2. Men’s WTS racing has never been more unpredictable: Few would have picked Belgian Jelle Geens to take the tape ahead of world champion Mario Mola, but it’s symptomatic of how the season has played out. There have been five different winners in five races and 13 different names (but no Brownlees) sharing a possible 15 podium spots. Who will win in another sprint contest next weekend in Hamburg is anyone’s guess. Leading us on to our next point…

3. Men’s world title will be a straight shootout in Lausanne: It’s good news for those who have long-argued the world champion should be the one who performs best on a given day, because with just two events to go before the Grand Final, it looks likely that whoever crosses the line first in Switzerland – barring a Brownlee cameo – will have done enough to claim Mola’s title. And despite three poor races, this means not discounting the Spaniard himself.

4. ITU needs to green-up its schedule: There has no doubt been logistical challenges that we’re not privy to, but an eight-event World Triathlon Series that goes from the Middle East to North America, to the Far East, to Europe, back to North America, then back to Europe, then back to North America again, and then returning to Europe, cannot be good for either the athletes or their carbon footprints. And remember, while there’s some option to pick and choose, triathletes can only afford to miss two races before they are ruled out of contention for the world title.

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5. The Olympic test event damages the series: Choosing to prioritise between the Tokyo test event or maximising their chances in the WTS should not be a compromise that triathletes needed to make. Although confirmed after the WTS calendar was published, the test event should be part of the series, as it was in London 2011. Instead it has led to big names opting out of races such as Montreal because they don’t want to undermine their Olympic prep or qualification chances.

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To mark our 30th birthday (no, we can’t believe it either!) we have loads of celebrations planned! And it all kicks off online on 8 July, when, to countdown to our special celebratory issue, we will be running a competition a day for 30 days. From race entries to coaching packages, tri kit to nutrition bundles, it’s one big 30-day giveaway extravaganza. 

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Each competition is open to all UK users and will go live at midnight and run for 24 hours, so keep checking our competition section so you don’t miss out!

Then on 8 August, our special celebratory issue will go on sale (subscribers should receive it the week before). Don’t miss: 220 takes on the Windsor Tri… in original 80s kit (what could go wrong?!); The only 30 tips you will ever need to smash your swim, bike & run from the biggest names in the sport from the last 30 years; We ask, what will triathlon look like in the next 30 years?; Plus, a certain pair of brothers in party hats! 

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The issue will be available in all the UK’s major newsagents, or you can subscribe to either the print or digital edition of 220 Triathlon here , or reserve your copy here.

2017 and 2018 World Ironman Championship runner up Charles will be hoping for one place better than last year’s second place. In 2018, despite setting a swim record with a time of 00:46:48, she finished just 9 seconds behind the winner Daniela Bleymehl (formerly Saemler) from Germany, in a time of 08:43:51 after an emphatic battle that went right up to the finishing line.

“Last year I was unfortunately on the wrong side of nine seconds, which is why I’m back to put that right! But in my race last year some things went awry, and I hope to improve on them this time,” she says.

But Bleymehl is racing too and will do everything in her power to defend her title. Also hoping to beat Lucy will be Sarah Crowley from Australia, who finished 3rd at Kona 2017 – could we be in for another epic battle that sees it go to the wire?

Challenge Roth is Lucy Charles-Barclay’s last major race ahead of the Ironman World Championships that take place in Kona in October. 

This is McNamee’s first appearance at Challenge Roth, but with two Kona podiums under his belt he has quietly established himself as the greatest British male Ironman in history, and the third fastest ever Kona finisher with a time of  8:01:09, set last year. 

 He says: “I always wanted to start in Roth. Every triathlete in the world wants to come here. I like to compete against strong opponents and here I meet probably the strongest field outside of Hawaii.”

This field includes 2018 Hawaii runner up Bart Aernouts from Belgium and Australian Cameron Wurf, who set a new bike course record of 4:09:06 at Kona 2018.  

