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World Triathlon & T100: A French Fling or Real Thing?

The World Triathlon and T100 relationship deepens, level up with paddles, and your new masseuse!

Author

Matthew Sharpe
April 11, 2025

Good morning everyone,

The other day I had one of those special training sessions that just flowed. It wasn’t anything unique, just some hard nine minute efforts on the bike. But instead of forcing the power, it just came naturally - just like the big smile I had at the end!

When these ones come around I always try and reverse engineer why it felt so good. Was it because I raced on the weekend and opened up the system? Or was it because I had a little more rest in my schedule?

Chances are, if I tried to recreate the same conditions it wouldn’t result in that same unique feeling. And that’s usually how these kinds of standout training and racing experiences go - the harder you chase them, the less likely they are to occur.

  • There’s probably some kind of lesson there, I’ll think about it on my next ride 🤔🚴

In today’s edition:

  • 💍 Is newly announced World Triathlon and T100 race weekend a French fling or the real thing?

  • 🏓 How hand paddles can level up your swim.

  • 👐 And your new masseuse!

Thanks for being here.

-Matt Sharpe, newsletter editor

Headshot of Matt Sharpe

Have a triathlete in your life who can't stop swimming, biking, or running? Fire this off to them. Forwarded from a friend? Sign-up for free.

ONE BIG THING

World Triathlon & T100: A French Fling or Real Thing?

What is it: World Triathlon has announced that it will be adding another race to its 2025 World Triathlon Championship Series.

  • WTCS French Riviera will take place on the weekend of Aug 30-31 in Saint-Raphaël - Fréjus, France, and it won’t be the only high profile race that weekend!

Together with T100: According to World Triathlon, the newly announced WTCS French Riviera will be hosted in conjunction with T100 French Riviera- the fifth stop on the Triathlon World Tour

The relationship deepens: After signing a 12 year strategic partnership in 2024, the T100 and World Triathlon have forged ever-deepening ties that include partnerships on antidoping, race broadcast production, and now, combined race weekends.

Golden gathering: There was no previous indication World Triathlon would be adding another Championship Series race to the calendar. However, there is significant precedent for the country of a gold medal-winning athlete to host a high level World Triathlon race.

  • When Alistair Brownlee (GBR) won gold in London, Great Britain hosted a World Championship Series race for more than ten years.

  • And although she hadn’t won gold yet, Flora Duffy was no doubt the catalyst for Bermuda hosting a World Triathlon Championship Series event from 2018 through 2022.

So when Cassandre Beaugrand (FRA) won her iconic gold in Paris - France was always in the cards.

Scheduling scramble: For the T100, this is the third date change for the event. Last Fall it was originally scheduled for May 16-18. It was then shuffled to June 27. And now, Aug 30-31. T100 CEO Sam Renouf acknowledged the scheduling difficulties for prospective age group athletes saying,

“We appreciate that the delay in being able to confirm the French Riviera T100 course and the change of date hasn’t been ideal…But we’re very confident that this breathtaking course will have been worth the wait.”

Tempo’s take: This surprise announcement from World Triathlon and the T100 shows just how much their relationship has progressed. What started as short weekend trips to the countryside has now rapidly escalated to meeting each other’s parents and looking for an apartment together.

  • There were previous plans for the organizations to take the next step. Valenica was set to host a lower tier World Triathlon World Cup event alongside the T100 race. It was an opportunity to see what it could be like really living together.

But now it looks like both organizations are throwing caution to the wind. Of course there are plenty of benefits to hosting their events together. Cost savings and the efficiencies of having a single race footprint. Plus, the eyes of the triathlon world will be fixated on Fréjus given the high level of competition and the intrigue of having both races on the same weekend.

  • But as a relationship like this deepens there comes with it the inevitable friction. How will the hosting fees be split up? Who’s branding will feature most prominently on race site?

And as World Triathlon gets closer with the T100, will they like what they see? This isn’t the first scheduling issue for the T100 - they still haven’t confirmed a date for their Las Vegas race. And can an organization still looking to shore up its business model be relied on to cover the rent?

  • Moving in is easy, but splitting the costs, and the spotlight is when things get real!

How early do you plan your race season?

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TEMPO TALKS PODCAST

Transition hacks? Supplement secrets? And why you NEED to do hill repeats!

We’ve been having a blast bringing you the Tempo Talks podcast!

And if you’re wondering where to start? A few of our favorite episodes are listed below!

Episode 5 - Why you NEED to do running hill repeats, why intriguing demographic data is great for the sport, and how you can avoid the health pitfalls of a pro triathlete! Listen here

Episode 6 - Transition hacks to save you time, why the IRONMAN Pro Series matters, and why did the T100 just get $10m? Listen here

Episode 7 - What supplements should you be taking? And why “futureproofing” triathlon matters for you! Listen here

Check out every episode of Tempo Talks on Apple, Spotify, and more! 

