Qualifying races for the 2016 Ironman World Championship span five continents around the world, and fans should tune in to BIKE’s coverage of the series to enjoy action from the following events:

22 July, 8.30pm – Ironman South American Championship (Florianópolis, Brazil)

 29 July, 8.30pm – Ironman France (Nice, France)

 5 August, 8.30pm – Ironman Asia-Pacific Championship (Cairns, Australia)

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12 August, 9pm – Ironman Austria (Klagenfurt, Austria)

19 August, 8:30pm – Ironman European Championship (Frankfurt, Germany)

2 September , 9pm – Ironman Mont – Tremblant (Mont- Treblant, Quebec)

9 September , 10pm – Ironman Copenhagen (Copenhagen, Denmark)

 16 September, 9PM – Ironman 70.3 World Championship (Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia)

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Triathlon fans can look forward to even more exciting Ironman World Championship coverage on BIKE, as the channel will also showcase highlights from the upcoming 2017 and 2018 seasons of the event.  

 The line up include Britain’s four current European Champions, Alison Patrick (PT5), Andy Lewis (PT2), Lizzie Tench (PT1) and Steadman are all lining up with good opportunities to add to their medal tallies.

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Four golds for GB’s paratriathletes in Lisbon

 Head Coach, Jonathon Riall, said:  “This is an opportunity for Rio bound athletes to practice their race processes and race hard seven weeks out from the games. It’s also an opportunity for staff to reinforce their games time roles.

“It’s a mixed bag in terms of competition, but that’s understandable at this stage, and we’ll focus on our own performances to get us on track for Rio.”

GB paratri team announced for Rio Paralympics

As well as Britain’s Paralympic athletes competing, the British team features athletes hoping to make their mark in the future. “We see this as an opportunity to kick start our 2020 cycle by integrating a new and exciting group of athletes to the upper level of the British squad and international competition.”

Athletes including Kerry Large, Mark Conway and Bret Crossley will compete in the open waves alongside their more experienced team mates.

Paratriathlon: the ultimate guide
In pictures: GB paratriathletes in training ahead of Rio

Great Britain team; Rotterdam ITU Paratriathlon World Championships; 750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run; Sunday 24 July:

PT1 Elite

Phil, Hogg, Joe Townsend, Lizzie Tench

PT1 Open

Mark Conway, Bret Crossley

PT2 Elite

Ryan Taylor, Andrew Lewis

PT3 Elite

Cassie Cava

PT4

George Peasgood, Steven Crowley, Lauren Steadman, Faye Mcclelland

PT4 Open

Chris Frost, Kerry Large

PT5

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Alison Patrick + guide Hazel Smith, Melissa Reid + guide Nicole Walters

“My strategy was to go easy,” said Ryf after the race, “but Celine [Schaerer ] was going so good in the swim, I just had to follow. On the bike, I decided to go hard then, and on the run you can’t go easy when there are so many people.”

Schaerer, her Swiss compatriot, had the best swim split in 53:14 two seconds ahead of Ryf, but the reigning Ironman and Ironman 70.3 world champion then hammered away on the bike.

Thanks to the best bike split by far, Ryf came off the bike with a lead of 21 minutes over Emma Bilham (SUI).

“My body was working very good today,” said Ryf.

She smashed the race record in 8:51:50 by more than 8 minutes taking an impressive win.

Behind the champion, Bilham added a great result to her CV after being runner-up at the Ironman France in June.

“I wasn’t chasing the Ironman World Champion today,” said Bilham with a smile, “I think she was already under the shower when I crossed the line. Daniela is in a different league.”

In the men’s the 36-year old race legend Ronnie Schildknecht celebrated his ninth win in 8:17:04 after a strong bike and run leg, which saw him overtake his rivals shortly before the half marathon mark and never gave it away again.

“I realised my win with two kilometres to go, and I was full of emotions,” said Schildknecht .”It’s a sensational moment, it is absolutely not normal for me to win here even if people may think that. This is a little Ironman world championship for me.”