The German TV channel, BR TV, will broadcast DATEV Challenge Roth for nine hours live in Germany, while those outside Germany will be able to watch it online via Challenge Roth’s  live stream available atwww.challenge-roth.com

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Did you know…? 7 quirky facts about Challenge Roth

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The 2013 ITU world champion was in imperious form over the sprint distance in Hamburg as she broke clear on the 5km run to confidently defeat France’s much-heralded Cassandre Beaugrand, who won here last year, with USA’s Summer Rappaport in third.

In wet and slippery conditions, series leaders Katie Zafares of the USA crashed out of contention on the bike, but her nearest challenger, Britain’s Georgia Taylor-Brown was unable to secure the win she needed to capitalise fully and finished in fifth.

World champion Vicky Holland was ninth and Sophie Coldwell rounded out strong performances by the British contingent in 13th.

“I really didn’t expect to do that today,” Stanford said. “Everything has been going well and training has been really consistent, but I’ve been off the podium quite a bit in recent years and I was trying to edge my way back.

“To come away with a win today is fantastic and credit to all the hard work that goes on behind the scenes, and not just from myself.”

Asked about the challenging conditions, she continued: “It was really nasty. My saddle went down at one point, so I felt as if I was riding a clown bike and my wheels kept sliding everywhere. We were trying to be cautious and I think most of the girls were being sensible, but my aim was just to get off the bike in one piece.”

With no chance of another world title tilt, Stanford ruled out competing in the penultimate round of the WTS in Edmonton, Canada in a fortnight.

“I’m going to skip Edmonton and fully focus on preparing for Tokyo,” she added. “It’s quite a key event to demonstrate how well we can compete on that course and deal with the heat and humidity that’s going to be the major factor for the Games. I want to go there and show the selectors I’m a genuine contender for that team.”

If she does make Tokyo 2020 selection, it’s likely she will run up against London 2012 champion and Rio 2016 silver medallist Nicola Spirig once more. The Swiss regained fitness after the birth of her third child to be one of a few returning faces to the starting pontoon in Hamburg and would eventually finish eighth.

Also present for a first WTS appearance of the season was last year’s fourth-place overall finisher USA’s Kirsten Kasper, while the Czech Republic veteran Vendula Frintova was making her 200th ITU start.

With Jessica Learmonth and Holland’s Maya Kingma absent, the swim was led out by Beaugrand, who has had a disappointing WTS season so far with just one top 10 finish, but seems to relish Hamburg’s city centre course and large crowd support. Holland received a 10sec penalty for a false start, but served it in T1 and forced her way quickly back into the race.

Although Coldwell make an early break on the bike, the slick roads made for cautious riding and the field soon came together before the biggest twist came 6km in when Belgium’s Claire Michel lost control on a left hand bend and crashed in front of Zafares, who was also brought to the tarmac.

Although there was no physical damage, the American, who has won four of the opening five rounds of the series, took time re-setting her bike and the incident effectively ended her chances of victory.

It meant a lead pack of 18, including all four British triathletes, entered T2 over a minute ahead of the chasers and instantly Stanford broke for the front and was never headed as she took the tape 7sec clear of Beaugrand, with Rappaport holding off Holland’s Rachel Klamer in a sprint for third.

Having last won a WTS race in Cape Town in 2016, with the 2013 Grand Final in London being her previous triumph at elite level, it was a welcome victory for the 30-year-old, who had even considered quitting the sport two years ago.

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With the Tokyo test event taking place in mid-August it is also a confidence-boosting victory to bolster hopes of selection for another shot at winning an Olympic medal having finished an agonising fourth in Rio.

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Jonathan Brownlee, Tom Bishop and Alex Yee were all caught up in crashes during the 20km bike leg of the sprint distance contest leading to Bishop finishing 38th, Yee, 43rd and Brownlee being unable to continue.

