Race Review - ITU Cross Duathlon

This was one of the most savage courses I have ever run on. A lot of the "run" was actually a scramble along the rocky Ibiza beach, other bits were sliding through scree, two sections were even run across topless beaches. 

I purposefully held back on the first run. The start video shows me just tootling along at the back of the pack. I knew it was going in to a bottleneck about 250m round the corner and everyone was going to be walking at that point. I arrived just as that queue was clearing and managed to just roll gently in to the climb and gradually started working my way through.

I came off the run just behind two of my GB team-mates who I had expected to drop several minutes on. I was pretty clean through transition and was comfortable going out on to the bike. 

The bike was not the most savage course I have ever ridden, but it was close. I had ridden every part of it successfully during the recce but obviously others hadn't. Some of the climbs and twists were spitting riders off and that was causing anyone following them closely to have to get off as well. Trying to avoid this I was purposefully sitting back from the riders in front so I was able to attack all the climbs and technical sections. 

Having recced the course I also had my tyres about as soft as I have ever ridden (~19 psi) to try and get as much grip on the dust and loose rocks on the climbs. That was working for the most part. I rode all of the complex technical sections, and pretty close to my limit. Then through a less technical section of chunky rocks I managed to drop my chain. I purposefully stopped on the downhill to refit it so that I could get momentum on the rest of the downhill before a U-turn uphill. Apparently I wasn't tidy enough with that and as I tried to add power out of the climb it jammed and I toppled off to the left and landed in some rocks. Scuffed up my hand and arm quite badly, and was bleeding for the rest of the race. 

I then managed to get round the rest of the lap okay, gradually rebuilding my confidence after the fall, and through all the technical sections on lap 2. Then about 400m on from where I had my first lap fall I got stuck behind a rider who had to stop and I was too close and got toppled off again. This time to the right, where I managed to scratch up my elbow and tear my suit quite badly. 

I remounted and rode on again, and was actually pretty happy with how I rode from there again. 

After a pretty clean T2 I was out on the second run and feeling pretty good. I managed to pick off lots of runners on the second run even though it was only 3k and half of that on the hideous rocky beach again. Unfortunately most of them were in other age-groups. 

For the individual sections, I was 13th on the first run, 7th through T1, 13th again on the bike, 9th through T2, and 10th on the second run. The time I lost on the first run was minimal, and while I was 13th I was still right in the behind a pack that included 8th. Then the chunk of time I lost on the bike just dominates my position again as no matter how fast my second run was I couldn't make that time back in just 3k.

I did then have to spend a not insignificant amount of time in the medical tent getting an awful lot of little cuts and scratches cleaned out and disinfected.

I finished 13th, and 4th GB.

This seems like a bad result after 6th last year. But the field was so immensely strong this year that I am actually really pleased with the result. 

-------

Here were my targets for this one:

0. Don't get injured. 

    I still have another race after this one. I am more interested in finishing all three than doing well at one. 

Technically, I am going to claim this one as the scratches aren't really injuries, and they didn't prevent me from racing again. 

1. Don't crash or break the bike.

    I could potentially crash but not fail at target 0. And my rear hanger is cracked and I am not sure if the replacement will arrive before I leave. Hopefully none of that will result in a crash or critical mechanical. 

I did get the bike fixed before the race, thanks to a very helpful ical bike hire shop. But then I toppled the bike twice during the race, but only got minor scratches. Going to call this one a fail but could have argued that either way.

2. Race well. 

    Again, not very specific, but basically I just want to come away without having a sulk about how I swam, rode or ran.

3. Finish with my average percentage at this level. Finish with my best percentage at this level. 

    I finished at 86% in my previous ITU Cross Duathlon. That would have me finish in 15th place. 

4. Prequalify for 2024

    To do that I would need to finish top-10 overall and top-3 GBR. Both are a big ask. And this is a bit of a meaningless target as I can't afford to go to Australia next year anyway. But it would put me in a good place to argue about Euros selection for 2024.

Always was a big ask in such a tough field and I would have had to catch last years 4th place finisher to make either of those requirements. To get so close (there is still a big time gap but it is a third of how much he beat me by last year despite two crashes) is actually a huge achievement. 

5. Finish in my average place at this level. Finish in my best place at this level. 

    Maybe the field is broadly equivalent quality to previous races but just more slow athletes to bulk it out. My average place is also my best place 6th, that seem like a very big ask.

That one was always a bit crazy, and given that the first 5 Spanish riders and the 6th place Italian had between 17 and 9 minute gaps to the leading Brit in 7th place, I could probably have done one less lap on the bike and still not made this target.