# The Ultimate T100 France Preview Show For This Weekend!

An episode of [The Triathlon Hour](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1595443343), 28 Aug 2025, 1 h 09 min.

Audio: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2640942/episodes/19698034-the-ultimate-t100-france-preview-show-for-this-weekend.mp3

Joe Skipper & Jack Kelly get together to preview everything for this weekends T100 race in France. They breakdown the men’s and women’s races with some big calls made by both of the lads. Nord VPN: Take advantage of a great deal with Nord VPN use the code triathlonhour or visit nordvpn.com/triathlonhour to get a huge discount in the 2 year plans PLUS 4 extra months! It is risk free with Nord's 30 days money back guarantee! Precision: Use the code TTH25 to get 15% off your first order with Precision at Precision Fuel & Hydration or subscribe to the Patreon and access the link that will save you 20% on every order, not just your first Patreon Pillar: Use the code TTH to get 15% off your first order with Pillar Performance at Pillar Performance or use The Feed for North American customers Patreon: We put a lot of time & energy into bringing you this podcast every week and have done for 4 years now. If you appreciate what we do, we would love your support and you can do so for less than the cost of a coffee per week on Patreon - Patreon link

## Transcript

[0:21] SPEAKER_01: Alright, guys, so another episode of the Triathlon Hour podcast, and this time I'm joined by none other than yours truly, Jack Kelly, the main man of the uh Triathlon Hour.
[0:33] SPEAKER_01: How are you doing, mate?
[0:34] SPEAKER_00: It's good to be here, Joe.
[0:35] SPEAKER_00: It feels weird to be on my own podcast channel with you uh being the host, but it's fun.
[0:41] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, it is uh it's definitely a bit different, isn't it?
[0:44] SPEAKER_01: It's uh it's a strange one, isn't it, when you're the the uh the the man behind it all and you're kind of uh getting getting uh well letting someone else host it.
[0:52] SPEAKER_01: But no, it's good to uh it'd be good to chat to you about the T100 Fray Juice.
[0:57] SPEAKER_01: Um we're obviously gonna have a little bit of a chat and go into some detail because we're gonna be doing the alternative stream.
[1:03] SPEAKER_01: So for you guys that are listening now, if you want to listen to an alternative stream of the T100 Frey Juice, me and Jack Kelly are gonna be doing the commentary of the race on Saturday live on YouTube.
[1:13] SPEAKER_01: Um there'll be some more information to follow.
[1:16] SPEAKER_01: I think Jack will be able to give you a few more details um at the end of this um show on uh what the whole situation's gonna be like.
[1:24] SPEAKER_01: But we're gonna have a little bit of a preview and we're gonna talk about who the athletes to watch, what we think of the course, and uh yeah, maybe a bit of back and forth between us on uh who our opinions are on who we think will be showing themselves at the front of the race and who could cause an upset.
[1:39] SPEAKER_01: So um what do you want to talk about first then, Jack?
[1:42] SPEAKER_01: Uh the female or the male race?
[1:44] SPEAKER_00: I think let's start with the male race.
[1:46] SPEAKER_00: I would usually, when it comes to T-100, say let's start with the female race, because generally I find the female fields more exciting in T-100 races, but I do think this is the first race where the male field is the better field.
[2:00] SPEAKER_00: For example, Joe, every single winner of a T-100 race in 2025 in the males races is in this male field in Yalla Geans, Rico Bogan, and Hayden Wilde.
[2:12] SPEAKER_00: Whereas in the women's race, none of the previous winners are showing up.
[2:16] SPEAKER_00: So Lucy's not there, Julie's not there, Taylor's not there, and Kate Woth's not there.
[2:20] SPEAKER_00: So the female winner will be uh a first-time winner on the T-100 World Tour.
[2:26] SPEAKER_00: Whereas if I was a betting man, I would say the men's race might be won again by someone who's already won one.
[2:33] SPEAKER_00: But I just think because of the depth of field, let's start with the men's race.
[2:36] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and we also have a few guys doing the dirty double, don't we, as well?
[2:40] SPEAKER_00: Yep, Morgan Pearson and Hayden Wilde.
[2:42] SPEAKER_00: I think one of them might do a little bit better than the other.
[2:45] SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, looking at the men's race then, I I mean it's hard to look behind Hayden Wilde, isn't it, as being the favourite for the race, especially considering he came back in London and pretty much dominated, didn't he?
[2:58] SPEAKER_01: Like I thought he was gonna, I thought he might lose a bit more time.
[3:01] SPEAKER_01: I mean, there was talk before the race of him swimming with Sam Long.
[3:04] SPEAKER_01: I didn't quite think he was gonna be swimming with Sam, but I was expecting him to be a lot worse in the swim just from the talk, what you were like you were hearing, you know, the whispers in the lead up to it, but he he didn't really swim that bad, did he?
[3:17] SPEAKER_01: I mean he was almost on the back of the the front pack anyway.
[3:20] SPEAKER_01: Um biked pretty much with Rico, didn't he?
[3:24] SPEAKER_01: What'd he lose, like a minute to to Rico on the bike?
[3:27] SPEAKER_01: Less than that in total, and then uh his run was absolutely flawless.
[3:32] SPEAKER_01: I mean, he just put the motors on at the start, bridged up to Rico, and then was in cruise control mode, wasn't he?
[3:39] SPEAKER_01: Like, did you think it seemed pretty much like that?
[3:42] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I thought he was nose breathing.
[3:43] SPEAKER_00: I actually think I've got a little bit of a theory, Joe.
[3:46] SPEAKER_00: Did you watch the end of the race?
[3:48] SPEAKER_00: So Hayden he ran up like the little bit of a hill to finish just before the finish shoot at London, and he was really grimacing and looking like it was hurting.
[3:56] SPEAKER_00: I think he like Hayden will hate me saying this.
[3:59] SPEAKER_00: I reckon he was borderline faking it to make it seem like it was harder than what it was.
[4:03] SPEAKER_00: I think he had this realization, he's like, oh, I've done this real easy here.
[4:07] SPEAKER_00: Let me make it look like it hurts so people don't know how easy that was for me.
[4:11] SPEAKER_00: Because I just thought he was nose breathing all day and won that like ridiculously comfortably.
[4:16] SPEAKER_00: And like the the points you make are true, like 45 seconds out of the water behind Rico Bogan, for example, and then only rides yeah, 30 seconds slower than him and and runs five minutes faster than him.
[4:28] SPEAKER_00: And Rico Bogan is is is doing some special things this year.
[4:31] SPEAKER_00: He's he's won one of these races.
[4:33] SPEAKER_00: Like I yeah, I I I almost feel like with Hayden Wilde, Joe, it's like Tadde Pagaccha in the Tour de France, where you kind of felt like Tade could have won four or five more stages, but almost like he had team orders, or as a team, they decided, look, let's not win too many because the French fans are hating us and let's let's spread it around.
[4:51] SPEAKER_00: I think for Hayden not to win on the weekend, he has to be generous and go, you know what, I'm not gonna win everything.
[4:57] SPEAKER_00: Let me spread this around and I'll just jog at home for second or third.
[5:00] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's funny you say that about the tour because I actually thought exactly the same thing.
[5:04] SPEAKER_01: It was almost like Tade was like winning too easy, wasn't it?
[5:06] SPEAKER_01: It was almost like they told him, like, mate, calm the fuck down, just let some other people have some glory, because otherwise people are gonna say it's a bit boring and we need to let some of the other teams get some uh some wins so we can uh so it doesn't look too one-sided.
[5:19] SPEAKER_01: But you know, um with Hayden as well, like um the London course will not have suited him as well as this this course as well, because I mean that was flat, it was uh a real power course, wasn't it?
[5:30] SPEAKER_01: Whereas this one, a lot hillier, 900 metres of climbing.
[5:33] SPEAKER_01: I saw in 80 kilometres.
[5:35] SPEAKER_01: So it's with Hayden being a lot smaller guy than Rico, his power to weigh is probably going to be a lot better, especially considering how how well he was, how good he was on the flat course anyway.
[5:44] SPEAKER_01: You know, like you say, it's just gonna be so hard to look look away from him.
[5:48] SPEAKER_01: I also find it um interesting when you see, like like I know you've mentioned his coaching setup as well, but when I see videos of him running around the track, and it's like he's doing reps, and I saw him post the other day that he was doing some reps and it hurt a bit more because it was off the bot off a decent bike ride, and he's running with Bashir Abdi, who's like the Olympic medalist from like 2000 and like I think it was it like Tokyo or something like that for the marathon, like 203 marathoner, and they're just like sharing the work on the track at altitude.
[6:17] SPEAKER_01: Um, pretty, pretty impressive, isn't it?
[6:20] SPEAKER_00: Like, you know, yeah, scary.
[6:22] SPEAKER_00: It's scary how good this guy is.
[6:24] SPEAKER_00: He's he's the second coming of Jesus Christ, basically.
[6:28] SPEAKER_00: I kind of just I kind of think you're right with this course as well.
[6:32] SPEAKER_00: I I think if there was a course to beat Hayden at, it's London.
[6:35] SPEAKER_00: I reckon that's as bad as it gets for him.
[6:37] SPEAKER_00: And and this course might be as good as it gets for him.
[6:39] SPEAKER_00: It's the hilliest bike course.
[6:40] SPEAKER_00: We know he lives in Andorra, he exclusively rides up and down mountains there.
[6:44] SPEAKER_00: You you know, me and you have texted in the past about Andorra.
[6:47] SPEAKER_00: You you basically ride around at 20 kilometres an hour every time you ride because it's only mountains, so the hills will suit him.
[6:54] SPEAKER_00: And I think hillier bike courses just just lend themselves for the fittest athlete to win the race more often than not.
[7:00] SPEAKER_00: And I think Hayden's the fittest athlete.
[7:02] SPEAKER_00: And so I I think dynamics or weather or something like a crash have to get in the way of him.
[7:08] SPEAKER_00: But until until I see otherwise, I just I just think he's the fittest guy out there and and should win.
[7:13] SPEAKER_00: My my question to you, Joe, is if there is someone who can beat him in this field, like we obviously know that the other champions of of this year in Yala and Rico are there, but uh is there who's the who's the closest guy to him?
[7:25] SPEAKER_00: Who could beat him?
[7:26] SPEAKER_01: Yellow gains, I reckon, because I've seen some of the times that he's gone up, some of the climbs when we've been out in font, and like um you can see on like Strava and stuff, he's gone up there quite well.
[7:36] SPEAKER_01: He was good in San Francisco as well, like he was really good on on that course.
[7:41] SPEAKER_01: Um he was very good technically, like I think when the T-100 posted like the fastest times on the downhill, he had the fastest time despite being obviously a lot smaller than the other guys.
[7:50] SPEAKER_01: So it obviously means that he can like handle the bike really well, you know, around the corners.
[7:55] SPEAKER_01: And I think he might be he could definitely I I think he could probably go with Hayden on um on the hills on the bike course, and he did outrun Hayden, let's not forget, at the 70.3 worlds as well, you know, and everyone thought that Hayden had that in the bag last year as well.
[8:14] SPEAKER_01: So I think he could beat Hayden.
[8:16] SPEAKER_01: I think it's gonna be tough.
[8:17] SPEAKER_01: Like, uh, don't get me wrong, but like if there's one person who I can see doing it, it's probably Yellow Gaines.
[8:23] SPEAKER_01: I I honestly can't see anyone winning it other than those two, and I I think it could go either way.
[8:29] SPEAKER_01: I think if I was a better man, I'd probably say 75% chance to Hayden, 25% chance to Yellow Gaines.
[8:34] SPEAKER_00: See, I would probably have it 98% Hayden, 2% Yellow.
[8:38] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you're that clear cut.
[8:41] SPEAKER_00: I I honestly think, I honestly think if he wants to win it and gives everything, like if he's all in on winning it, he will win it.
[8:48] SPEAKER_00: I I think the only thing that could stop him is this double up.
[8:51] SPEAKER_00: If there's something, you know, like yeah, the only the only reason he wins, he doesn't win it is is the double up, I think, or a crash.
[8:58] SPEAKER_00: Because Yalla's great, but I still think Hayden beats him head to head if they get off the bike together.