None of the trio were seriously injured in the collisions, for which Yee will be particularly grateful, having suffered broken ribs, vertebrae and a collapsed lung in a high-speed bike crash when racing in 2017.

Birtwhistle managed to avoid the main pile-up which took out not only Brownlee and Bishop, but series leader Fernando Alarza and Commonwealth champion Henri Schoeman.

It allowed him to help forge a six-man breakaway on the run that also included Luis, reigning world champion Mario Mola, Jelle Geens, who won last weekend in Montreal, France’s Leo Bergere and New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde.

There was little to choose between them until the finishing straight, where the former Australian track runner nudged ahead of Luis, with Geens pipping Mola as he had done seven days earlier to take the final podium spot.

It was also another feather in the cap of leading tri coach Joel Filliol, whose training group includes the first four finishers and Hamburg’s women’s race winner Non Stanford.

“Today was one of those awesome races,” Birtwhistle said. “It was a bit sketchy on the wet roads but once we got on to the run I knew we were safe.

“It was almost like a training session for us guys out front, playing around knowing it could be a tri crew podium. I knew I had a bit left in the tank when Vince passed me, and I just had to stick with him for the last 100m or so.

“I think they didn’t want it to come down to the finish chute with me within reach, but I was sticking tough and happy to be there at the end. I hope this means I’m here to stay. I plan to hang around for another year or so until the Olympics where hopefully I’ll do something similar.”

After last week’s free-for-all in Montreal, it always looked like being another open encounter around the city centre streets of Hamburg, a venue that has become a popular staple of the WTS.

Most of leading contenders were present including Mola and Javier Gomez who have won the past six world titles between them.

Predictably, Slovakian Richard Varga led out the swim, but Bishop was the first to emerge of the Brits in 22nd, with Brownlee and Yee just seconds adrift in a large pack.

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Yee’s wetsuit caught in his rear wheel as he tried to leave T1 at haste, but it was his next mistake, losing grip on a corner that would cost him vital seconds and effectively end any hopes of another top 10 finish.

Conditions were testing if not treacherous and Switzerland’s Adrien Briffod was next to hit the floor, before the real carnage ensued moments later when Denmark’s Andreas Schilling lost control when leading and as he skidded to the floor, around a dozen triathletes including Brownlee, Bishop, Alarza and Henri Schoeman all went with him.

Bishop managed to remount, but it was race over for Brownlee, who cut a disconsolate figure as he pushed his broken bike off the course. It continued a wretched season for the Yorkshireman whose only two finishes have been 11th in Bermuda and a disappointing 35th in Leeds.

It was worse still for Hungarian Bence Bicsak, though, who needed medical assistance for several minutes. Race marshals had to step in and slow the lapping riders amid early reports suggesting Bicsak may have broken his leg.

The surviving 40-man lead group made it to T2 with both Bishop and Yee jettisoned and while home favourite Jonas Schomburg briefly broke away, the leading contenders soon established themselves at the head of the race before Birtwhistle showed his turn of speed to win.

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Luis regained the lead in the overall standings, with Gomez’s eighth-place in Hamburg pushing him up to second ahead of Alarza, while Birtwhistle moved into fourth. To make a bad day for the Brits worth, there are now no GB triathletes in the top 10.

Commonwealth champions Australia edged New Zealand for the final podium spot, with the highly-fancied USA team struggling in ninth and the Brits a distant 2min 29sec back, cut adrift in 10th.

Vincent Luis, runner-up in the men’s individual competition the previous afternoon, anchored the winning quartet of Emilie Morier, Leo Bergere and Cassandre Beaugrand over a 300m swim, 7km bike and 1.7km run course that was contested by 16 nations.

And the decisive break was started by Beaugrand’s stylish running on the penultimate leg, where she eked out a 5sec gap over the chasing pack to set Luis up for the swim.

While the time was all but clawed back in the water, a swift transition alongside Germany’s Justus Nieschlag gave the duo an advantage they built into an unassailable lead by the time they dismounted the bike.

