>>> Lucy Gossage cruises to victory at Ironman Lanzarote

The other four Brits are Alice Hector, Eimear Mullan, Georgie Rutherford and Amy Forshaw. Their main rivals include Denmark’s Camilla Pedersen, who won the 2014 ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Champs in China – a remarkable comeback nearly a year to the day since a serious bike accident that left her in a coma.

In the men’s race there are 53 pros competing, including just two Brits – Scotland’s three-time Ironman 70.3 winner Fraser Cartmell, and fellow Wimbleball winner Ritchie Nicholls. Up against him are French athlete Romain Guillaume, who placed 10th at Kona last year, and Joe Gambles (AUS), who placed third at the 70.3 Worlds in 2013.

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The race is quickly building a reputation as one of the most beautiful races on the calendar thanks to its location on the French Riviera, but offers a tough bike that demands strong climbing abilities and descending nous. The long-distance edition involves a 2km swim, 80km bike and 16k run. 

>>> Jan Frodeno’s 10 top tips for stepping up to iron distance

Lining up in the men’s race alongside Kienle and Molinari were Beijing 2008 gold medallist Jan Frodeno, Kona 2005 champ Faris Al Sultan, Romain Guillaume (FRA), Manuel Kueng (SUI) and Bjorn Andersson (SWE).

Frenchman Frederick Belaubre led the men out of the water and once on the bike formed a lead group with Frodeno and Andersson, while Kienle trailed by several minutes. Molinari attacked hard on the bike and arrived in T2 with a 5min lead.

Once on the run Molinari managed to keep Frodeno at bay despite some hard work by the latter, and the Italian crossed the line in 3:46:33 for victory.

Women’s race

Cave’s rivals in the women’s race included defending champ Charlotte Morel (FRA), Denmark’s Michelle Vesterby and Vanessa Raw (GBR). Cave had a slender lead coming out of the 2km two-loop swim and proceeded to build a margin of around 5mins on the tough bike course. 

The 2002 Kona champion didn’t let go of her hard-won lead on the run and crossed the line in 4:18:42, with Belgium’s Alexandra Tondeur around 4mins behind. Britain’s former ITU ace Vanessa Raw overtook defending champ Morel on the run for third place.

Top ten men

1. Giulio Molinari (ITA) 3:46:33
2. Jan Frodeno (GER) 3:48:09
3. Sebastian Kienle (GER) 3:51:15
4. Romain Guillaume (FRA) 3:53:01
5. Hervé Banti (MON) 3:54:20
6. Nicolas Fernandez (FRA) 3:55:50
7. Frédéric Belaubre (FRA) 3:56:41
8. Faris Al Sultan (GER) 3:56:46
9. Kevin Runstadler (SWI) 4:03:34
10. Jérémy Morel (FRA) 4:03:52

Top ten women

1. Leanda Cave (GBR) 4:18:42
2. Alexandra Tondeur (BEL) 4:22:20
3. Vanessa Raw (GBR) 4:25:16
4. Charlotte Morel (FRA) 4:26:28
5. Michelle Vesterby (DEN) 4:30:48
6. Martina Dogana (ITA) 4:33:03
7. Jenny Fletcher (CAN) 4:38:23
8. Céline Bousrez (FRA) 4:44:25
9. Erica Csomor (HUN) 4:45:46

For full results from this year’s race head here.

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Today, with both sprint and Olympic distances on offer, and a roll call of Lycra-clad greats having swum, bike and run the iconic course, Windsor now attracts a sell-out field of 2,500.

The 2014 overall sprint and 2013 Olympic-distance champion Mark Yeoman regards Windsor as his all-time favourite race: “You’ll be hard-pushed to find another race with such a stunning backdrop and atmosphere.”

>>> Windsor Triathlon’s past winners, scientifically compared

And with plenty of miles and medals notched up over the regal route, who better to provide top tips for completing Windsor? Over to Mark…

1. Transition

Besides London, Windsor has one of the biggest transitions in the country, so it’s easy to get lost and misplace your bike. Once you’ve racked on Saturday, walk your route from the swim exit to your bike and then from your bike to the bike exit.

Pick out a key feature near your bike, such as a tree or advertising sign. On the day, transition will be crowded, so having a fixed marker will help you locate your bike.