[9:03] SPEAKER_00: But don't you think Hayden's just gonna go, well, the one thing I don't want in this race is Yalla Gaines getting off the bike with me, and he's just gonna do everything he can to get off the front of the bike.
[9:14] SPEAKER_01: But I don't know if he could drop him on on the hills, that's the thing.
[9:16] SPEAKER_01: I think Hayden's probably more arrow and he gets the advantage on the flats, but on the hills, I don't think he's like he's dropping Yellow Gaines.
[9:24] SPEAKER_01: I might be wrong, but like I would imagine they would probably be fairly similar, like on the climbs.
[9:29] SPEAKER_00: I agree, especially if it's a hill climb, like if they're just doing a hill climb head-to-head T T, I think Yellow's as good as Hayden.
[9:35] SPEAKER_00: I don't know, I just think over the course of 80k Hayden might be able to find a minute or so, you know.
[9:40] SPEAKER_01: I think if he if Yellow if Hayden gets time, it's on the flatter bits and the more undulating bits because his air uh he's obviously very arrow, and I think he's probably better at putting out that long sustained power.
[9:50] SPEAKER_01: Um, and I think if if anything, he drops in before the climb and then they ride up the climb reasonably similar in terms of like how quick they both ride up the climb, but Hayden's just a minute up the road.
[10:00] SPEAKER_00: I hope I'm wrong.
[10:01] SPEAKER_00: I hope that Hayden and Yeller are together, and even someone else being there, I'm not sure who.
[10:06] SPEAKER_00: Like Morgan.
[10:08] SPEAKER_01: But you want it that's who you want to see, though, isn't it, with his run, like being a 61-minute half marathon.
[10:13] SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's who you would love to see get off the bike with Hayden and Yeller Gaines, isn't it?
[10:19] SPEAKER_01: You know, it would be awesome.
[10:20] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but it's so unlikely.
[10:22] SPEAKER_00: Like Morgan's bike is such a weakness at this level.
[10:24] SPEAKER_00: He's he's swimming, he's run a world class.
[10:27] SPEAKER_00: And it's just his bike.
[10:29] SPEAKER_01: Like one sorry, one thing there is to take uh of note though is when he they did Vancouver, Morgan was out the front with like, wasn't he with like four others?
[10:37] SPEAKER_01: And he had a decent gap um on the field, and with obviously Hayden having a bit of a swim weakness, which he's probably still gonna have a bit, isn't he?
[10:45] SPEAKER_01: You know, because London wasn't that long ago.
[10:48] SPEAKER_01: Potentially, if Morgan had like what 90 seconds, six do you reckon he could get 90 seconds on him on the swim, or is that a bit optimistic?
[10:54] SPEAKER_00: Uh optimistic, I would say.
[10:56] SPEAKER_00: Like Hayden would need to have a really bad swim.
[10:58] SPEAKER_00: Keep in mind, he was only 40-45 seconds off the lead group at London.
[11:02] SPEAKER_00: So to get another double that, something would have to go drastically wrong.
[11:06] SPEAKER_01: I mean, if uh ideally, if Morgan could take a decent amount of time out of him on the swim, limit his losses a bit until the climb, and then keep when I say in contention, I mean within 90 seconds starting the run, but then I mean it's 90 seconds you've got to run into Hayden, isn't it?
[11:22] SPEAKER_01: It's like he's just done what he's had to do to win the previous races, isn't he?
[11:26] SPEAKER_01: It's obviously quite clear, isn't it, with how quick he like dismantles people's like leads early in the race, and then he's just like, Well, I'm not gonna run any harder.
[11:35] SPEAKER_01: So it's we haven't actually seen what Caden's really capable of, have we, on an 18k run?
[11:39] SPEAKER_01: It just looks like he's running roughly the same as the others.
[11:43] SPEAKER_01: But in London, he could have probably run 57 minutes and he might have run four minutes faster than the next fastest person, but we don't really know what like you say, like he looked like he was nose breathing, but then it looked like he was like feigning like make tiredness, you know.
[11:56] SPEAKER_01: Um very yeah, it's tough to know what he's actually capable of.
[12:00] SPEAKER_01: But all I know is that when I see him running around the track with Bashir Rabdi, I'm thinking he's not messing around, is he?
[12:06] SPEAKER_01: And he's in some serious shape because you couldn't do a session with Bashir Rabdi where you're taking turns running reps unless you're in some absolute serious form.
[12:16] SPEAKER_00: And you said it yourself, Yalagines did beat him at 70.3 worlds, but I think the the thing to remember with that is Hayden was off the front by a mile, like by by almost a minute at certain points, and just completely blew up.
[12:29] SPEAKER_00: So I don't think Hayden's gonna blow up like that again, especially given it's an 80k bike and an 18k run.
[12:36] SPEAKER_00: So, like, I honestly think head-to-head he's just a better runner.
[12:38] SPEAKER_00: I want to touch on Morgan just quickly, Joe.
[12:41] SPEAKER_00: You know how, like, relatively speaking, how much of a weakness Sam Long's swim is compared to the field?
[12:47] SPEAKER_00: Well, he has the 19th rated swim on the T-100 contracted athletes.
[12:52] SPEAKER_00: Morgan Pearson has the 19th rated bike of the T-100 athletes.
[12:57] SPEAKER_00: So when you're comparing them in terms of level, it's kind of like Morgan Pearson's bike, although maybe not quite as far back as Sam Long's swim is relative, but that's where he is in the rankings.
[13:07] SPEAKER_00: So I mean when you're talking about Rico and Hayden and Yala and Kyle Smith and Leo Bergier and Matisse Margier and Sam Long, who are all in this in this race, there's just too much bike power for a guy like Morgan, isn't there?
[13:21] SPEAKER_01: There is, but I do feel like Morgan is a better rider than what his ranking is because I've seen you see some of the power numbers that you post up, and like they're not Rico numbers, but they're not bad.
[13:30] SPEAKER_01: Um, they're definitely good enough that he could limit his losses if he sorts out his arrow.
[13:34] SPEAKER_01: He's all I think he's definitely losing some in probably like his aerodynamics and just not being well drilled, you know, like the rate the guys that race non-draft him for the last few years and have actually dialed it, dialed themselves in.
[13:47] SPEAKER_01: Like when you see Morgan, he doesn't look dialed in, does he?
[13:49] SPEAKER_01: And I reckon there's probably a lot of gains to have.
[13:52] SPEAKER_01: If he works on this for next year, obviously this race has probably come a bit too early.
[13:55] SPEAKER_01: But if he does make a concerted effort, I think we could see a lot more from him.
[13:59] SPEAKER_01: But yeah, when you put it like that, he's ranked the same on the bike as what Sam's does on the swim, is asking a lot, isn't it, to get off the bike within like a minute of um Hayden, isn't it?
[14:10] SPEAKER_01: That's like uh that's like it, that's like a San Francisco type swim for uh Sam Long, isn't it?
[14:15] SPEAKER_01: You just need something incredible to happen, you know.
[14:17] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[14:18] SPEAKER_00: Um you don't think Rico Bogan is a chance here, Joe, just because you think he's a bit too heavy for the for the clients?
[14:23] SPEAKER_01: No, I don't think he's too heavy, but I just don't think he's gonna get off the lit the bike with a big enough gap on the run.
[14:29] SPEAKER_00: Do you think he can podium still?
[14:31] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think he can podium.
[14:32] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I I think like he's gonna be a factor in the race.
[14:35] SPEAKER_01: I think he's gonna be off the front and he's gonna be starting the run at the front.
[14:39] SPEAKER_01: I I don't know if anyone else will be with him, um, but I just feel like there's gonna be a few people that run run him down.
[14:46] SPEAKER_01: But I definitely think top five.
[14:47] SPEAKER_01: I'd be more surprised if he's not in the top five than if he is, but I don't think he can win.
[14:52] SPEAKER_01: I think he could be second, third, fourth.
[14:56] SPEAKER_01: I just um yeah, I mean I I I would like to see I would like to see someone push Hayden to the wire.
[15:02] SPEAKER_01: Like I'd like to see Rico go off the front, start the run with a two and a half, three minute lead, and Hayden's like having to go all out and it comes down to the last five-six hundred metres, you know.
[15:13] SPEAKER_01: But I feel like the hills are gonna suit some of the lighter guys a bit more because they're not like the San Francisco climbs where they're like punchy and they're over and done with in two minutes.
[15:21] SPEAKER_01: This is more of a sustained 10 to 15 minute climb, and I don't think that suits Rico as much as what it does the smaller guys because obviously, you know, you can't deny gravity, can you?
[15:32] SPEAKER_01: And uh being a bigger guy riding once you start climbing for like I find myself like doing two-minute climbs is fine.
[15:40] SPEAKER_01: You can punch well above threshold being a bigger guy, and you can keep doing that and you can climb pretty well.
[15:45] SPEAKER_01: But once the climbs start going above six, seven minutes, and it's more like your threshold power, that's where the smaller guys really have an advantage.
[15:52] SPEAKER_01: I think once you start going over like six, seven minutes, and obviously ten to fifteen minutes, that's where it suits those guys a lot more, and I think you're gonna see that when they get on the climb.
[16:01] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and that's the case with Rico, isn't it?
[16:03] SPEAKER_00: Like San Francisco, he was so strong over those punchy two, three minute climbs, and he obviously went on to win that race.
[16:09] SPEAKER_00: Hayden Wilde wasn't there, but but he was probably the next best guy on a course like that.
[16:15] SPEAKER_00: I do agree with you though, I just think this I think this long climb is gonna hurt Rico.
[16:19] SPEAKER_00: And I don't know, like maybe he will have a lead into T2, but I could see Hayden and Yaller and and guys like that, even even like um Leo Bergier, if he's on good on good form.
[16:30] SPEAKER_00: I could see guys like that riding up to Rico and and it being a hard day for Rico to get off the front on the bike.
[16:37] SPEAKER_00: And if he is to get off the front like he usually does, I reckon the effort will kill him.
[16:42] SPEAKER_00: Like I think he'll have a such a bad run if he does have a two-minute lead off the bike, or even a 90-second lead off the bike.
[16:48] SPEAKER_00: I think he'll have to just do stupid things to get that lead.
[16:51] SPEAKER_00: And for the sake of Rico's race, because I know we sometimes think of Rico like he's this awesome swim biker, but he's one of the best runners in the world.
[16:58] SPEAKER_00: If you go back to Dubai grand final last year, he went toe-to-toe in that grand final with with Martin Van Riel and they dropped Kyle Smith, who was running as well as anyone in the world right then.
[17:07] SPEAKER_00: So I think if Rico doesn't destroy his bike legs and actually just decides to sit in, he's almost guaranteed a podium in a race like this.
[17:14] SPEAKER_00: But but I think he loses um like his percentage chance of getting a podium if he does bash it off the front, because I reckon he'll have to kill himself to do it.
[17:22] SPEAKER_01: You know what?
[17:23] SPEAKER_01: I think even if he bashes it off the front, he's still in the shot with a podium because I think so many of them are gonna be absolutely fucking gassed when they get off the bike because they're all gonna be punching above their weight um at parts.
[17:35] SPEAKER_01: But I also think with Rico as well, it's like, does he really want to play it safe?
[17:38] SPEAKER_01: It's just not the way he races, is it?
[17:40] SPEAKER_01: You know, he wants in his mind, he's there to try and win it, isn't he?
[17:44] SPEAKER_01: And he wants to cause an upset.
[17:45] SPEAKER_01: So he's gonna punch it off the front and he's gonna hope it sticks.
[17:48] SPEAKER_01: And he's he's never never gonna sit in, is he, and race for like because he's effectively then racing for second or third, isn't he?
[17:54] SPEAKER_00: If he does that, probably third even.
[17:56] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like who who wants to do that, you know, when you've when you could throw your hat in the ring and try and win it and actually impact the race?
[18:02] SPEAKER_01: And also, we're we're saying this about the other guys, but you know, for instance, with Hayden, he could be really arrow at the moment, and he could m maybe doesn't need as much power to go as fast as what we think on the flat because his CDA could be incredibly low, and maybe he might get exposed on the climb because he isn't back up to where he is where he might hope to be on the bike.
