Bergere Bests the Rest in World Championship Win

Good morning everyone!

We’ve got a breakdown from the incredible Men's World Triathlon Grand Final, next year's World Triathlon schedule, and can you improve your run economy... in this economy?

Thank you for being here.

-Matt Sharpe, Canadian Olympic triathlete, current long course racer, and now, a newsletter writer.

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ONE BIG THING

New Locations Highlight 2023 World Triathlon Events

What is it: World Triathlon recently released confirmed dates and locations for their 2023 World Series, Paratriathlon, World Cup, and Multisport events. The locations highlight the global reach of World Triathlon with events on every continent and contain, “a perfect mix between new additions to our portfolio of events, classic races across the world and more Paratriathlon venues,” according to World Triathlon President Marisol Casado.

Why it matters:

• For the first time since the pandemic, Australia and New Zealand will host elite World Cup and Paratriathlon events.

• Sunderland in the U.K. will make its debut as a WTCS event with a gorgeous beachside venue.

• World Champions will be crowned in the Northern Spanish city of Pontevedra, home of Triathlon legend Javier Gomez.

• The Olympic test events for elite, Paratriathlon, and Mixed Relay will be held in the city of love, Paris, from August 17th-20th.

Quick thought:

It's awesome to see World Triathlon coming out with a full suite of races for 2023. A glance at the World Cup schedule speaks to the global nature of the sport. And although Sunderland may not have the name recognition of previous locations, if the race organizers can create a compelling course then the race action will make it iconic.

• Even though the 2022 season just wrapped up, it’s only 100 days till the athletes are back in Abu Dhabi!

NEWS

🌊 Challenge Salinas: The Challenge family of races has just announced their newest event to be held next year in Salinas, Ecuador. After hosting successful World Triathlon World Cup events no doubt Salinas will deliver the goods. [Challenge Family]

🆕 Breaking new ground: For the first time ever World Triathlon contested a paratriathlon mixed relay. Although it was a demonstration event it was a very dynamic race due to the mix of genders and classes. [World Triathlon]

🤯 He did what? Carlos Pena recently won a triathlon. But not an Ironman, because that would be too easy. He was crowned the winner of the DECA-Ironman; a race that requires competitors finishing ten Ironmans in ten days!

🧢 Lucky hat: After finding a hat with the insignia of a Taiwanese temple, and subsequently wearing it during his first Ironman 70.3 World Championship win, Gustav Iden has become somewhat of a hero in Taiwan. He will be returning to the famous temple this week.

🏃 Age group Olympians: With plans for a mass participation event alongside the Paris Olympic Marathon, it appears the IOC is looking to bring in more open events alongside the elites. Could this mean age grouper triathletes could be competing at future games?

RACE RECAP

Bergere Bests the Rest in Emphatic World Championship Win

Certainly overlooked in the pre-race hype, Leo Bergere (FRA) took the race in his own hands and made his first WTCS win count. He became World Champion as race favorites Alex Yee (GBR) and Hayden Wilde (NZL) wilted in the Abu Dhabi heat.

Men's Race

What happened: 

With a bold breakaway effort, Leo Bergere (FRA) was able to distance himself from the pre-race favorites and take matters into his own hands taking the race win and the World Championship title.

Mark Devay (HUN) led the field out of the swim and he was quickly joined by eight other athletes including Bergere, Vincent Luis (FRA), Jonathan Brownlee (GBR), and Henri Schoeman (RSA) as they broke away on the bike.

• Watch: The breakaway fights to keep their lead over the chasers.

Onto the run, the breakaway group held a slim 30-second lead over super runners Alex Yee (GBR), and Hayden Wilde (NZL). It all came down to the run to crown the champion. Bergere was able to hold tough for the race win, and thanks to incredible runs from Morgan Pearson (USA), Jelle Geens (BEL), and Matthew Hauser (AUS) he was able to win the World Championship.

• Watch: Leo Bergere breaks the tape for his first WTCS win.

Abu Dhabi WTCS Podium: 

• 1st - Leo Bergere (FRA)

• 2nd - Morgan Pearson (USA)

• 3rd - Jelle Geens (BEL)

World Triathlon Championship Series Podium: 

• 1st - Leo Bergere (FRA)

• 2nd - Alex Yee (GBR)

• 3rd - Hayden Wilde (NZL)

Matt’s take:

Full disclosure: I slept through this race as it started at 4 AM, and after waking up to the results, I was devastated I did. This was easily the most exciting men’s World Triathlon event of the year. With the winner of the World Championship going undecided until right after Wilde finished. I was shocked that the breakaway group could stay away on this course, which is a testament to their efforts. After an exceptionally long season, it was clear Bergere peaked at the right time and came through with his first-ever WTCS victory.

• Wilde was scintillatingly close to making the breakaway group out of the swim. If he had made it the run would have been even more epic.

Full race results.

Other Results

Ironman Isreal

• Women’s race: Ruth Astle (GBR) showed her class over the Ironman distance winning in a time of 8:41:13

• Men’s race: Patrick Lange delivered an insane 2:30 marathon to take the win in Isreal.

Full race results

Upcoming Races

• Challenge Brazil │Dec 4 │Race Details

• Ironman 70.3 Indian Wells │Dec 4 │Race Details

• Clash Daytona │Dec 2 │Race Details

• Ironman Western Australia │Dec 4 │Race Details

TRAINING THOUGHT

Running in a Good Economy

After swimming and biking hard it's crazy to think that triathletes still have the energy to run at pace. A great way to improve the triathlon run is to improve running economy.

According to Runner's World running economy is, "the relationship between oxygen consumption and running speed." So, the less oxygen used at a pace the more efficient one will run. Here are three ways triathletes start running more efficiently 👇

🐆 Shorter stride

• A shorter stride uses less oxygen than a long one!

📈 Increase Mileage

• This one requires a bit of nuance. But by running more the body will adapt to use oxygen more efficiently.

🏎️ Race pace efforts

• Once races are closer incorporating appropriate length race pace intervals will help the body become more efficient at that pace.

FAVOURITES

📽️ Sam Long YouTube: Ironman professional Sam Long went to Ironman Arizona for redemption over a tough penalty at 70.3 Worlds. That didn’t quite happen, but there were some valuable lessons learned in defeat. 

🎙️ Physical Performance Show: Host Brad Beer speaks with sleep expert Dr. David Cannington who disputes the “rise and grind” mentality and offers alternatives to optimize sleep for performance.

🐶 Skipperoo: Recent Ironman Arizona winner Joe Skipper decided to give food delivery a go. Wondering how many delivery records he could smash? 🤔

COMMUNITY CORNER

One more race for the season for myself as I'll be competing in Clash Daytona this weekend. Hoping for some "shake and bake" magic on the track as I'll be competing against some big names! For now it's time to chill and let the training absorb.

-Matt

Did you race this past weekend? Send us photos or an update from your race, we'd love to feature it in a future newsletter.

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