Make a note of the row to avoid getting confused. Use a permanent marker to write the row letter on the back of your hand so that, as you come out of the swim, you remember where to start looking. Knowing where you’re going will save you time.

2. The swim start

Swimming against the current can sap your energy, so reduce the resistance by swimming as close to the right side bank as you can as soon as possible. If you can’t touch the boats then you’re too far out in the middle.

>>> Windsor Triathlon changes swim route

Stay wide on the turn – and even swim a few metres beyond – so that you can swing across using the current. On the return back down the river, swim closer to the middle and allow the current to aid you. 

3. Balance the bike

If you can, ride the course in the weeks before the race so that you’ll be able to understand its testing profile. The rolling course will take its toll, especially the famous drift road. This undulating section will give you speed but then takes it away, so balance your effort accordingly.

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4. Measured run

The three laps up to Windsor Castle will hurt, so look to be respectful on the first lap, settle into your natural rhythm on the second lap and then give everything you have for the final lap. But always remember to save a little energy to smile as you run through the finish line for that all-important picture.

Are you racing at this year’s Windsor Triathlon? Let us know in the comments below!

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Click here to enter Windsor Triathlon

>>> Bracht and Carfrae take Challenge Roth 2014

There are 10 slots available at each half distance race and 15 at each full distance race, to be awarded to the athletes who are judged the best ambassadors for other Challenge events they are racing at around the world. This could be through their social media activity, charity fundraising or other activity as defined by the individual races.

Challenge CEO Zibi Szlufcik said: “We want to ensure that athletes of all abilities are able to enjoy the memorable life experience that is Roth – who can forget the roar of Solar Hill or the unequalled spectacle of the finish line? We look forward to working with all our races to making the dreams of triathletes around the world come true!” 

Further details on how athletes can win the Challenge Roth slots will be revealed by the individual races over the next few weeks, as well as through Challenge Family’s social media channels and website.  

For more information, visit www.challenge-family.com.

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The first date for your diary is 11 June 2015, when we’ll be hosting an open-water swim training session close to Burton-on-Trent with a pub Q&A afterwards.

Then on 12 June 2015, you’ll have the chance to join Dave for a gym session and Q&A at the newly-opened Royles store in Manchester.

Keep an eye on the 220 Triathlon news pages and @220triathlon on Twitter and we’ll be releasing more info soon. Or to register your interest, send an email to [email protected].

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With brother Jonny missing Cape Town having won the Auckland and Gold Coast WTS races back-to-back, the traditional Ali Brownlee and Javier Gomez rivalry will resume, with this race earmarked as the one to potentially put Gomez back on top of the world series rankings. Brownlee will be competing in his first WTS race since winning the 2014 Grand Final in Edmonton, and will be looking to pick up maximum points this weekend. Mario Mola will also race, and his blistering run splits so far in 2015 will surely make him a contender to take the tape. 

The South African contingent is lead by Richard Murray, who will be looking to capitalise on competing on home soil. Henri Schoemann will also compete, and three other South Africans have also made the start list. 

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No other British athletes are lining up, but Joao Silva (POR) Vincent Luis (FRA) Igor and Dmitry Polyanskiy (RUS) and Fernando Alarza (ESP) add to a very strong men’s field. Full start list.

The Olympic-distance race will begin in chilly waters with a two-lap swim, followed by a flat technical bike leg and fast 10km run starting and finishing at Green Point athletics stadium. The men’s race will start at 2.55pm local time (1.55pm UK time) on Sunday 26 April. 

UK viewers can watch live on the BBC’s Red Button service, or on triathlonlive.tv. 

Women’s race

Last year’s Cape Town race was a British one-two, and also the last time Gwen Jorgensen was defeated in a WTS series event. This year only Helen Jenkins from the 2014 podium will be competing, leaving the field wide open. Katie Zafires of USA has more 2015 podium finishes than any other athlete in the field, but much is expected of versatile Bermudan Flora Duffy, who also won the Xterra Asia-Pacific championships on April 18. Whether Duffy has taken too much out of herself with her busy schedule so far remains to be seen, but strong bike skills are expected to put her in contention.    

With Jenkins’ form hard to predict after returning from a long-term foot injury, a strong American contingent competing and Olympic champion Nicola Spirig lining up, picking a winner is an impossible task. 