[18:20] SPEAKER_01: We don't really know, do we?
[18:22] SPEAKER_00: Like I doubt it though, Joe.
[18:23] SPEAKER_00: I doubt it.
[18:24] SPEAKER_00: He trains in Andorra with Worthy and all the professional cyclists every day.
[18:28] SPEAKER_00: Like he's he's riding these big days in the mountains with professional cyclists every day, and good ones too, like Tom Pidgock and and Cam Worth will probably have the fastest bike time apart from Sam Lalo at Nice, and and Hayden doesn't really get dropped by those guys on the climbs there.
[18:42] SPEAKER_00: So I yeah, I I don't see I for the sake of the race, mate.
[18:46] SPEAKER_00: I hope he does.
[18:46] SPEAKER_00: I hope Hayden has a has a bad race, but just just so that it makes it more entertaining, but I can't see it.
[18:51] SPEAKER_01: I can't see Leo Bergère because he was coming back from that tumour that he had, wasn't he?
[18:56] SPEAKER_01: When didn't he say that he couldn't do much biking before London?
[18:59] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly.
[19:00] SPEAKER_00: And he had a he had a bad race at London because of that back tumour that because it was causing the sciatic nerve problems.
[19:05] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, exactly.
[19:06] SPEAKER_01: And London, how long ago was that?
[19:08] SPEAKER_01: Three weeks, roughly, three, four.
[19:11] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like I mean, you can't do that much in three or four weeks, can you?
[19:15] SPEAKER_01: And this kind of course, like you say, it's gonna, you said yourself, it's gonna be one that exposes people's fitness, isn't it?
[19:23] SPEAKER_01: You know, London, you could kind of get through it a little bit more, the speeds are higher, you're not gonna lose as much.
[19:29] SPEAKER_01: But when you're on a climb like that and a few other climbs leading into before that, if you're not fit on the bike, you're really gonna get exposed, aren't you, on this course?
[19:38] SPEAKER_01: And um, I think he's I I think he's probably gonna struggle to finish in the top ten.
[19:42] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I I never know with Leo because his best is so good, and it's just like, where's he at right now?
[19:47] SPEAKER_00: Eventually he's going to come good, like he's gonna have done enough training that he can he can have a good race.
[19:53] SPEAKER_00: I I I'm with you though, Joe.
[19:54] SPEAKER_00: I don't see this being the race.
[19:56] SPEAKER_00: I think he'll have a good swim and he'll he'll be there for a bit on the bike, but at some point on the bike or on the run, he'll I think he'll blow up a little bit.
[20:03] SPEAKER_00: And um yeah, I don't see him being a factor.
[20:06] SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah, like I said, at some point, but I I still just think when you when you have that tumour issue in in the lower back, I I just it's almost a season ride-off, isn't it?
[20:16] SPEAKER_00: And if you can just do anything for at some point late in the season, it's probably a really good result.
[20:20] SPEAKER_00: But I I wouldn't be expecting him to to come back really strong.
[20:24] SPEAKER_00: What uh what about Kyle Smith?
[20:26] SPEAKER_00: Obviously, he's had you know, not a bad year, but just not quite the highs of last year, especially around this time last year when he had that London race where he just lost to Sam Laidlow.
[20:36] SPEAKER_00: What do you what do you expect from him this weekend?
[20:38] SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm not sure.
[20:40] SPEAKER_01: Like um he pulled out in London, didn't he?
[20:42] SPEAKER_01: Um but I'm not entirely sure what the reason was.
[20:45] SPEAKER_01: Do you know what the reason was why he pulled out in London?
[20:48] SPEAKER_00: I just think he had a bad day, mate.
[20:49] SPEAKER_00: Like I I've I've talked to people who said he was um fit in the lead up and and and he was kind of surprised he had a bad day.
[20:57] SPEAKER_00: I haven't talked to Kyle you know himself to confirm that, but I think it was a little bit of a surprise um and and he was actually pretty fit.
[21:05] SPEAKER_00: So I think he'll be motivated, if anything.
[21:08] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, um I mean if it was just a bad day and he's in good shape, um top half of the field for sure.
[21:16] SPEAKER_01: Um I think this is quite a hard course for him to do really well on because he's like a bigger guy as well, isn't he?
[21:24] SPEAKER_01: Um I think his best bet is to try and hold on to some of the guys on the climb, not like the real like uh mountain goats, but like if there's people behind, try and stay with them.
[21:38] SPEAKER_01: Hopefully then he can keep relatively in contention.
[21:41] SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, with people like Meeknut, for instance, like if he can stay with like that kind of guy and head into work together, head into T2 in like around about you know the third to kind of seventh position, try and run for a podium and hope that you catch some of the people that like potentially Rico if he's like blowing up a bit and he's fading.
[22:00] SPEAKER_01: I think he could be on the podium, but scraping on the podium, you know, in this race.
[22:04] SPEAKER_01: Because obviously if you've got Hayden on four, Mika Yellow Geen's on four, Mika Newt's obviously been racing really well.
[22:09] SPEAKER_01: Is he racing it this one?
[22:10] SPEAKER_00: No, Mick Mika's not racing, Joe.
[22:12] SPEAKER_00: He's not racing.
[22:13] SPEAKER_00: Uh he's out for this one.
[22:14] SPEAKER_01: Oh wow.
[22:14] SPEAKER_01: I would have thought this would have been the kind of course that he would have been dying to race.
[22:18] SPEAKER_00: Couldn't agree more.
[22:19] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[22:19] SPEAKER_00: So what's happened there is him and his team decided to take a break now, like a midseason break, and they're going to target the grand final essentially.
[22:26] SPEAKER_00: So they've they've kind of finished their first part of the season.
[22:30] SPEAKER_00: They're going to take a full break and then build back up.
[22:33] SPEAKER_00: And his goal is to try and you know win or do as well as he can at the grand final.
[22:36] SPEAKER_00: But I'm with that.
[22:37] SPEAKER_01: I think it's about the fucking problem with this contract.
[22:40] SPEAKER_01: It's absolute bullshit.
[22:42] SPEAKER_01: Like, why would you pay people on a contract and then not have them at every single race?
[22:47] SPEAKER_01: Like, you've got 20 people, you haven't got time, you haven't got the space to have people like not turn up to every race.
[22:54] SPEAKER_01: This is the problem with why the T-100 struggles to keep people engaged.
[22:58] SPEAKER_01: Because you're he's obviously perfectly allowed to miss certain races, you know.
[23:02] SPEAKER_01: He only has to do four races, doesn't he, for his contract.
[23:05] SPEAKER_01: So, like, you know, don't hate the player, hate the game, as they say, don't they?
[23:08] SPEAKER_01: But I just feel that with the T-100, they're just fucking it up so bad like that.
[23:12] SPEAKER_01: Well, like, you got a great course, you got a really tough course.
[23:16] SPEAKER_01: How are you not making your all your why are all your contracted athletes not turning up to fucking race?
[23:20] SPEAKER_01: Why are they not made to, you know?
[23:22] SPEAKER_01: You're flipping paying them for to turn up to four races, but then you're gonna let them miss like half the series.
[23:27] SPEAKER_01: Do a fucking Iron Man, like fucking challenge race or something.
[23:31] SPEAKER_01: Like absolutely ridiculous.
[23:33] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think the problem is the athletes would just say no, wouldn't they?
[23:36] SPEAKER_01: Like mate, money talks.
[23:38] SPEAKER_01: If the money's enough, fucking bin the contracts off, you have a massive prize pot like they used to, the athletes will come and do it.
[23:45] SPEAKER_01: And if there's athletes that you really do want to see there, you can always pay them an appearance fee as well as having a massive prize pot.
[23:52] SPEAKER_01: You know?
[23:52] SPEAKER_01: Wouldn't you like to see this race with a hundred and twenty-hund thirty thousand dollar first prize for the winner?
[23:58] SPEAKER_00: Of course.
[23:58] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[23:59] SPEAKER_01: You think people would be having a midseason break then and missing this race?
[24:02] SPEAKER_00: I don't think so, because I think this is the course that suits Mika the most out of any, even though he is super aero.
[24:07] SPEAKER_00: But yeah, I think this course is made for him.
[24:09] SPEAKER_00: But like when I talked to Sam Renoof on the podcast last week, it made it just became so obvious to me they're not going to that.
[24:16] SPEAKER_00: This is the direction they're going, whether we like it or not.
[24:19] SPEAKER_01: Totally wrong though.
[24:20] SPEAKER_01: Totally wrong.
[24:20] SPEAKER_01: Like everyone I know who follows triathlon and watches the sport says says what they that they love the cups.
[24:27] SPEAKER_01: I mean, I've spoken to you before and you've said exactly the same thing, haven't you?
[24:31] SPEAKER_01: Like you loved the old format where there was like so much at stake and the hype leading into the races and stuff, and just going along this direction with 20 people, and then I mean potentially 10 of them could have said they were going to miss this race, couldn't they?
[24:43] SPEAKER_01: And you're left with like 10 people and then you're fighting to get people to turn up, and then you've got like massive gaps between people.
[24:49] SPEAKER_01: I just think if you're trying to class yourself as the premium series, paying people to turn up to races isn't really where it's at, you know.
[24:57] SPEAKER_01: I think you need to have big prize money so people are actually they have a motivation to race, don't they?
[25:02] SPEAKER_00: I think it's six men and six women are wild cards.
[25:05] SPEAKER_01: So I think 14 contracted athletes in both fields is free over a quarter of the field.
[25:11] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
[25:12] SPEAKER_00: I mean it is it just is what it is for for now.
[25:14] SPEAKER_00: And I think the problem, the problem is it's just money.
[25:18] SPEAKER_01: Money is but it wouldn't cost any more, would it, to not have the contract.
[25:21] SPEAKER_01: They could use the same amount of money to put it into like big races.
[25:25] SPEAKER_00: I I agree.
[25:26] SPEAKER_00: I love that format.
[25:27] SPEAKER_00: My favorite race, uh, probably of the last few here.
[25:30] SPEAKER_00: My my favorite race like since I've been doing the podcast is Kona 2022, where you came fifth place, by the way.
[25:35] SPEAKER_00: My second favourite is the PTO European Open in 2023.
[25:39] SPEAKER_00: That was the most hype race ever in the build up.
[25:41] SPEAKER_01: Like it was so loads of hype, loads of hype for that.
[25:43] SPEAKER_01: And even the ones in Edmonton and like I remember watching, and uh the other ones.
[25:48] SPEAKER_01: You know where um where Goostaff and Christian were turning up to them and stuff like that, and Aaron Royal was right in the mix, wasn't it?
[25:54] SPEAKER_01: You know?
[25:54] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that was Canadian Open.
[25:56] SPEAKER_01: Canadian Open, yeah, that was really good.
[25:58] SPEAKER_01: And then wasn't there, was there another one as well where the uh in America was that the one that was the one at Yan uh one, wasn't it?
[26:04] SPEAKER_00: That was the next year, that was 2023.
[26:06] SPEAKER_00: 2022 was the Canadian Open and then the US Open that Colin Chartier won.
[26:10] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, oh Colin the flipping dark horse, like and and it was where Taylor had a massive lead on the bike and then blew up an ash quarter.
[26:18] SPEAKER_00: Like it was like seven.
[26:19] SPEAKER_01: I thought that was peak PTO, you know, back then when they were organizing them races.
[26:25] SPEAKER_01: That was like every race was uh stacked field and like it was a world championship field every single time.
[26:32] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you're right.
[26:32] SPEAKER_00: These these races they don't have that same field.
[26:35] SPEAKER_01: No one cares.
[26:36] SPEAKER_01: Once you're in fifth or sixth place, you're jogging it in for the money.
[26:38] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[26:39] SPEAKER_01: Because there's not that much more for the prize money, and like people are like, whatever, you know, it is what it is.
[26:43] SPEAKER_01: You know, there there's no one, there might be someone, no one for like, you know, another minute behind you, so you're kind of making sure you keep holding them off, but you're not gonna kill yourself.