From there Luis powered away to take the tape for the third time in five years for the French, marking him out as the most feared finisher in mixed relay competition.

Britain’s deficit to the front was underlined by Alex Yee overtaking the pair to un-lap himself on the two-lap run as they approached the finish.

But the problems started for GB from the first hooter, when Learmonth, who did not race in the individual competition and usually leads the swim, looked to struggle from the first stroke and came out of the water second last.

From there she was dropped further on the bike and finished her leg over 70sec down, giving Jonathan Brownlee an improbable task of chasing solo to hunt down the main pack that had converged to contain all the leading nations.

The USA were the next to suffer, with Eli Hemming being unable to stick the pace on the bike. By the time he tagged Katie Zafares, even the WTS leader was unable to drag her country back into contention, despite clocking the fastest leg.

There were no such problems for the leading seven of Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand and Spain, until the latter picked up a 10sec penalty for an infringement at the dismount line that would eventually cost them fifth place to Canada.

The competitors were of a higher calibre to Nottingham in June where Britain dominated, and the racing was also in stark contrast. By the time Georgia Taylor-Brown was ploughing another lone furrow on the third leg, her objective was to avoid the ignominy of being lapped out on the bike that befell Switzerland, Mexico and South Africa.

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On to the final leg and once Luis and Nieschlag had established the break, despite the vociferous support of the home crow, there only ever looked one winner as France became the first country to successfully defend the mixed relay title since Britain in 2012, and installed themselves as early favourites for Olympic gold next year in Tokyo.

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Challenge Roth is set in and around the beautiful and picturesque Bavarian town of Roth. It all starts at daybreak with the 3.8km swim in the Main-Donau Kanal, where spectators flank the canal banks and bridge over the swim start. The water temperature was 24.4°C that meant, for the pros, it was a non-wetsuit swim.

The international field for the women’s race included many heavyweights from the world of triathlon. As well as Lucy Charles-Barclay from Great Britain they included last year’s winner Daniela Bleymehl from Germany, and Australian Sarah Crowley, who came third at the 2017 Ironman World Championships.

As expected Charles-Barclay was the first athlete out of the swim, in a time of 50:40, 3:49mins ahead of the next swimmer Rachel McBride from Canada.

By the time she’d covered 55km of the 180km bike leg, Charles–Barclay had extended this lead to 7:15mins over the chase group of five, which included Cowley. Last year’s winner Bleymehl was at this point 40secs behind this group yet, by the Solarer Berg climb – triathlon’s noisiest, most raucous and greatest spectacle with tens of thousands supporters cheering – she’d not only joined this group but also overtaken them to go into second.

Bleymehl clearly meant business and wanted to defend her title, but would she pay for this effort later? Or would there be a repeat duel of last year? At just before the halfway point of the bike leg Charles-Barclay was still in front, with a healthy lead of 7:18 mins over Bleymehl, while Crowley was in third.

Into T2 the order stayed the same: Charles-Barclay, followed by Bleymehl, but the German’s second place was short-lived as 7km into the run Crowley passed her to go into 2nd position.

Crowley was now running around 8secs faster per km than Charles Barclay – could the Brit hold on? At 14.5km Charles-Barclay’s lead was down to 4:02mins, but Crowley couldn’t maintain this speed and, by 28km, Charles-Barclay’s lead was back to around 5mins. With 14km to go victory started to look assured for the Brit.

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Charles-Barclay crossed the line in a time of 8:31:09 (a new Iron PB for her and the fourth fastest time ever for a British female triathlete at Roth), with Crowley crossing the finish line 6:30mins later in second. Daniela Bleymehl finished third.