Other British athletes lining up are Vicky Holland and the improving Emma Pallant. Other top athletes include Sarah True (USA) Rachel Klamer (NED) and Anne Haug (GER). Full start list. 

The women’s race will get underway on Saturday 25 April at 2.55pm local time (1.55pm UK time). UK viewers can watch live on the BBC’s Red Button service, or on triathlonlive.tv.

For updates and race coverage follow us on Twitter (@220Triathlon) and keep an eye on the website for full race reports and photo galleries.

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Who do you think will claim the Cape this weekend? Let us know in the comments!

The race began in very chilly 11c waters, meaning the swim was reduced to one lap (750m). The cold waters had little effect on the pace and Katy Zaferes in particular, who led the pack out onto the bike in search of her first WTS title.

A group of four formed a front group onto the bike made up of Zaferes (USA), Pamella Oliveira (BRA), Flora Duffy (BER) and Brit Helen Jenkins. Oliveira was quickly dropped and left in no mans land, leaving the top three to try to pull away from the large chasing group, which included Olympic champion Nicola Spirig.

The three leaders were chased down with 26km of the bike to go, creating a very large peloton at the front of the race, with Jenkins still going strong and other British entrants Emma Pallant and Vicky Holland also making the front pack.

Remarkably there were no crashes on the tight and technical bike course despite there being 28 women in the front group – Gillian Sanders (RSA) suffered a mechanical but had already fallen behind the pace.

On the run, Olympic champion Spirig took the initiative and shot out into the lead, but most of the front group kept up and all the pre-race contenders were in contention. All three British women stayed at the front with Sarah True (USA) unable to keep up with the pace, surprisingly set by Vicky Holland who led past the 5km point.

10 women formed the front group heading into the final quarter of the run, made up of the three Brits, three Americans (Zaferes, Kirsten Kasper and Chelsea Burns) three Germans (Sophia Saller, Anne Haug and Rebecca Robisch) and Spirig.

In the most hotly-contested women’s WTS race of the season so far, Holland, Saller, Zaferes, Spirig and Jenkins broke away, but it was Holland who really started to stretch out and created a gap with 1km to go. The gap continued to widen, and Holland looked strong as she approached Green Point Stadium for a lap of the athletics track.

It turned out to be a victory lap for Holland, who had time to spare as she sprinted all the way to the line to finish in 1:49:51. Zaferes held on for 2nd coming in on 1:49:53, and Nicola Spirig took 3rd place. Helen Jenkins had an impressive return from injury coming 7th, and Emma Pallant came 10th meaning all three British women made the top 10.

Holland was understandably emotional at the end of the race, and has no doubt created another welcome headache for British Triathlon’s Olympic selectors for Rio 2016:

“I’ve felt good in training recently and thought a podium finish might be possible if I executed everything perfectly, I really didn’t think I’d win it though!

“The game plan definitely wasn’t to take off with 1km to go, I’m sure my coach would’ve been tearing his hair out but it paid off on the day and I’m absolutely thrilled to come home first!”

(Images: Delly Carr / ITU Media)

Results: Elite Women

1. Vicky Holland (GBR) – 1:49:51
2. Katie Zaferes (USA) – 1:49:53
3. Nicola Spirig (SUI) – 1:49:56
4. Sophia Saller (GER) – 1:50:07
5. Rebecca Robisch (GER) – 1:50:09
6. Kirsten Kasper (USA) – 1:50:10
7. Helen Jenkins (GBR) – 1:50:16
8. Anne Haug (GER) – 1:50:21
9. Chelsea Burns (USA) – 1:50:24
10. Emma Pallant (GBR) – 1:50:34

Series Rankings 2015 after WTS Cape Town

1. Katie Zaferes (USA) – 2905pts
2. Gwen Jorgensen (USA) – 2400pts
3. Sarah True (USA) – 1947pts
4. Andrea Hewitt (NZL) – 1904pts
5. Lindsey Jerdonek (USA) – 1387pts

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Brownlee’s performance was dominant as he surged away from old rival Javier Gomez Noya with a mile of the run to go, showing no signs of an athlete who was unable to compete in the first three WTS races of the season due to injury.