[26:51] SPEAKER_01: And it's just like I kind of feel like with racing, you want to make it so there's always something to fight for, and people are fighting until the end, don't you?
[26:57] SPEAKER_00: You know I agree with you.
[26:59] SPEAKER_00: That was the beauty of the European Open.
[27:00] SPEAKER_00: Like that, particularly the men's race, like everyone was just battling to get to the finish line.
[27:05] SPEAKER_00: It was chaos.
[27:05] SPEAKER_00: It was such an awesome battle.
[27:07] SPEAKER_01: Imagine, right?
[27:08] SPEAKER_01: If you had 40 or 50 people in a race like this, you had prims as well.
[27:12] SPEAKER_01: So, like, say the first per the person first who gets out the swim at the end of the first lap gets a preem and the end of the second lap.
[27:19] SPEAKER_01: So you imagine you've opened it up to loads of people, you've got the self-proclaimed best swimmer in triathlon, Greg Harper in the race, um, who can get a hard-on over the like the two premi on the swim.
[27:30] SPEAKER_01: He can get stuck in at the start, you know, get like two or three thousand dollars for like the first pream, uh, and then try and like hold it off at the get the end of the, you know, and then get the another pream for the end of the swim, where he gets like another two or three thousand dollars.
[27:45] SPEAKER_01: But then by doing that, he's just gonna be making it full gas, isn't he, in the swim?
[27:48] SPEAKER_01: And it's gonna be really hard.
[27:49] SPEAKER_01: And then on the bike, there could be a pream for say like halfway during the bike, and then another one at the end, same on the run.
[27:56] SPEAKER_01: And you could make all these like little battles in it that are making people like push the pace on, push the pace on.
[28:00] SPEAKER_01: There's gonna be explosions, like you know, and it'd just be make it so entertaining, I think.
[28:06] SPEAKER_01: Like it would just be oh, it'd be amazing.
[28:08] SPEAKER_00: I like it, mate.
[28:09] SPEAKER_00: I agree.
[28:09] SPEAKER_00: That's why we need to get you on the podcast when uh Sam Renoof comes on next time.
[28:13] SPEAKER_00: And I'll just I'll sit back and let you let you uh give your list of ideas too, and that would be really fun.
[28:19] SPEAKER_01: I've got a list of ideas, yeah.
[28:20] SPEAKER_01: Whether or not they would uh actually uh play it, take uh do them is another thing.
[28:26] SPEAKER_01: I mean you said that they're I guess the direction they're taking is the the league.
[28:31] SPEAKER_00: I've always received heaps of meshes from people who listen to this podcast and are frustrated about how inconvenient it is to watch Triton or how annoying some aspects of trying to watch Triton are.
[28:41] SPEAKER_00: In the US, you're paying for one streaming service to watch Iron Man and sitting through ads, and I get lots of meshes about how for some races you can't even watch the replay of it after it's finished, and then in the UK you're paying for another streaming service to watch T100.
[28:54] SPEAKER_00: Meanwhile, in countries like Australia, you can watch both Iron Man and T100 for free on YouTube with way less ads, and it's just super convenient.
[29:02] SPEAKER_00: Then last year I was overseas a lot experiencing these issues for myself, so I started looking for a solution so that I could watch races while I was over there, and that's when I found NordVPN.
[29:12] SPEAKER_00: I had never used Nord VPN before, and I bought it so I could set my country to Australia while I was overseas, and it was great.
[29:18] SPEAKER_00: Um I've used it ever since.
[29:20] SPEAKER_00: So I reached out to them last week after having had lots of messages recently around the big races about people experiencing these problems to see if maybe they might want to help help me out with the issue and partner with the podcast so that everyone who listens could hear this and and go and get it and get a big discount code and help solve solve the problem of of making Triton a little bit easier to watch.
[29:41] SPEAKER_00: And luckily for us, they said they'd love to.
[29:43] SPEAKER_00: So with NordVPN, you can switch your virtual location to say Australia, for example, or any country in the world where Triton is free to stream, and suddenly you're watching both Iron Man and T100 for free with fewer ads on YouTube with no subscriptions needed.
[29:59] SPEAKER_00: You can then go and watch the replays of those races whenever you want to, so you don't have to stay up and watch them during the middle of the night or sacrifice other things you're doing on the weekend to watch them.
[30:09] SPEAKER_00: Um I've also ended up keeping NordVPN personally for over a year now because it works for so much more like unlocking streaming service libraries in other countries.
[30:18] SPEAKER_00: Um if there's a movie or TV show you want to watch and it's not on your country's version of the streaming service, you just Google which country it's available in on that service, and then you go and switch your NordVPN location to that country, and boom, just like that, you're watching it in probably like a minute with a subscription that you already pay for.
[30:36] SPEAKER_00: So you don't need to go and buy a new subscription so that you can watch that TV show or movie in your country.
[30:41] SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, so you don't need five streaming services per month that you pay pay for.
[30:45] SPEAKER_00: You can just have one or two and use NordVPN instead.
[30:48] SPEAKER_00: It's super quick, it's secure, and has personally saved me so much money.
[30:53] SPEAKER_00: I now only use two streaming services.
[30:55] SPEAKER_00: I'm not allowed to name which ones, but I only pay for two now because if you go and Google them, they've got pretty much every everything on them somewhere in the world.
[31:02] SPEAKER_00: Um I was, I think I was at five or six at my peak, so it saved me heaps of money.
[31:06] SPEAKER_00: And um, yeah, I just watch literally everything I want.
[31:09] SPEAKER_00: So if you want to save yourself heaps of money, skip the ads uh on triathlon and actually enjoy watching triathlon for the first time, have access to replays, not have to have different subscription services, then go to NordVPN.com forward slash triathlon hour to get a huge discount on the two-year plans plus four extra months completely free on top of that.
[31:32] SPEAKER_00: It's completely risk-free with Nord's 30-day money-back guarantee.
[31:36] SPEAKER_00: Um, the link to go and get it for yourself is also in the description of this episode.
[31:41] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they're staying with this T100 format and very world triathlon uh oriented, which I agree isn't the move uh to make it the best it can be, but it's not what we have.
[31:50] SPEAKER_00: This is what we have.
[31:51] SPEAKER_00: Um Joe, I have what I think is a controversial view in this men's race.
[31:56] SPEAKER_00: I'm really worried about Sam Long, and I'm not just worried about him for this race, I'm worried about him for the world championships too.
[32:03] SPEAKER_00: I I don't know if I I don't know if I think he's the best climber in the world, and I know he's targeted these two races in his peak, this and then the Iron Man World Championships in Nice.
[32:13] SPEAKER_00: And I'm just I'm just not certain he can climb with the best anymore.
[32:17] SPEAKER_00: I think he's one of the best flat time trialists in men's uh triathlon.
[32:21] SPEAKER_00: Full stop.
[32:22] SPEAKER_00: I don't think there's many better than him, but but I'm a I'm really curious about him, and I'm gonna be watching super closely to how he climbs to get an indicator three weeks out from how he might climb at Nice at the Iron Man World Championships.
[32:34] SPEAKER_00: Because I think if he climbs badly at this French race, I think that's not a good sign for him to do that.
[32:39] SPEAKER_01: And two weeks two weeks out, mate, not three weeks, two weeks.
[32:42] SPEAKER_01: It's literally like once you've done this race, uh, this is pretty much the form you almost that you're going into Nice, really.
[32:48] SPEAKER_01: There's not much intention.
[32:50] SPEAKER_00: Two weeks out from the Iron Man World Championship.
[32:51] SPEAKER_01: Two weeks out, mate, yeah.
[32:52] SPEAKER_01: So it's like last like hit out, really.
[32:55] SPEAKER_01: There's not much to gain, is there, from it?
[32:57] SPEAKER_00: Should he be doing it, do you think, or do you think it's just too big an effort?
[32:59] SPEAKER_01: I don't really think it's too big of effort, is it?
[33:01] SPEAKER_01: You know, I think you could have a decent you could get a decent swim in.
[33:04] SPEAKER_01: The problem with Sam is on the swim, they're not really testing his swim ability, are they?
[33:08] SPEAKER_01: Because he gets dropped pretty much straight away.
[33:10] SPEAKER_01: So then he's not actually having to like work hard and like try and claw into himself into another pack.
[33:16] SPEAKER_01: It seems like at these T100 races, there is the front pack and then there's the odd straggler, which is a shame, you know.
[33:22] SPEAKER_01: And if it was like how we said before with 40 people, he it would be fantastic for him because he could get a really good like practice of the swim start.
[33:30] SPEAKER_01: The bike, I think, is pretty good session.
[33:32] SPEAKER_01: You know, it's 80k on a hilly course.
[33:35] SPEAKER_01: You can test your kind of setup that you're going to use for Nice, can't you?
[33:38] SPEAKER_01: You know, see how you do feel on the climbs and try and get an idea of what your game plan's going to be for Nice because he might be thinking he might be bad on the climbs, or he might be thinking he might be great on the climbs, and depending on how he climbs in this race, will probably affect what his game plan is going into Nice, isn't it?
[33:55] SPEAKER_01: You know, if he doesn't go well on the climbs here, then he's thinking, right, for Nice, I'm probably gonna lose a bit of time on the climb.
[33:59] SPEAKER_01: But that's alright.
[34:00] SPEAKER_01: I know I'm gonna do that.
[34:01] SPEAKER_01: But then when we get onto the plateau and the rest of the course, it suits me a bit more, and the time will hopefully start coming down to some of the others, so it kind of can help you formulate an idea of how the how what your game plan's gonna be in two weeks' time instead of going in there with no idea.
[34:15] SPEAKER_01: Because, like you say, it is very hard in triathlon to know how you're gonna climb compared to other people on some of these big climbs because we just don't get them enough, do we?
[34:23] SPEAKER_01: And people's body types in triathlon vary so much, you know.
[34:27] SPEAKER_01: You've got some guys that are like 60, 62 kilos, and then you've got other guys that are 85 kilos, you know, at the other end of the spectrum, and uh it's not like as clear-cut as cycling, you know, where the climbers are all like 60 to 65 kilos, aren't they?
[34:42] SPEAKER_01: And if you're like 75 to 80 kilos, you're probably gonna be a classics rider and you're not even gonna be trying to win on a on a mountainous course, are you?
[34:49] SPEAKER_01: But obviously in Iron Man and this year the the world champs is in Nice, so no matter who you are, like what your body type is, really, if you're in that race, you're you're throwing your hat in the ring and you're gonna have a crack.
[35:00] SPEAKER_01: But then you've also got a marathon as well, haven't you?
[35:02] SPEAKER_01: You know, in a triathlon which you don't have in a bike.
[35:04] SPEAKER_01: So if you get if a bigger guy like him can start clawing themselves back on the flatter bits of the course and then get off the bike, not beaten up and do a good marathon, you can still finish really high up there.
[35:16] SPEAKER_01: So um, but yeah, I'll also be looking at it as well because I'm intrigued to see how Sam will go on the climbs.
[35:22] SPEAKER_01: And I don't know is he as good as these guys on the climb or not.
[35:26] SPEAKER_01: And I'm I'm looking forward to seeing how he stacks up against them as well, Jack, like like yourself.
[35:31] SPEAKER_00: I think the thing that you've like touched on there is a very, very good point.
[35:35] SPEAKER_00: We just think in Trithlon, oh, this person's one of the best cyclists, this person's not a very good cyclist, but it is totally course dependent, right?
[35:43] SPEAKER_00: And a course like Nice or a course like this French um Riviera course, which isn't as hard as Nice because the climb has some uphill and then some downhill and some uphill.
[35:52] SPEAKER_00: But I do think that whoever is the best cyclist on a course like Nice is very different to say T-100 London.
[35:58] SPEAKER_00: And just because you might have the fastest bike course at London, it doesn't mean you're going to be the best cyclist at a course like Nice.
[36:04] SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, this is the thing with Sam Long.
[36:06] SPEAKER_00: I think this French course, if he has a good climb, then it could be the best thing ever for his confidence going into Nice, and it's a really good thing.
[36:13] SPEAKER_00: But if he loses a lot of climb, time on the climb, doesn't feel that good on the climb, two weeks out, it's a big confidence hit to take two weeks out if you do climb poorly, knowing that you're gonna have to go and climb those mountains in Nice, which are a lot more brutal.