We chat to a very happy @LucyAnneCharles about winning @ChallengeRoth1, getting a PB -and whether her thoughts have started to turn to Kona…. pic.twitter.com/VYlSx3SLU7

— 220Triathlon (@220Triathlon) July 7, 2019

DATEV Challenge Roth 2019 top three women – what a race! Congratulations @LucyAnneCharles @Sarah_Crowley1 and Daniela Bleymehl! #challengeroth #triathlon pic.twitter.com/K39v70LHx5

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— Challenge Roth (@ChallengeRoth1) July 7, 2019

Did you know…? 7 quirky facts about Challenge Roth

Jesper Svensson from Sweden was first out of the 3.8km swim in 49:46mins, with Kiwi Braden Currie 30secs behind in a time of 50:16, followed by Andy Potts from the USA in 50:20. Fourth out was David McNamee from Britain in 50:21 and Dreitz was fifth in 51:28.

Dreitz led the race from 40km on the bike claiming the fastest 180km split of the day in 4:13:12, but his lead into T2 was tight with Andi Bocherer from Germany just 3secs behind and Potts 3:11 away. The three Andys had dominated the bike leg at Roth.

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However, Dreitz wasn’t going to relinquish his lead and by 8km he had 1:28mins of daylight over Bocherer. Potts had slipped to fourth behind Australian Cameron Wurf, who, after a disappointing swim that left him at the back of the field, had powered through the pack on his bike, and was now doing the same on the run.

Bocherer also started to fall down the field and swim leader Svensson soon overtook him, running a 2:48:43 marathon to claim second place in 8:02:20. Wurf finished in third, in a time of 8:04:08.

The fastest run of the day, 2:41:01, was posted by British pro David McNamee.  A puncture on the bike leg denied him a place on the podium, but an amazing marathon meant he finished fifth and with questions of what might have been?

But the day belonged to local hero Dreitz who finished in a time of 7:59:02, over 3mins ahead of Svensson.

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He said: “I went through many ups and downs today. This victory here is insane. This is the best finish line in the world.”

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Congrats Jasper & Andi

2. Stanford peaking at just the right time: It’s hard not to get carried away at the sight of Non Stanford running clear of Cassandre Beaugrand to clock a 5km split of 16:04 for her first WTS win in over three years and arguably her best result in almost six. The Welshwoman has been gradually improving all season and finally free of the injuries that have plagued her in recent years, she looks on the perfect trajectory to be even better come the Tokyo test event – her most important race of the season. The GB selection criteria means only Vicky Holland, as an existing Olympic medallist, can officially qualify at the mid-August race. But if Stanford were to be best of the Brits and show she can cope with the heat, humidity and other demands of the Far East, then it would go a long way to securing one of the three available slots. 

3. Joel Filliol’s squad consistently the best: It is little wonder the world’s best triathletes gravitate towards the self-named JFT Crew. The Canadian coach is an understated personality yet a world-beater when it comes to results and Hamburg was just the latest example. As well Stanford’s victory, Filliol’s charges filled the top four spots on the men’s leaderboard. His approach seems to nurture triathletes to success against a gruelling global schedule. It may be cruel to single out those that have moved away from the group, but since Richard Murray departed, the South African has battled injury and barely featured at the pointy end of races.

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4. Need to stay in the relay mix: Both Britain and the USA’s mixed relay quartets below par showing illustrated how a clutch of superstar performers cannot compensate for one weak leg in this format. When Jess Learmonth and Eli Hemming fell off the pace, not only did their team-mates had to chase down a deficit but they had to do it solo against the combined strength of the main pack. Breaks off the front might not always win a race, but slipping up at the back will more than often lose it.

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5. French fancied for Tokyo: When it comes to predicting the inaugural winners of the Olympic triathlon mixed relay in 2020, it’s impossible to look past the French at present. With short course racing honed on their own popular French Grand Prix circuit, the possess all-round strength in depth across all disciplines and both genders, from Vincent Luis, Leo Bergere and Dorian Coninx to Cassandre Beaugrand, Leonie Periault and Sandra Dodet. It always seems enough to keep them in the mix on the first three legs before handing over for Luis to strike on the anchor – a role he’s performed successfully three times in five years.