FAVORITES

🏓 Swimming with paddles: Hand paddles - many athletes have them in their gear bag, but why is that? And how much can they actually help you? This video breaks down why you should be using paddles. It’s a great view even if you already incorporate them into your training! [GTN]

🥵 Hot race heroics: If you have a hot race this year, you might want to start thinking about your preparation. A great place to start is this article which has race-winning heat adaptation advice from top pros. One nugget that caught our eyes? Consistent time in the sauna! [Precision Fuel & Hydration]

👐 Your new masseuse: Not all of us have a massage therapist on retainer - but we can have one in our pocket! The humble lacrosse ball is a great tool you can use to help release tight shoulders, hips, and glutes. Plus, it travels well! [YouTube]

♻️ Sustainable fueling: You love to fuel your training and racing, but you’d also love to do it a little more…sustainably. Thankfully, there are pletny of sports nutrition products out there that respect your performance AND the environment - and here are ten of them! [Triathlete]

🏆 Sanders speaks: Fresh off his extraordinary win at 70.3 Oceanside, Lionel Sanders talks about the mindset shift that led to his breakthrough physical performance on race day. And the video has key insights you can leverage for your own next-level performance! [Lionel Sanders/YouTube]

REEL TIME

At least Garmin is self aware about it! 😂😂😂

QUICK NEWS

Tackling tariffs: With the uncertainty of tariffs still looming over the triathlon industry, this bike brand says that no matter what, they won’t be raising prices! [Endurance Sportswire]

Wurf knowing: You can get disqualified for going too fast? Apparently you can. But how did it happen to professional triathlete and World Tour cyclist Cam Wurf? Find out here! [TRI247]

Beaver Freezer: It’s almost time for another edition of the Beaver Freezer Triathlon! This Saturday Oregon State University will welcome almost 400 athletes for the annual event. [Daily Baro]

New 70.3: After recently being named host of next year’s XTerra World Championships, Rudisio, New Mexico will be the newest host city of an IRONMAN 70.3 event in July 2026.

YOU SAID

There were plenty of great performances in last weekend’s pro race extravaganza. Here’s your thoughts!

Reader: Well, I think that ….. the story of the weekend was how IRONMAN showed T100 that it’s not about how much money you spend, but WHERE you host your races. So long as T100 goes where the money is and not where the people are, they will always have the lesser event.

Reader: Great win for the Lion. No limits baby! Lionel is a great ambassador for the sport and an inspiration to many. He is so down to earth and you will not find a nicer guy. After his win at Ironman Canada he met with people and had genuine conversations with them. It was just a conversation but meant the world to many. The sport needs more guys like Lionel.

Reader: I think your synopsis saying that Hayden Wilde is the one to watch on the T100 might not be 100% right and that Marten Van Riel is probably that person again this year. Arguably the most rounded athlete atm!

Reader: Lionel was lucky that 1 - Kristian had a flat and lost precious bike time, and that 2 - Jake was uncharacteristically penalized and lost 3 minutes, yet finished on only 2:45 back. Both these athletes would certainly have changed the dynamics. Nonetheless, a brilliant race by Canada’s second favourite triathlete.

Reader: Van Riel is so impressive and while think Lionel is amazing not sure he would be in the mix with the Singapore guys. Also the commentary at Singapore was so good - Vicky Holland and Jan so good together.

Reader: Individual sports need big personalities to draw attention and viewers - and thus, marketing dollars - and it's hard to find one bigger and longer-lasting than Lionel's in triathlon. It's purely anecdotal and a sample size of one, but my wife, who couldn't care less about triathlon (or sports in general), will stop and watch a Lionel YouTube video, or an interview, and even watched the entire run leg of Oceanside just to see what happened. If Lionel gets a wildcard invite to T100 Vancouver (which would almost certainly come with a huge appearance fee from T100), it would be great to see he and Sam swim together and come out of the water dead last, only to watch the two of them ride and run together through the field. Can you imagine the viewership value of that? T100 couldn't script anything better, and we won't see it on an Ironman course (in fact, if it was an Ironman broadcast, we might not see it at all :D ). Both event producers are trying to draw viewers and participants to their brand - where Ironman has a huge head start - and personalities like Lionel's are what get it done.

Reader: All of them!

Reader: Everyone counted him out and it was a packed field. Plus, Lionel won this race on the run. Something no one would have expected being 2 minutes down. He had arguably one of his greatest COMPLETE races.

RACE WEEKEND

IRONMAN 70.3 Brasilia

Pamela Oliveira (BRA) and Frederico Scarabino (Urg) are top ranked heading into this one. But they will be challenged by plenty of Brazilian talent!

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