[36:26] SPEAKER_00: So it's like you you you you expect that it's just gonna extrapolate and you'll you'll be even worse.
[36:32] SPEAKER_00: So I think this is kind of make or break for his confidence going into Nice.
[36:35] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, totally.
[36:36] SPEAKER_01: And this climb, this course suits him a lot more, will suit him more than Nice as well, because Nice is even hillier.
[36:41] SPEAKER_01: Oh, no, I say, yeah.
[36:42] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and like the climb, the big climb in Nice is like you know, 45 to 50 minutes of hard riding.
[36:47] SPEAKER_01: Whereas this is like we say 10-15 minutes.
[36:49] SPEAKER_01: This is like just a bit above threshold if you need to, whereas you can't go just above threshold 50 minutes in Nice in the middle of an Iron Man.
[36:56] SPEAKER_01: Um, it's a shame that Leon Chevalier isn't doing this race, isn't it?
[37:00] SPEAKER_01: Because that would have been a good benchmark.
[37:01] SPEAKER_01: You know, how would you stack up on this hilly course compared to Leon, someone that's done well in Nice or some, you know, that would have been a really good uh comparison.
[37:10] SPEAKER_01: Whereas a lot of these guys, none of these other guys, I don't think, are even racing Nice, are they?
[37:14] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, of the of the big hitters, it's it's kind of, yeah, there's not there's not many.
[37:19] SPEAKER_00: Um, which is it's it you're right, like it would be good if we could see all like the Leglow and the Werth and the Martin Van Reel and and those guys go head to head on a course like this two weeks out from Nice.
[37:29] SPEAKER_00: That would be so good for Triathlon because it would build so much heart going into worlds, wouldn't it?
[37:33] SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
[37:33] SPEAKER_01: I do think um Harry Palmer could be uh surprise as well, because he did well in Swansea when I was commentating, and I know he's doing this, and he's actually doing Nice as well.
[37:42] SPEAKER_01: That's what made me think of it because I forgot that he he was in.
[37:45] SPEAKER_01: But he'll swim at the front, he'll definitely get stuck in on the bike, and he's very good at running off a hard bike.
[37:51] SPEAKER_01: Like, I think he could be someone that could potentially be in the mix if he's on a good day, not like London.
[37:57] SPEAKER_01: Like London was definitely not good for him, but then he did race Iron Man Leeds just beforehand, which obviously scuppered his chances.
[38:03] SPEAKER_01: But I think he could be in the mix for a top five, top six if he has a great day for him, you know.
[38:08] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think I think Antonio Benito Lopez, who's also doing Nice and he's doing this this uh French Riviera T100 race as well in Fray Jews.
[38:17] SPEAKER_00: I think he could have a potentially good race.
[38:19] SPEAKER_00: He's a super light, really lean guy who climbs well and runs well off hard bikes.
[38:24] SPEAKER_00: So I think it's a good benchmark for him going into worlds as well.
[38:26] SPEAKER_00: And I kind of just expect him to come top probably six in this race, like he's just that consistent.
[38:32] SPEAKER_01: He could actually be quite a threat for this because he always swims at towards the front, doesn't he?
[38:35] SPEAKER_01: The bike course is gonna suit him a lot more than the other races, and he's gonna and it could be quite hot and humid on the on the south coast there.
[38:42] SPEAKER_01: Like I'm I know last time when I was in Nissa, I was surprised by how hot and humid it felt, like especially for September.
[38:48] SPEAKER_01: Like, so um, yeah, he could be he could be quite a threat, actually.
[38:52] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think he's a smokey.
[38:53] SPEAKER_00: But do you reckon there's any other smokies?
[38:55] SPEAKER_00: I was kind of thinking about I think Matisse Margier could like be in there, but I think the course doesn't quite suit him.
[39:01] SPEAKER_00: Greg Barnaby and Menno Coolhouse for me are two guys who I just expect to have good days.
[39:06] SPEAKER_00: Like, I think Menno Coolhouse is low like low key, a smokey to to three.
[39:11] SPEAKER_01: He's a big guy though, as well.
[39:12] SPEAKER_01: So you think you think he's gonna bike better than Sam Long then?
[39:16] SPEAKER_01: Because he's like in his he's over 80 kilos as well.
[39:19] SPEAKER_00: I don't think he I don't know if he'll bike better, but I think he is a good climber, and I think I think he'll be in a better group.
[39:24] SPEAKER_00: I think Sam might be isolated in this race and have no one good to ride with.
[39:28] SPEAKER_01: And I think he's not gonna have anyone good to ride with, but he never does, does he, Sam?
[39:32] SPEAKER_01: That's the thing.
[39:33] SPEAKER_00: But don't you think that certain courses, if you're by yourself, are easier than others?
[39:36] SPEAKER_00: Like I think Miami, for example, I think that was a great course for Sam to ride by himself.
[39:42] SPEAKER_00: But I think this is kind of the opposite.
[39:43] SPEAKER_00: I think you can just get lost and bleed time to a group that's hammering.
[39:46] SPEAKER_00: And I expect Menno to be in that group that's that's riding really fast with like, you know, Kyle and Antonio and Yalla and maybe even Hayden for a bit.
[39:55] SPEAKER_01: Like and you won't get any feedback, Jack, as well.
[39:58] SPEAKER_01: Because it's a one-lap course, you're probably not he's not gonna get any splits.
[40:01] SPEAKER_01: The roads are gonna be like, you know, like out of sight, out of mind.
[40:05] SPEAKER_01: He's not gonna see anyone until they're probably like 30 seconds in front of him.
[40:09] SPEAKER_01: So he's probably literally gonna be hardly come across anyone during the race.
[40:13] SPEAKER_01: It's gonna be mentally very challenging.
[40:15] SPEAKER_01: It's gonna be very similar to like what it would be like in an Iron Man.
[40:18] SPEAKER_01: I mean, imagine doing an Iron Man with 20 people on a hilly course, you'd like hardly see anyone.
[40:22] SPEAKER_01: So, whereas on other courses, because they're laps, you get feedback, don't you?
[40:25] SPEAKER_01: You know, if you if you're a minute behind someone and you go around a s a U-turn, you're like, okay, I passed them here last time.
[40:32] SPEAKER_01: Oh, I'm a bit closer now.
[40:33] SPEAKER_01: I'm taking time out of them.
[40:34] SPEAKER_01: I know I'm catching them.
[40:35] SPEAKER_01: This course, you're not gonna get any feedback like that.
[40:37] SPEAKER_01: It's literally just gonna be purely you and your own thoughts, battle the numbers.
[40:41] SPEAKER_01: I think it's gonna be very tough to be by yourself.
[40:43] SPEAKER_00: I'm excited for the course.
[40:44] SPEAKER_00: I love the one lap bike courses.
[40:46] SPEAKER_00: I think it makes better racing.
[40:47] SPEAKER_00: I think the crit courses ruin racing.
[40:50] SPEAKER_00: I think it makes it so boring.
[40:51] SPEAKER_00: Like I'm bored.
[40:52] SPEAKER_00: Every time there's like a six, seven, eight, nine, ten lap bike course.
[40:56] SPEAKER_00: I get so bored watching it.
[40:58] SPEAKER_00: Whereas I don't think I get bored by one lap bike courses.
[41:00] SPEAKER_00: Like I'm really excited about it.
[41:02] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I can't wait as well.
[41:03] SPEAKER_01: I think it's gonna be so much better than the other races.
[41:06] SPEAKER_01: So should we um should we go on to the uh women's race or do you want to pick like uh an and then or actually do we want to pick who we think's gonna um win?
[41:14] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, let's just pick a winner in the men's race.
[41:21] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, non-hayden.
[41:25] SPEAKER_01: We can't pick that.
[41:26] SPEAKER_01: You've got to go for someone else.
[41:28] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, okay.
[41:29] SPEAKER_00: Um I'll go for oh well I'll I'll steal him then.
[41:34] SPEAKER_00: It's just so easy.
[41:34] SPEAKER_00: I'll go Yellow Gaines then.
[41:36] SPEAKER_01: You're gonna go for Yellow Gaines.
[41:37] SPEAKER_01: You're basically picking like the two one of the favourites.
[41:40] SPEAKER_00: Should we go no Hayden, no Yeller?
[41:43] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, basically someone who uh yeah, don't pick them two.
[41:46] SPEAKER_01: Someone who you think like uh you would like to see finish right up there who you think could.
[41:51] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think well, for me it's two.
[41:53] SPEAKER_00: For me, it's Antonio, Benito, Lopez, and Meno Coolhouse.
[41:56] SPEAKER_00: I think I think those two uh both kind of unexpected, and I think could finish third and fourth type of thing.
[42:02] SPEAKER_00: I I rate both of them super highly.
[42:03] SPEAKER_01: Right, you pick them two, and we'll do a combined time, and I will pick um I'm gonna go Rico and Sam Long.
[42:12] SPEAKER_00: Oh, combined times, lowest combined time wins.
[42:16] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I thought if you'll pick a menow, I'll pick Sam because they're both like similar kind of like sizes, aren't they, and stuff like that on this course.
[42:21] SPEAKER_00: That's gonna be good to follow on the alternative stream.
[42:23] SPEAKER_00: That we can have that battle going all day.
[42:26] SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
[42:27] SPEAKER_00: If you're training for any triathlon or running event, you should 1000% start using precision fuel and hydration as your training and race day nutrition.
[42:36] SPEAKER_00: Their best products, in my opinion, are their gels.
[42:38] SPEAKER_00: I love the PF90, PF30, and PF30 caffeine gels, and I also love their flow gel for the bike.
[42:44] SPEAKER_00: All four of those are just amazing products.
[42:46] SPEAKER_00: The thing that separates precision gels from other brands is that they taste great.
[42:50] SPEAKER_00: They just have this really simple, sugary flavor that you don't get sick of.
[42:53] SPEAKER_00: Um, and in combination with that, they also have this texture that goes down really, really easily and doesn't leave you feeling gross and nauseous after taking it.
[43:01] SPEAKER_00: And I know for me, they're kind of two of the biggest factors that I've struggled with in other gels, but with precision, just a really simple, nice, sweet flavor, and they go down so so easily.
[43:11] SPEAKER_00: Um, they've also nailed their packaging, which can be a bit of a bugbear of mine, but they've made a really um practical and simple packaging that that doesn't spill out and get everywhere in their smaller gels.
[43:22] SPEAKER_00: And the PF90 literally has an easy-to-use on-race day screw top and in training, the PF90 is just absolutely incredible if you're doing a long run or if you're out on the bike.
[43:31] SPEAKER_00: Like there's no better gel uh on the market than the PF90, in my opinion.
[43:35] SPEAKER_00: It's just the best.
[43:36] SPEAKER_00: Um, they also make electrolyte tablets that have become a staple in the Triton world.
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[43:57] SPEAKER_00: Um, it's over on the Triton our Patreon.
[43:59] SPEAKER_00: So the link.
[44:00] SPEAKER_00: To the Patreon is in the description of this episode, and there's a 20% off every time you shop at Precision Link if you do sign up for Patreon that you can take advantage of.
[44:10] SPEAKER_00: On to the women's race.
[44:12] SPEAKER_01: The women's race, I think, is so so open.
[44:15] SPEAKER_01: This one.
[44:16] SPEAKER_01: Like you said, there was um to me before that there was a lot of um favourites that are missing, like Lucy Charles, obviously the winner of London.
[44:25] SPEAKER_01: Taylor Nib not racing, Kate Waff.
[44:28] SPEAKER_01: Is Kate Wolf racing the ITU race the next day?
[44:30] SPEAKER_01: Is that why she's not in this race?
[44:32] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I don't I don't follow WTCS mate.
[44:35] SPEAKER_00: I'm not across it at all.
[44:37] SPEAKER_00: I just know she's not racing uh this race.
[44:40] SPEAKER_00: And yeah, it's such a wide open field, isn't it?
[44:42] SPEAKER_00: Because Jessica Liamonth is the top-rated female in this field, and she's standing fifth in the standing so far.