As in the women’s race yesterday the swim was shortened to 750m due to the very chilly 11c water temperature. Defending title holder from Cape Town 2014 Javier Gomez Noya (ESP) set a blistering pace and was first out of the water, closely followed by the only British entrant and Olympic champion Brownlee, competing in his first World Series race since winning the WTS Grand Final in Edmonton last year.

A huge peloton formed early on the bike course, the shortened swim lending itself an advantage to the weaker swimmers as over half of the 66 competitors found themselves in the lead group.

Whilst the women avoided crashes on the previous day despite a similarly large peloton the men weren’t so lucky, with Lucas Siska (SVK) taking a nasty fall at almost full speed with less than 10km of the bike gone. Lawrence Fanous (JOR) was also caught up in the melee. All the major pre-race favourites including Brownlee, Gomez, Mario Mola (ESP) and Cape Town local Richard Murray (RSA) stayed out of trouble and continued to sit comfortably in the lead group.

With less than half of the bike leg to go the chasing pack merged with the leaders, creating an extraordinarily large number of almost 60 riders at the front, a sight more akin to the Tour de France as opposed to ITU racing.

Murray decided to inject some pace with around 15km of the bike to go, but no one was willing to take the bait and the group stayed intact. Allessandro Fabian (ITA) also made a break with Murray following but the peloton chased them down with ease.

With so many riders coming into transition positioning was key, and Brownlee read it perfectly as he managed to arrive 1st into T2 as he headed out for the 10km run. Gomez, Murray, Vincent Luis (FRA) and Fernando Alarza (ESP) also followed, forming a front group of 5 in the first mile of the run. Renowned runner Mola led the 2nd group which included Sven Riederer (SUI), but perhaps surprisingly was unable to bridge the gap.

Frustratingly Brownlee took a fall half way through the run meaning Alarza had to effectively hurdle over him as he picked himself up – however Brownlee gritted his teeth and quickly bridged the gap back up to Gomez, Luis and Murray, leaving the fading Alarza behind him.

Four then became three as Luis was dropped, and a familiar sight of Gomez and Brownlee (with the increasingly familiar sight of Murray) began to pull away.

As they approached Green Point stadium for a lap of the athletics track Brownlee had opened a significant gap after surging away from old nemesis Gomez, and had time to soak up the atmosphere as he crossed the line in 1:39:19.

Ever-present podium finisher Gomez came home in 1:39:24, and Vincent Luis came 3rd in 1:39:28 after moving past Murray, who had blown up with 800m to go.

After finishing, Brownlee briefly analysed his tumble on the run, before expressing delight at taking his 18th WTS title despite being plagued with injuries through the winter:

“I think Javier (Gomez) may have run across me when I tripped, but in the heat of the moment when everyone’s going hard these things can happen, I don’t think it was done in bad faith though.”

“I am delighted with this win considering I didn’t really feel I even had good legs today, I think I’m only going to get fitter so I’m really looking forward to the next race in the World Series.”

The prospect of Brownlee senior getting stronger through the rest of the season is undoubtedly an exciting one, as brother Jonny Brownlee won his first two races of the season in Auckland and Gold Coast. The final podium for the 2015 World Triathlon Series is looking increasingly likely to be Brownlee-dominated once more.

(Images: Delly Carr / ITU Media)

Results

1. Alistair Brownlee (GBR) – 1:39:19
2. Javier Gomez Noya (ESP) – 1:39:24
3. Vincent Luis (FRA) – 1:39:28
4. Richard Murray (RSA) – 1:39:39
5. Fernando Alarza (ESP) – 1:39:51
6. Sven Riederer (SUI) – 1:40:00
7. Pierre Le Corre (FRA) – 1:40:07
8. Mario Mola (ESP) – 1:40:16
9. Crisanto Grajales (MEX) – 1:40:30
10. Joao Pereira (POR) – 1:40:32

Series rankings 2015 after WTS Cape Town:

1. Javier Gomez (ESP) – 2707pts
2. Mario Mola (ESP) – 2273pts
3. Fernando Alarza (ESP) – 2221pts
4. Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) – 2186pts
5. Richard Murray (RSA) – 1904pts

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>>> Alistair Brownlee wins first World Triathlon Series title of 2015

Women’s elite race

>>> Vicky Holland claims spectacular victory in Cape Town

(Images: Delly Carr / ITU Media)

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