220 Triathlon March 2025

This time of year always feels a bit like the golden period to me. Christmas is over, the new year celebrations are done and you’ve likely got some race goals in mind for the year ahead. Motivation can be high when your finger is hovering over the ‘enter now’ button and that’s a good thing – if your races excite you when you enter them, you’ve got a good chance of getting through the tough training sessions! Where many athletes fall down though is in the planning after that, so this issue we talk you through how to build your season (p24), from preparing to getting through setbacks. We’re also looking at how to avoid injury, why you should consider a bike fit and the benefits of indoor training. Can…

Olympic triathlon champion Alex Yee’s decision to run this year’s London marathon might have caught the multisport world by surprise, but not only does it make perfect sense, it gives a number of reasons to be intrigued — not just for Yee’s own performance, but for our own efforts at this hallowed and fiendishly difficult distance. Firstly, Yee’s decision comes from the heart. Born and bred in south-east London, a member of Kent Athletics Club and having run the mini marathon as a junior, it’s a race that captures his imagination. I recall his disappointment at a Super League Triathlon (now Supertri) in the Docklands shortly after his Tokyo Olympic medal success, when he spoke about the importance of racing in his home city. He felt he’d let down home…

WHY I TRI I grew up as a sporty kid but often felt disconnected from the world around me. As a profoundly deaf individual, school was tough, and my needs were rarely recognised. Running became my escape, offering me the freedom and solace I couldn’t find in the classroom. Years later, during lockdown, I stumbled into triathlon and fell in love. My first triathlon was a wake-up call—literally. I was woefully unprepared and pushed too hard at the start, nearly burning out before the finish. Despite this, the experience was unforgettable. Competing with “DEAF” emblazoned on my suit filled me with pride and determination. That race ignited a fire in me. Triathlon presents unique challenges for someone who is deaf. I rely entirely on my vision during races, using a…

HOTTEST NEW GEAR A shoe? Without glue? No, not a new Dr Seuss book, but an upcoming launch from Decathlon as they add the KipX to their popular Kiprun range. Launching in April, the running shoe reduces assembly steps from 15 to just one and is said to enhance both cushioning and durability. This simpler manufacturing process aims to deliver peak performance and comfort for runners. How is this done? Over to someone more in the know than us. Stéphane Benaddi, Technical Project Leader, Footwear Process says: “Traditional sports shoe manufacturing is a complex process. The cushioning sole is made separately and then manually glued to the upper, requiring many steps, multiple machines, and layers of glue. Our dream was to simplify the making of a running shoe.” “The principle…

Flemish bike brand Van Rysel will introduce the all new XCR TRI triathlon range globally this year. Co-designed with Swiss Side, the aerodynamic specialists with a background of over 50 years in Formula 1, the XCR is said to embody the expertise of the Van Rysel product development teams and showcase what is possible in terms of aerodynamic performance on two wheels. The XCR TRI Ultegra Di2 frame is made of high-modulus carbon fibre, with a weight of 1490g for the frame and 490g for the fork (size M). The brand tell us the attention to detail to not only how the bike cuts through the wind, but how the bike reacts and feels, makes it the ideal tool for going fast over almost any distance and terrain. The new…

World Triathlon Championship Series, supertri, and now T100 – the USA’s Taylor Spivey can be relied upon to deliver. And it was for this consistency that the Redondo Beach-born athlete was awarded a coveted slot on the USA women’s Olympic triathlon team in Paris last summer. While she was disappointed with 10th in the individual race, the 33-year-old architecture graduate left the City of Lights with a hardfought-for mixed team relay silver medal in her luggage. Since then, the multiple national surf-lifesaver champion has been packing in the supertri and T100 races, with again solid results across the board. For now, though, we find Spivey in Girona, her home since the end of 2020, reflecting on a year of “mixed feelings” and looking forward to another bumper year of races,…