[44:48] SPEAKER_00: So the top four ranked females, all of the winners, Julie Duron, Taylor Nibb, uh Kate Waff, and Lucy Charles Barclay, they're not here.
[44:57] SPEAKER_00: So it's it's wide open, isn't it?
[44:58] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think this is gonna really play into Jess Liamonth's hands.
[45:02] SPEAKER_01: I I can see top three potentially her getting the win in this.
[45:06] SPEAKER_00: I like it.
[45:07] SPEAKER_00: She's she's clearly right.
[45:08] SPEAKER_00: You know what Jess Liamonth is right now?
[45:11] SPEAKER_00: She is living proof of that old adage that's been around in Triton forever.
[45:15] SPEAKER_00: Craig Alexander used to say it so much that it almost used to get annoying, which is you ride for show, run for doe.
[45:21] SPEAKER_00: And Jess Liamonth is the number one ranked swimmer and cyclist in this field and the 13th ranked runner.
[45:28] SPEAKER_00: And she hasn't won one of these T100 races yet.
[45:31] SPEAKER_00: So she's kind of living and breathing that ride for show, run for dough.
[45:36] SPEAKER_00: But I guess the big question is, can she hold on on the run?
[45:40] SPEAKER_00: Or is someone like Ashley Gentle or Paula Finlay or oh god, I didn't even know, Indy Lee, Georgia Taylor Brown, Carolyn Paul maybe is someone like that just going to outrun her at the end of the day?
[45:52] SPEAKER_01: I think someone might do, but the thing is with Jess, right, what makes me pick her is she's been biking unbelievably well.
[46:00] SPEAKER_01: Like the fact that she can just like pick up 200 racing and then like keep up with Taylor, I just think is like so impressive.
[46:07] SPEAKER_01: She's an incredible swimmer and she's gonna rip that swim.
[46:09] SPEAKER_01: And looking at the fact that there's not gonna be hardly any girls that are gonna be able to stay with her, she could be out off um out the front.
[46:17] SPEAKER_01: Um, and then before London, I know she had done like hardly any running, like she wasn't even sure if she was gonna be able to finish the run because of an injury.
[46:24] SPEAKER_01: So I'm thinking if she's in the start list for this and she's actually doing it, she's probably gonna have done more running than what she had in London.
[46:30] SPEAKER_01: And the fact that she's just gonna be out front, probably building the lead, I just think she's gonna get off with about a free three-minute lead, and she's gonna have more motivation because in the previous races she started the run and they've been kind of like dropped imminently, hasn't she?
[46:45] SPEAKER_01: But she's still been able to nurse it home without doing hardly like any run training.
[46:51] SPEAKER_01: And in the past, she has been a very good runner.
[46:53] SPEAKER_01: Like when she was doing like the WTCS stuff, she did get her run to a pretty decent level.
[46:58] SPEAKER_01: You know, she was able to finish like top fives in uh in that racing, you know.
[47:02] SPEAKER_01: So she has been there before.
[47:04] SPEAKER_01: It's just like she's just got to get it back.
[47:05] SPEAKER_01: I think she's just had a lot of issues which has been preventing her, but she's obviously shown herself on the swim and she's shown herself on the bike.
[47:11] SPEAKER_01: And like you say, the fact that she's like number one ranked on the bike, it's pretty uh pretty impressive.
[47:16] SPEAKER_01: And I think on the climb she's just gonna rip it.
[47:19] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and she can run.
[47:20] SPEAKER_00: You're right.
[47:21] SPEAKER_00: She came third at Vancouver and she outran like Paula Finlay that day.
[47:25] SPEAKER_00: And we know Paula Finlay is a good runner.
[47:27] SPEAKER_00: Like, you don't look at Paula Finlay and think, oh, you know, her run's a weakness, you think of it as a strength.
[47:31] SPEAKER_00: So we Jessica can run.
[47:33] SPEAKER_00: It's just this this women's T100s like um group of contracted athletes are just so strong.
[47:39] SPEAKER_00: Those four that have won races in Lucy, Julie, Kate, and Taylor are so good that they kind of make it look like Jessica Liamont is is just you know like a rabbit out in front on the bike and you know she's gonna blow up.
[47:53] SPEAKER_00: But in a field like this, yeah, she could get a massive lead on the bike, couldn't she?
[47:58] SPEAKER_00: She could realistically have you know three or four minutes on on some some like Ash Gentle types or Lucy Byram types or even maybe more on Paula Finlay and and those kinds.
[48:09] SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, I mean if if she's gonna win one this year, Joe, it's this.
[48:13] SPEAKER_00: She's not I don't think she'll win any any other race this year in the T100, but I think if she can win one, it's this race.
[48:19] SPEAKER_01: Exactly what I think.
[48:20] SPEAKER_01: I think she's gonna absolutely rip it on the swim.
[48:23] SPEAKER_01: Um, and then on the bike, she's just gonna like, you know, go hard and just try and hang on.
[48:28] SPEAKER_01: Like, I mean, do you think she like how much how far behind the women the men do the women start?
[48:34] SPEAKER_00: Uh it's five minutes, I think.
[48:36] SPEAKER_01: She ain't gonna catch Sam, is she?
[48:38] SPEAKER_00: Oh uh probably not, but she's not.
[48:42] SPEAKER_00: Oh god.
[48:43] SPEAKER_01: Would she be in transition at the same time?
[48:45] SPEAKER_00: I think it's seven minutes.
[48:46] SPEAKER_00: I was just trying to think.
[48:47] SPEAKER_00: I think it's 6.05 start time from the men and 6.12 a.m.
[48:52] SPEAKER_00: Um, that's uh that's London time.
[48:54] SPEAKER_00: Uh uh seven minutes, nah, nah.
[48:58] SPEAKER_00: She's not gonna catch seven minutes on him.
[49:00] SPEAKER_00: She she won't see him, but it won't be it's not a crazy question, though, is it?
[49:05] SPEAKER_00: Because she will swim hard.
[49:06] SPEAKER_00: But keep in mind, Sam Long's on the Greg Harper swim program, so he had a good swim at London.
[49:11] SPEAKER_00: Maybe he won't, maybe he'll have an even better.
[49:12] SPEAKER_01: Greg's not even like the top number one swimmer, is he?
[49:15] SPEAKER_01: Like you went through that on your show the other week, and like wasn't he, he was claiming it wasn't he, but wasn't he ranked like right down the list, wasn't he?
[49:22] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he was ranked two.
[49:23] SPEAKER_00: Mark Dubrick was ranked ranked number one, but he's a better swimmer.
[49:25] SPEAKER_01: I want to get I'm on the Mark Dubrick training plan because if I'm gonna do it properly, I'm gonna get the number, you know, the actual number one, the real number one.
[49:31] SPEAKER_00: The number one's hands butters, mate.
[49:33] SPEAKER_00: The young German.
[49:34] SPEAKER_00: He's a beast, he's the best swimmer in Triton.
[49:36] SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, yeah, for sure.
[49:38] SPEAKER_00: He's like he swam like 52 or something for a hundred.
[49:41] SPEAKER_00: Like he's a beast.
[49:42] SPEAKER_00: Um back to the women, mate.
[49:44] SPEAKER_00: Ash Gentle, she's the big one for me.
[49:47] SPEAKER_00: So she's the queen of the T100, but she's had a bad year by her standards.
[49:51] SPEAKER_00: I think she's ran like I think that day that that Jess Liam won uh that that Jess came third in Vancouver, Ash ran like three or four minutes faster.
[49:59] SPEAKER_00: And then I think at London she ran about six minutes faster than Jess.
[50:02] SPEAKER_00: Is there a world where Ash Gentle can win this race given that the big four who are who are kind of you know stolen her crown are not here?
[50:11] SPEAKER_00: Can she win it?
[50:12] SPEAKER_01: I don't think so.
[50:13] SPEAKER_01: I I just don't think her bike's uh where it needs to be.
[50:17] SPEAKER_01: Um in the pre- other races she's been losing time on the bike, hasn't she?
[50:21] SPEAKER_01: I I don't know.
[50:22] SPEAKER_01: I mean, I don't know how good she is on the climbs, but just judging from what I've seen in the other races and how much time she's kind of been losing, I just don't think so.
[50:30] SPEAKER_01: I mean, like the other girl, like if it was a Singapore type conditions, then yeah, definitely.
[50:35] SPEAKER_01: But I feel like when it's just a hot, normal race, she doesn't she can't run as much time into people as what she needs to.
[50:41] SPEAKER_01: Um and I think she's just got too much of a deficit.
[50:44] SPEAKER_01: She just needs to work on her bike, really.
[50:46] SPEAKER_01: She needs to be starting the runs three, four minutes down at most, you know, to be able to run for the win.
[50:52] SPEAKER_01: You can't afford to start the run seven minutes down, it's just too much.
[50:56] SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, the girls can run 350k pace, which isn't that fast for 18k, and she's never gonna catch them.
[51:04] SPEAKER_01: She can't run 315, 320, can she?
[51:06] SPEAKER_01: K pace, you know?
[51:08] SPEAKER_01: So she just leaves herself too much to do.
[51:11] SPEAKER_01: She can run herself up into top five, but not win.
[51:14] SPEAKER_00: The irony of it, Joe, is that she left David Tilby Davis as her coach and she hired Jordan Kirby, who is an ex-professional cyclist and a cycling coach, to try and catch up this deficit to Taylor on the bike.
[51:26] SPEAKER_00: And since doing that, I feel like her bike has gone backwards in races.
[51:31] SPEAKER_00: I don't know what's happening in training, whether in training she's riding better than what she was, but it feels like her bike has gone backwards compared to the rest of the field this year.
[51:40] SPEAKER_00: And it makes me wonder.
[51:42] SPEAKER_00: I do you know what I think might have happened with Ash?
[51:45] SPEAKER_00: So I think Ash at the end of last year has seen, okay, I really need to lift things if I want to compete with Taylor Nib.
[51:52] SPEAKER_00: And and maybe she's thinking about the the ITU girls stepping up and and Lucy Charles Barclay and Julie Duron, but I think it's Taylor Nib driven.
[52:00] SPEAKER_00: And I think that she must have started the year just so driven and motivated.
[52:04] SPEAKER_00: And to me, she looks cooked.
[52:07] SPEAKER_00: Like I think she's done that thing where she's gone too hard too early in training and and she's just cooked.
[52:13] SPEAKER_00: Like, I feel like when I watch her, I I'm watching someone who's tired and running on fumes and who isn't at their peak.
[52:20] SPEAKER_00: And to me, I I kind of think that that she needs a rest.
[52:26] SPEAKER_00: Like, I mean, this race is set up for her to win, and it's almost like if she doesn't win this, I I think she needs a break, mate.
[52:32] SPEAKER_00: Because in what world would Ash Gentle have not won this race over the last two years?
[52:37] SPEAKER_00: She would have won this race with this field.
[52:39] SPEAKER_00: Like we're talking about Jessica Liamont and and Lucy Byrne and Paula Finlay and Hannah Berry and um Grace Tech and Marta Sanchez, they're her competition, you know, throwing Indy Lee and and and Carolyn Poole and maybe Georgia Taylor Brown.
[52:52] SPEAKER_00: I think on this on this course, she beats them last year.
[52:55] SPEAKER_00: So if she doesn't win this, to me, it's a sign that that she needs a break and and needs to re-evaluate and potentially even move away from the T100 next year and and and take a longer break, a longer offseason and target Kona 2026.
[53:09] SPEAKER_00: Because um, to me, yeah, to me, this is a race Ash should win.
[53:13] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean I totally agree with you.
[53:14] SPEAKER_01: Like in the past, this would have been you'd have been looking at this field thinking it's going to be a boring race.
[53:18] SPEAKER_01: Ashley Gentle's got it in the bag.
[53:20] SPEAKER_01: And in the past, she would have been out of the swim in whatever group was behind Jess Liamov, wouldn't she?
[53:26] SPEAKER_01: Like, she wouldn't have swam with Jess, but whoever was out behind that, behind her, that next group would have been where she would have been.
[53:32] SPEAKER_01: And then she would have probably rode with that group.
