday 9th September, 4 days before the final in Budapest.

Bye for now,
Andrea

Watch Hamburg LIVE

The Triathlon World Championship Series event in Hamburg is next weekend 17th and 18th July.

Click here to watch it live

I have only raced once in Hamburg, 4 years ago in 2006. It was one week after the World Championships in Lausanne and after a good performance there finishing 10th, I went to Hamburg trying back to back races and back then I couldn't! I finished 45th!
So much has changed since then though. I have been able to run up front this year, currently sitting 8th in the World rankings.
For the past month I have been training in Font Romeu in the French Pyrénées at 1800m altitude. The riding is the best up here, that's only if you like climbing though. Everytime I go out there's always a climb back up. I run mostly at a bit lower altitude at 1600m, by Lake Matemale or at Pyrénées 2000 where the trails are more flat. I find breathing heavy hurts a lot, so I have kept that right out of my training. So with hardly any fast sessions, I hope to have saved it all up for during the race. I leave this Thursday and meet my Dad at the airport in Germany as he's coming over from NZ to watch me in Hamburg and London.

Remember to tune in on www.triathlon.org

Andrea