Triathlon

SRM Athletes Shine at Ironman Melbourne

ironmanmelbourne2012232 The inaugural Ironman Asia-Pacific Championship was held in Melbourne, Australia on March 24th. The course featured a 3.8-kilometer swim in Frankston; a 180-kilometer bike ride on the EastLink Tollway; and a 42.2-kilometer run along Port Philip Bay towards the finish at the St Kilda Baths.

SRM proudly supported Rachel Joyce and Greg Bennett on the SRM Dura-Ace PowerMeter, Joanna Lawn on SRM Rotor 3D+, and SRM FSA riders Cameron Brown and Luke Bell. 3-time Ironman World Champion Craig Alexander also competed on the SRM System riding the fastest bike split followed five seconds later by Cam Brown.

Greg Bennett, Luke Bell, and Rachel Joyce all had standout swims and led their field out onto the 2 loop bike course. The bike leg was initially led by the young Clayton Fettell, but by the 150km mark he had been caught by an ultra experienced group of athletes including SRM riders Craig Alexander, Cam Brown, and Luke Bell. Alexander and Brown posted the number one and two fastest bike splits of the day with a 4:24:42 and 4:24:47. Rachel Joyce delivered an extremely strong bike performance finishing in 4:44:36. She was passed only by Caroline Steffen who proceeded to gain more than a 10 minute lead by T2. Behind Caroline and Rachel was Jo Lawn with a 5:00:56 ride on the Tollway. bellmelbourne

The out-and-back 42.2km marathon turned into an Aussie-Kiwi battle field. Craig and Cameron ran shoulder to shoulder for much of the course. “It started to get hard at the 22k mark” reported Craig. “It’s a testament to mental toughness.” Cam surged ahead several times, but in the end was dropped by the Australian World Champion who broke the 8 hour barrier finishing in 7:57:44. Cameron crossed the line less than 3 minutes behind. “The atmosphere was electric in the finishing chute and certainly topped off a great day for me,” Cam shares. “Crowie [Craig Alexander] had an awesome race again, I pushed him as hard as I could and was happy to be bridesmaid today, to one of the best Ironman athlete’s in the history of our sport.”

On the women’s side of the marathon, it was Caroline Steffen owning the course with a 3:01:22 marathon and a first place finish in 8:34:51just seconds off Chrissie Wellington’s world record. Rachel maintained her second place position finishing in 8:46:09, while Jo Lawn took 4th with 9:06:53.

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Watch Cam Brown's IM Melbourne Race of a Lifetime! Click Here

Photos: (Above) Men's Podium finish

(Right) Luke Bell on SRM FSA F-Force Light PowerMeter

(Below) Rachel Joyce finishing 2nd

Click on SRM file to enlarge.

Cameron Dye Wins Rev3 Costa Rica

cam_dye_3 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. cam_dye_2

ABU DHABI TRIATHLON 2012

faris_abu_dhabi_run_1 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.

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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. rachel_joyce_abu_dhabi_2012_1

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

Cameron Brown wins "Port of Tauranga Half" Distance Triathlon

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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.