[53:35] SPEAKER_01: She would have probably got off the bike three, four minutes behind Jess, and she would have run like a 62, 63, and Jess would have probably run like you know slower than a 67, 68, and Ash would have won.
[53:44] SPEAKER_01: Um, like it would have been pretty clear cut.
[53:46] SPEAKER_01: But it's interesting that you say she looks really fatigued and tired.
[53:49] SPEAKER_01: I mean, I haven't looked at that much detail into what she looks like, but that could well be the case, maybe like just been overdoing it a bit because she hasn't definitely looked her normal self and she's she has been sluggish on the bike, like how much time she's lost.
[54:02] SPEAKER_01: It's not like how she used to race, she used to like like you know, not lose that much time, did she on the bike, you know?
[54:10] SPEAKER_01: She would like be pretty decent, and as soon as she'd get off on the run, that was it.
[54:14] SPEAKER_01: She would like literally look fresh as anything, wouldn't she?
[54:17] SPEAKER_01: Um so there must be something going up.
[54:19] SPEAKER_01: She definitely needs to kind of evaluate things at the end of the year and maybe take a longer break, you know, and actually recover, and then potentially she could.
[54:27] SPEAKER_01: I mean, I wouldn't necessarily say she needs to step up to like or do like you know, train for Kona or anything, although it would be great and it would really suit her with how good she is at running in the heat, but she definitely probably needs to take a bit of a break and try and you know, maybe recover if that is the case and build up for towards next year and see what she wants to do, whether that be full distance or pursue the T100 again.
[54:48] SPEAKER_01: But yeah, it's a shame that really she did leave Tilbury Davis to kind of work on her bike and it's kind of backfired.
[54:53] SPEAKER_01: I mean, you do feel for someone like that.
[54:55] SPEAKER_01: At least she kind of but at least she gave it a go, you know.
[54:57] SPEAKER_01: At least she had the balls to give it a go and you know, think this is what I need to do if I want to be winning these races in the future.
[55:02] SPEAKER_01: So fair play to her.
[55:05] SPEAKER_00: I personally think that all triathletes or endurance athletes in general should be taking creatine daily.
[55:10] SPEAKER_00: However, not all creatines are created equal, and in the case of Pillar Performances creatine monohydrate, it features single origin creepure made in Germany, which is the purest form of creatine monohydrate available on the market.
[55:23] SPEAKER_00: And unlike most brands, it's informed sports certified.
[55:27] SPEAKER_00: So, as a triathlete, why should you be taking creatine daily?
[55:31] SPEAKER_00: Well, firstly, energy production.
[55:33] SPEAKER_00: Creatine helps replenish ATP, which is the body's primary energy source.
[55:38] SPEAKER_00: This means higher anaerobic capacity and better overall athletic performance.
[55:42] SPEAKER_00: Enhanced recovery is the second thing.
[55:45] SPEAKER_00: Creatine reduces muscle damage and inflammation while promoting faster glycogen replenishment.
[55:51] SPEAKER_00: This leads to quicker recovery between training sessions and races.
[55:54] SPEAKER_00: It's it's probably, in my opinion, the main reason why you should use it.
[55:58] SPEAKER_00: Just the in hugely enhanced recovery that that it it leads to.
[56:02] SPEAKER_00: And then thirdly, is the cognitive benefits.
[56:04] SPEAKER_00: Creatine supports brain function, reducing mental fatigue and improving focus throughout endurance events, but also just day-to-day in your life.
[56:12] SPEAKER_00: If you're trying to get up early and train and then go to work and then um look after your family and spend quality time with the people you care about, maybe even train a second time.
[56:21] SPEAKER_00: I mean, you just need to have the cognitive ability to do so.
[56:24] SPEAKER_00: And creatine definitely helps that.
[56:26] SPEAKER_00: So if you would like to try some creatine monohydrate for yourself, which I highly recommend you do, then head to pillarperformance.shop or for North American listeners, listeners, head to thefeed.com and enter the code TTH for 15% off all first purchases.
[56:41] SPEAKER_00: That's code TTH for 15% off all first purchases.
[56:46] SPEAKER_00: We touched on the confidence that this race could provide Sam Long.
[56:49] SPEAKER_00: I think it's the same for Ash Gentle.
[56:50] SPEAKER_00: I think this is like a make or break confidence race.
[56:52] SPEAKER_00: I think if she has another poor one in a field like this, it will do really damaging things for her confidence and her morale.
[57:00] SPEAKER_00: I think it I think she'll walk out of this race in not a not a very good headspace.
[57:04] SPEAKER_00: But if she can turn her season around here and win this race, it could have the opposite effect where she goes, okay, I am still that person.
[57:12] SPEAKER_00: I am still the beast that I thought I was, and and maybe I overdid things a bit, or maybe the travel across to Europe hurt me a bit and and I'm back.
[57:20] SPEAKER_00: So I do think this race is is super important for her.
[57:24] SPEAKER_00: Who who do you think like if if we talk about Jess Liemont and Ash Gentle as the two, you know, maybe favourites if there was a if there was a betting market, who's next in your mind?
[57:35] SPEAKER_01: Probably that Caroline Poll.
[57:37] SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
[57:38] SPEAKER_01: Like she's been really consistent, she's kind of going under the radar because she's not one of them names that people talk about, but like in this kind of field, I think she could win it.
[57:48] SPEAKER_01: Um I think like I would have said Paula, but I've heard that she's not too good on the technical parts on courses, and I think a lot of people that ride and train a lot in America, they're generally like pretty sloppy on technical bits, aren't they?
[58:01] SPEAKER_01: Because the roads are just so straight and like not technical, are they at all?
[58:06] SPEAKER_01: You know, they just don't really test you in that way.
[58:08] SPEAKER_01: Um so I think she's gonna struggle a bit.
[58:10] SPEAKER_01: I I did have a little look at the course and it kind of runs along the sea for the coast and then kind of heads inland, and I reckon there's gonna be loads of little twists, turns and stuff like that.
[58:18] SPEAKER_01: So a really good technical rider.
[58:21] SPEAKER_01: I think actually this is a good one for India Lee.
[58:24] SPEAKER_01: Like she's had a you know a bit of a rough time in the T-100 recently.
[58:29] SPEAKER_01: You know, she's done she obviously won one before and was at was like you know, on cloud nine, and she hasn't really performed to the level what she's probably hoped she would have done since that.
[58:39] SPEAKER_01: But this kind of course and this kind of field, she shouldn't be too far behind out the swim.
[58:44] SPEAKER_01: She's been awesome in cyclocross before, so her bite technical skills are great.
[58:49] SPEAKER_01: You know, she's been like I think she's been top 10, like either she's won her regional champs anyway for cyclocross, which is pretty good going.
[58:55] SPEAKER_01: You know, you can you've got to be able to handle a bite to do that.
[58:58] SPEAKER_01: So she's not just someone that takes part in cyclocross, she actually performs really well in the winter.
[59:03] SPEAKER_01: I think she's gonna do pretty well, and then looking at the field on the run, she's gotta be fancying her chances for a result in this as well.
[59:09] SPEAKER_01: I think there's gonna be a lot of people looking at the looking at this field thinking if there's one race that I that was made for me this year, it's this, it's gonna break the packs up, the top hitters aren't there.
[59:19] SPEAKER_01: I can I've got to be in the mix for this race if I'm gonna do anything in the T-100.
[59:25] SPEAKER_00: I like your shout about Carolyn Pohl, and I agree.
[59:27] SPEAKER_00: The interesting little side kind of story of this race for Carolyn is it's her fair first race back since that controversy where she had that sprint finish.
[59:36] SPEAKER_00: That I would say the but from my perspective and and from the feedback that I was seeing, I felt like um I felt like people thought she didn't win that.
[59:46] SPEAKER_00: But that was the more overwhelming view with that with that Lena Um Miesner, the German, the German athlete, where there was that sprint finish where they kind of like bumped a little bit on the way in and and Lena Lena won it, but then Carolyn won it on like a on a like a review.
[1:00:01] SPEAKER_00: And so this is the first race she's done since that.
[1:00:04] SPEAKER_00: And that would have been like a quite a tricky situation for her because there was a bit of you know media and and public stuff about it.
[1:00:10] SPEAKER_00: So she probably had some emotional ups and downs.
[1:00:12] SPEAKER_00: So I think this is a this is a bounce back race for Carolyn, and she'll have like a lot of fire in the belly to to kind of put that last race aside, even though she won it.
[1:00:21] SPEAKER_00: I still think she wants it in the rearview mirror.
[1:00:23] SPEAKER_00: So I think she'll be in this with fire.
[1:00:25] SPEAKER_00: And I agree, mate.
[1:00:26] SPEAKER_00: I have her as maybe the number one smokey for this race.
[1:00:29] SPEAKER_00: I think she's a huge chance to to mix it up at the front of the race podium, if not, if not fight for the win.
[1:00:35] SPEAKER_00: I I that that's the question I was gonna ask you.
[1:00:38] SPEAKER_00: How many of these women in their minds think they can win this race?
[1:00:43] SPEAKER_00: Like if we go through the field, I'll how about I'll do it.
[1:00:46] SPEAKER_00: I'll go through the field and you tell me whether they are on the start line thinking I can win this race.
[1:00:52] SPEAKER_00: Jessica Liamont.
[1:00:53] SPEAKER_01: Oh, for sure.
[1:00:54] SPEAKER_01: 100%.
[1:00:55] SPEAKER_00: Ashley Gentle.
[1:00:57] SPEAKER_01: I think she'll be thinking, I I think she'll be thinking I just want to get on the podium.
[1:01:01] SPEAKER_01: Like she should be thinking that she can win it, but I think she'd be happy to just turn things around.
[1:01:07] SPEAKER_01: But yeah, I would say she's gonna she's gonna be, yeah, I'll I'll say yeah.
[1:01:10] SPEAKER_00: I think so too.
[1:01:11] SPEAKER_00: I she's a you don't understand, mate.
[1:01:12] SPEAKER_00: Ash Gentle is like a she she's like uh she would she would get annoyed at what you just said, Dan.
[1:01:18] SPEAKER_00: That's what I mean.
[1:01:20] SPEAKER_01: All right, well, I mean, I don't know her, like I don't know her.
[1:01:22] SPEAKER_00: You know, she's got that dog in her.
[1:01:24] SPEAKER_01: She she 100%, yeah.
[1:01:26] SPEAKER_00: Oh right.
[1:01:27] SPEAKER_01: I mean, yeah.
[1:01:27] SPEAKER_00: She it's can be 7 a.m.
[1:01:29] SPEAKER_00: and you can be having a coffee over breakfast with her, and she'll say something that you go, wow, it's just too early for that level of competitiveness here.
[1:01:35] SPEAKER_00: She she's got that she got that dog in her.
[1:01:37] SPEAKER_01: Oh, fair, oh brilliant.
[1:01:38] SPEAKER_01: That's what I like to I like to hear.
[1:01:39] SPEAKER_00: Lucy Byron?
[1:01:41] SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
[1:01:41] SPEAKER_01: No, I don't think so.
[1:01:42] SPEAKER_01: You don't think look at how she did in London, mate, the way she ripped up through that field.
[1:01:46] SPEAKER_00: But I think she's just too nice.
[1:01:48] SPEAKER_00: Like, I think she'll be thinking like a podium would be a really good day, and if I have a good one, who knows?
[1:01:52] SPEAKER_00: But I don't think she's starting on the stand line thinking I can win this.
[1:01:55] SPEAKER_00: This is my race.
[1:01:56] SPEAKER_00: I don't know, maybe I'm wrong.
[1:01:57] SPEAKER_00: Paula Finlay?
[1:01:59] SPEAKER_01: Surely she's gonna be thinking she can win it, isn't she?
[1:02:01] SPEAKER_00: Surely.
[1:02:02] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, if she's not, then that just means that she's too tired from the travel and yeah, on her day she should be.
[1:02:07] SPEAKER_00: Hannah Berry?
[1:02:08] SPEAKER_01: I don't think so.
[1:02:09] SPEAKER_01: Not thinking that she can win it.
[1:02:10] SPEAKER_00: Grace Tech?
[1:02:12] SPEAKER_01: No, I don't think so.