 Results

Top 5 men

1
Ronnie Schildknecht 
SUI 
00:55:39
04:31:01
02:47:07
08:17:04

2
Timo Bracht 
GER
00:53:17
04:33:02
02:54:34
08:24:13

3
Jan van Van Berkel 
SUI 
00:52:56
04:33:37
02:59:23
08:29:12

4
Roman Deisenhofer 
GER 
00:55:41
04:26:15
03:07:08
08:32:58

5
David Plese 
SLO 
00:55:53
04:44:12
02:52:46
08:36:50

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Top 5 Women

1
Daniela Ryf 
SUI 
00:53:16
04:46:30
03:07:31
08:51:50

2
Emma Bilham 
SUI 
00:57:41
05:03:58
03:16:36
09:21:48

3
Michaela Herlbauer 
AUT 
01:01:05
05:07:02
03:15:37
09:28:12

4
Celine Schärer 
SUI 
00:53:14
05:13:07
03:24:57
09:35:26

5
Ariane Monticeli 
BRA 
01:03:58
05:11:16
03:20:05
09:40:07

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In a statement the governing body said: “The ITU has carefully examined the information delivered by WADA and the McLaren report. Additionally, ITU has thoroughly reviewed the criteria set forth by the IOC on Sunday for Russian athletes to compete in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

“None of the six Russian triathletes (three men, three women) that have qualified for 2016 Olympics are included in the McLaren report, nor have any of them served suspensions or bans for failed doping tests. Additionally, they have all been tested outside of Russia.

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“Therefore, ITU will recommend to the IOC that these six athletes be permitted to compete in Rio next month. ITU remains steadfast in our commitment to providing athletes a fair competition. We will continue to closely follow the updates from the McLaren report, as well as recommendations from WADA and the IOC on best practices in the fight against doping.”

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There are six qualification spots for the Russian team, with triathletes likely to be selected include Dmitry Polyanskiy, Igor Polyanskiy and Alexander Bryukhankov on the men’s side for the 18 August event. In the female race, Alexandra Razarenova, Anastasia Abrosimova and Mariya Shorets are all potential candidates to be on the women’s start line on 20 August.

Do you agree with this decision? Place your vote in our poll here 

“I am incredibly happy that I got the record and just thankful that I didn’t break”, said Frodeno after the race, “but there wasn’t any other option except to risk it all and give everything I had. The time should hold for the next two or three years.”

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#Project740: Take a Look Behind the Scenes of Frodeno’s World Record Performance

The Fastest Bike

Finishing the swim in first place in a time of 45:22, Frodeno quickly went to work defending his reputation as pre-race favourite and laid the foundation for his incredible wire-to-wire victory. During the bike ride, the Hawaii champion demonstrated his superiority with a 4:08:07 clocking that would remain the fastest bike split of the day. The deal was sealed in the final leg as Frodeno ran the marathon in a blistering 2:39:18 which brought him in a staggering 20 minutes ahead of the second place finisher. “The last kilometre of the marathon the pain was unbelievable, but the feeling at the finish of getting the world record was worth it.”

Video: Speedmax CF SLX. System Complete. 

Shaving Seconds with the Speedmax CF SLX

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In an assault on a world record every second counts, so the engineers at Canyon wanted to make sure that Frodeno’s Speedmax CF SLX was up to the challenge. The handlebars were designed specifically for this race to place the World Champion in an extra aerodynamic position that would encourage him to shave seconds. A new hydration system was also created specifically to the triathlete’s preferences as well as custom tires which were made to have the least possible amount of rolling resistance and best possible aerodynamics in side winds. Every piece of the setup, from Frodeno’s position on the bike to his hydration system, helmet and speed suit, were all newly optimised through rigorous wind tunnel testing.

The supplement, which will be commercially available within the year, works by temporarily switching the primary source of cellular energy from glucose or fat to ketones — molecules derived from fat that are known to be elevated in people consuming a low-carb, Atkins-like diet.

In a study of 39 cyclists, including some former Olympians, they found that the muscles use ketones when provided in the diet, and that this uptake increased in proportion to the intensity of exercise.

