The Revolution3 season opener in Costa Rica was held over the weekend with the Elite Olympic distance on Sunday March 18th.  The Olympic distance event featured a 0.9 mile ocean swim, 24.8 mile bike, and 6.2 mile run.

Cameron Dye, a new and exciting addition to the SRM sponsorship program, finished first with a time of 1:58:01.  Cameron led the field from the swim and delivered an outstanding bike performance building a two minute gap on the men’s field.  Once Dye’s lead was established off the bike he comfortably maintained his position through the run and crossed the line over a minute ahead of second place male, Manny Huerta.

Costa Rica 2012 - Pro Recap (fast cut) from REVOLUTION3 Triathlon on Vimeo.

"My game plan is no secret. It is always going to be swim as hard and ride as hard as I can and then do the best to hold in during the run,” Cam told journalists. “Play catch me if you can I guess and see if anyone has got the legs to run me down."

Cameron’s SRM race file certainly reflects his race strategy of the day.  He averaged over 330 watts with an average speed of 25.4mph on the relatively flat course.  In the first mile out of transition Cameron has power surges over 560 watts as he works to increase his lead which he then held for the remainder of the race.

Click on file to enlarge.

The third annual Abu Dhabi International Triathlon was held on Saturday March 3rd, 2012 in the United Arab Emirates. The early season, long distance event is famous for attracting triathlon’s top tier professionals as well as a sizeable amateur field. The Long Course in Abu Dhabi features a unique distance combination of a 3km swim, 200km bike, and a 20km run. The race is suited to the strongest cyclists in the sport and SRM was proud to support Faris Al-Sultan, Dirk Bockel, Maik Twelsiek, Luke Bell, and Rachel Joyce in their quest for victory in the UAE.

Faris Al-Sultan, of the Abu Dhabi Triathlon Team, was the local favorite on Saturday.Faris was 12th out of the water in 36:40 and was able to ride his way to 3rd  place by the end of the bike leg. He completed the 200km bike course in 5:09:34, the third fastest bike split of the day. Faris continued to move ahead in the field, and was soon leading the race to the delight of local spectators. He was caught only by Rasmus Henning in the final 3km of the race and finished in second with a total time of 6:22:11, just 27 seconds behind Henning.

"It was a very fast race,” notes 6th place finisher, Dirk Bockel. “The complete top ten of the male finishers have beaten the existing course record. It was also a tactical race, which is unusual in a long distance triathlon." Dirk delivered an aggressive bike split of 5:13:52 and is looking forward to his next race in six weeks.

Rachel Joyce and Luke Bell also put down very strong efforts finishing 5th and 7th. Rachel, 7th after the bike (5:52:28), ran into 5th position with a total time of 7:06:25, approximately 6 minutes behind race winner Nikki Butterfield. Luke, the newest member of SRM sponsored athletes, clocked a 5:13:57 bike split and finished just over a minute behind Bockel.

Faris has generously shared his SRM Training file from Abu Dhabi.  His file reveals an incredibly consistent bike performance with several strategic moves applied.  In the first section Faris has exited the water and leaves transition with a group to begin the 200km bike. He shows a high cadence low power ratio as he gets comfortable on the road and averages 257 watts in the first 52 minutes. A tactical power surge is made clear as Faris moves forward and overtakes the group to ride solo for the next two hours where he averages 293 watts (4.06 watts/kg).  During the final hour of the bike he reduces power while increasing cadence to prepare his legs for the upcoming run with one last power push to arrive at T2 in 3rd place.  In total, Faris averaged 275 watts with a cadence of 84rpm and burned 4,357 kJ on the Abu Dhabi bike course.

Luke Bell: “Very fast day out in Abu Dhabi, credit to the race and the field involved. Great for the sport. A race where power on the pedals really matters. Race of the day goes to Faris. Layed it and left it all out on the course. Hard man!”

Faris Al-Sultan Abu Dhabi Race File: Click on file (2x) to enlarge

On Saturday January 7^th the Port of Tauranga Half Distance Triathlon was hosted in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand. The race was the official Triathlon New Zealand Long Distance Championships and featured a 2km ocean swim in Pilot Bay, a 90km, 2 loop bike course, and a 21.1km run along Marine Parade.