[1:02:13] SPEAKER_00: Marta Sanchez, no, Ali Salthouse.
[1:02:17] SPEAKER_01: Not win it, but podium.
[1:02:19] SPEAKER_01: Als Vissa?
[1:02:21] SPEAKER_01: I would have said before with how she was doing when she would got that that when she was got like that second in uh Singapore and stuff like that, but off recent form, I don't think so.
[1:02:29] SPEAKER_01: I don't think so.
[1:02:30] SPEAKER_00: She's having a bad year, Als, isn't she?
[1:02:32] SPEAKER_00: Uh India League.
[1:02:34] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think so.
[1:02:35] SPEAKER_01: I I I she's got to, surely, like with her like being talked up into thinking, you know, this is your race, like surely.
[1:02:42] SPEAKER_00: She's got to.
[1:02:42] SPEAKER_00: She's got to.
[1:02:43] SPEAKER_00: I hope she does.
[1:02:44] SPEAKER_00: I hope she's in that mental space.
[1:02:45] SPEAKER_00: Laura Madsen.
[1:02:46] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, she I mean, she hasn't raced as well as what she can do, but I saw a couple of braces of her last year and she was absolutely smashing it.
[1:02:52] SPEAKER_01: Like, I don't know about when, but I think like podium, like she'll definitely want to be on the podium.
[1:02:57] SPEAKER_00: Georgia Taylor Brown?
[1:02:58] SPEAKER_00: We haven't touched on her.
[1:03:00] SPEAKER_01: No, I don't think so.
[1:03:01] SPEAKER_01: Not after how she did in London.
[1:03:02] SPEAKER_01: I think she probably thought that was a bit of a shock.
[1:03:04] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, too early.
[1:03:05] SPEAKER_01: I don't know the inside details, like how was she feeling, what was her numbers like.
[1:03:09] SPEAKER_01: I mean, if your numbers were good and you went and you'd race like that, then you'd be a bit like, oh god, like this is a bit of a baptism of fire.
[1:03:15] SPEAKER_01: But if she knew that her numbers weren't good in London, she's capable of a lot more, then yeah, potentially, and she'll be kind of looking to right her wrongs.
[1:03:22] SPEAKER_01: So it's it's hard to say, isn't it, without context?
[1:03:24] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, she just needs a year, I reckon.
[1:03:26] SPEAKER_00: Her bike.
[1:03:27] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think a year, I think a year of actual practicing on TT by committing to it, and it's a different story.
[1:03:32] SPEAKER_00: Kyle Kiviova?
[1:03:34] SPEAKER_01: No.
[1:03:35] SPEAKER_00: Carolyn Paul?
[1:03:37] SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
[1:03:38] SPEAKER_00: A hundred percent she has to, doesn't she?
[1:03:40] SPEAKER_00: Julie LaMola?
[1:03:41] SPEAKER_01: No.
[1:03:42] SPEAKER_00: Uh oh, Liana Besik.
[1:03:45] SPEAKER_01: No.
[1:03:46] SPEAKER_00: Dee Dee Diedrix is racing.
[1:03:48] SPEAKER_00: And I'm that's an obvious no, isn't it?
[1:03:50] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no.
[1:03:52] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[1:03:52] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[1:03:52] SPEAKER_00: So I mean, there's there's really only like maybe at most six women who you who you're thinking might have in their heads that they can win the race.
[1:03:59] SPEAKER_00: That kind of shows how wide open this field is, doesn't it?
[1:04:02] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, no, it totally does.
[1:04:04] SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
[1:04:04] SPEAKER_00: Um, all right, let's do it.
[1:04:06] SPEAKER_00: So do you want to do the same thing as last week?
[1:04:08] SPEAKER_00: Or do you think that's the first one?
[1:04:08] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, same ones.
[1:04:10] SPEAKER_01: I'll go first, then I'm gonna go for India Lee and Jess Leamov.
[1:04:13] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, okay.
[1:04:14] SPEAKER_00: Uh oh, this is hard.
[1:04:17] SPEAKER_01: Maybe I thought you'd go for a Caroline Pole.
[1:04:20] SPEAKER_01: I thought I'd set that up for you to pick out.
[1:04:22] SPEAKER_00: Well, yeah, I'm just trying, I'm gonna go Carolyn and Ash, I think.
[1:04:24] SPEAKER_00: So Carolyn Pole and Ash Gentle.
[1:04:26] SPEAKER_00: I'm just backing in Ash Gentle.
[1:04:28] SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's the Australian in me, and I'm you've got to pick yoursie, mate.
[1:04:31] SPEAKER_01: You've got to pick it up.
[1:04:32] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and she's in uh I'm living in Andorra at the moment.
[1:04:34] SPEAKER_01: She she's living in Andorra, so she's kind of you ain't gonna invited around for coffee at seven o'clock if you didn't pick her again.
[1:04:40] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, I didn't know.
[1:04:42] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
[1:04:42] SPEAKER_00: Uh okay, that's gonna be that will be really interesting to follow.
[1:04:46] SPEAKER_00: So you've got um you've got Jessica Liemonth and India Lee.
[1:04:50] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[1:04:51] SPEAKER_00: And I've got Ash Gentle and Carolyn Pole.
[1:04:54] SPEAKER_00: Uh, all right, mate.
[1:04:55] SPEAKER_00: So a few more details about this alternative stream we're gonna do.
[1:04:58] SPEAKER_00: Um, for those of you who want to check it out, it's gonna be on the Trithon Hour YouTube channel.
[1:05:02] SPEAKER_00: So me and Joe uh on on when like maybe 30 minutes before the race starts, we'll post a link to that on our Instagram story so you can just go and follow there, or you can literally just go to the Trithon Hour YouTube page when the race is on.
[1:05:15] SPEAKER_00: This is the tricky thing about this uh Fraseuse T100 race.
[1:05:19] SPEAKER_00: It's not on at the best time in the world.
[1:05:21] SPEAKER_00: So get this, Joe.
[1:05:22] SPEAKER_00: This is where this race is for the big, the big uh centers in the world.
[1:05:26] SPEAKER_00: So for us, um, we're we're in London at the moment, you and me.
[1:05:30] SPEAKER_00: It starts at uh 6.07 a.m.
[1:05:33] SPEAKER_00: is the men's race, and 6.12 is the women's race.
[1:05:35] SPEAKER_00: So they run concurrently.
[1:05:37] SPEAKER_00: The the men's and women's races run at the same time, so it'll be about a three-hour and 45-minute um stream.
[1:05:43] SPEAKER_00: Uh for the for the for the Americans, it's gonna be somewhere between like 11 p.m.
[1:05:49] SPEAKER_00: and 1 a.m.
[1:05:50] SPEAKER_00: that you'll be starting the race.
[1:05:51] SPEAKER_00: So it's a very hard race for you to watch.
[1:05:53] SPEAKER_00: But if you do want to stay up late, and for Australia, it's probably the best time.
[1:05:56] SPEAKER_00: It's uh it's gonna be like between 1 and 3 p.m.
[1:05:59] SPEAKER_00: It's 3 p.m.
[1:06:00] SPEAKER_00: um Melbourne time.
[1:06:01] SPEAKER_00: So uh if because of this, if you are going to be finding that hard to watch with those times, like it's really not good anywhere.
[1:06:08] SPEAKER_00: It's it's before most of Europe is awake.
[1:06:11] SPEAKER_00: They wake up at about 8 or 9 a.m.
[1:06:13] SPEAKER_00: and it's it's by the time America's gone to bed, um, and then it's during the middle of the day for the rest of the world, basically.
[1:06:18] SPEAKER_00: So we're going to do the stream, but then we'll leave it up on the triath on hour page.
[1:06:23] SPEAKER_00: So if you just miss Instagram and and don't check the results, you can just go onto YouTube after the race and you'll be able to watch the whole thing back.
[1:06:31] SPEAKER_00: Um, the only problem is if you're in most of Europe, you're gonna need a VPN to watch it because it's gonna be geo-blocked for now.
[1:06:38] SPEAKER_00: We're we're gonna get to the bottom of that and it's gonna be open to everyone eventually.
[1:06:42] SPEAKER_00: But for now, it's geo blocked in most of Europe, so you'll have to get VPN.
[1:06:46] SPEAKER_00: Um, we've got a deal with Nord VPN that gets you a massive discount.
[1:06:50] SPEAKER_00: This isn't to plug that, but it is actually really cheap if you do want a VPN to be able to watch our live stream of this race.
[1:06:56] SPEAKER_00: Um, and I'll put the link for Nord V VPN in the description of this episode.
[1:07:01] SPEAKER_00: I also will have chucked an ad at the start of this episode for it as well, so you'll know all the details.
[1:07:06] SPEAKER_00: Um, apart from that, that's that's everything you need to know about how to watch me and Joe.
[1:07:09] SPEAKER_00: You do our first ever alternative stream for the T100.
[1:07:12] SPEAKER_00: Uh, and uh I think we're gonna get Greg Harper on for the swim.
[1:07:16] SPEAKER_00: And for those of you who don't know, Joe and Greg have a little bit of a beef behind the scenes.
[1:07:19] SPEAKER_01: So they'll be I don't actually have any beef about it.
[1:07:22] SPEAKER_01: I actually spoke to him and I think he's all right, but I just like talking shit about him because um he he's mugged me off as well.
[1:07:28] SPEAKER_00: So uh behind your back too in message groups, he he always mugs you off.
[1:07:32] SPEAKER_00: So we'll address that on the stream uh at 6 a.m.
[1:07:35] SPEAKER_00: in the morning.
[1:07:36] SPEAKER_01: At least I say it out in public, don't I?
[1:07:39] SPEAKER_01: At least I've got at least I can look at myself in the mirror.
[1:07:41] SPEAKER_01: Not like you, Greg.
[1:07:43] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[1:07:43] SPEAKER_00: It could be funny.
[1:07:44] SPEAKER_00: We could be watching the the women's and the men's swim, and we should be talking about what's going on, and it'll just be you and Greg arguing for the first 30 minutes of the race.
[1:07:52] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the number two swimmer.
[1:07:54] SPEAKER_01: I mean, like, yeah, he's uh he knows his stuff, doesn't he?
[1:07:57] SPEAKER_01: Just not quite as much as Mark Dubrick, unfortunately.
[1:08:03] SPEAKER_00: Oh, I can't wait for this alternative stream.
[1:08:05] SPEAKER_00: Um, also another the one other funny.
[1:08:08] SPEAKER_01: Actually, why are we not getting Mark Dubrick on?
[1:08:09] SPEAKER_01: I know him, shouldn't we be getting him on anyway?
[1:08:11] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, well, we could, mate.
[1:08:12] SPEAKER_00: Anyone's welcome.
[1:08:13] SPEAKER_01: We should be getting the number one swimmer on, mate.
[1:08:15] SPEAKER_01: Like, oh let me reach out to Mark.
[1:08:17] SPEAKER_01: Like we'll put Greg on the back burner in case Mark can't make it, and then we'll Greg can be next in line.
[1:08:23] SPEAKER_01: He can be on the waiting list.
[1:08:24] SPEAKER_00: That's fair.
[1:08:24] SPEAKER_00: I think that's only fair.
[1:08:26] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
[1:08:26] SPEAKER_00: Greg's been kicked off.
[1:08:27] SPEAKER_00: Um, the the the other funny thing is me and Joe are going to be doing it together, so uh that'll make it all the more fun.
[1:08:33] SPEAKER_00: I think we'll be sitting on the couch next to each other watching it, and we're hoping to have video so that we'll be like on the screen and you can see us.
[1:08:40] SPEAKER_00: But I don't know, me and Joe are shit technically, so maybe it will just be our voices commentating over it.
[1:08:45] SPEAKER_00: But uh either way, I'm looking forward to it, Joe.
[1:08:46] SPEAKER_00: Thanks for doing the the preview show with me.
[1:08:48] SPEAKER_00: I'm real I'm actually way more keen for the race now after doing that.
[1:08:51] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, same here, same here.
[1:08:53] SPEAKER_01: Cheers, mate, and I'll catch you later.
[1:08:55] SPEAKER_00: See you on the weekend.

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