In one experiment, the researchers gave the cyclists ‘energy drinks,’ each containing a different source of fuel — carbohydrates, fats, or ketones — and found that cyclists who had the ketone drink had the lowest levels of lactate, a byproduct of the body’s breakdown of glucose, which is often associated with muscular stress, or the achy, tired feeling felt after a strenuous workout. The observation could help explain why the high-performing cyclists on the ketone drink travelled an average of 400 metres farther over a half hour than those consuming the carbohydrate or fat drink.

 “It’s really interesting; with a single drink of nutritional ketone you can do the same exercise with completely different metabolism,” says study author Dr. Pete Cox from the University of Oxford. “Given the findings of this study, which challenges our fundamental understanding of human physiology, it will be tempting for many to focus on pursuing the endurance and sport-related avenues, but it would be a great shame if the metabolic basis of this work was not further explored.”

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Ketosis is a way for humans to deal with starvation. Ketones are made in the liver from mobilised body fat, so when the body doesn’t get enough fuel from food, internal fat stores are broken down to make ketones that feed the brain. Normal metabolism is driven by the burning of carbs and fat obtained in a balanced diet.

“The ketone itself is inhibiting glycolysis, so that with the same exercise you’re preserving glycogen and producing much less lactic acid — this hasn’t been seen before,” University of Oxford biochemist Professor Kieran Clarke says. “What may be happening is if you are doing something that isn’t a sprint, like going on a 26-mile run, you won’t hit the wall as quickly. Not only that, but it stops you from aching afterwards.”

While a good fit for endurance athletes, the ketone drink is unlikely to help sprinters and those whose exercise is primarily anaerobic, as the body needs oxygen to burn ketones. A University of Oxford spinout company, T?S® Ltd, will now develop and commercialise the ketone drink and  aim to have the ketone food available for purchase by the end of the year.

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“The multisport world continues to grow at an incredible rate,” said ITU President and IOC Member Marisol Casado. “Offering multisport races like Aquabike promotes the growth of triathlon worldwide, as it makes the sport accessible to everyone of all ages and abilities no matter where they are.” 

“We are thrilled to be adding Aquabike World Championships to the docket at ITU Multisport World Championships in Penticton next August. The addition of aquabike means the Multisport World Championships is truly complete, with five world championship events,” said race executive director Michael Brown.

Aquabike joins duathlon, aquathlon, cross triathlon, and long distance triathlon at the champs. The race will see athletes swim 3km followed by 120 km bike, mirroring the length of the Long Distance Triathlon. The finish line will be right after the second transition, with athletes racking their bikes at a second transition, and then sprinting to cross the finish line. 

The 10-day Multisport World Championships is expected to see more than 7,000 age groupers race in the heart of the city, with the epicentre being along the beachfront of Okanagan Lake and Okanagan Lake Park. The spectator friendly courses will feature a variety of terrain and include some of the area’s many vistas, wineries and landmarks, as well as the downtown area.

All participants and visitors will enjoy a full week of triathlon action, as well as concerts, street dance, race expo, parade of nations, kids races and awards presentations.

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For more information on ITU Multisport World Championship Festival here, #Penticton2017

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“Congratulations to all of the athletes that have worked so hard for so long to make it to the Olympics,” said ITU President and IOC Member Marisol Casado. “The men’s and women’s start list reflect deep fields riddled with talent from all over the world. Come August 18 and 20, the word will be inspired and entertained by these 110 men and women.”

A record number of 42 nations have qualified spots for the triathlon at Rio , the highest number ever for triathlon at an Olympic Games. In London 2012, there were 39 nations, with 37 represented in Beijing 2008, 33 in Athens and 34 in Sydney.

These include six that have qualified a spot for the first time in the history of Olympic triathlon including Azerbaijan, Barbados, Israel, Jordan, Norway and Puerto Rico.
Seven nations will see the maximum allowance of three women compete are Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Japan, Spain, Russia, and the United States.

In the men’s race, eight nations have qualified the maximum of three men including Australia, France, Great Britain, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, Spain and the United States.

Start numbers are drawn at random and assigned in groupings to National Olympic Committees, determining where athletes rack their bikes in transition. However, athletes will select their start position based in order of their Olympic rankings at the athlete briefing in Rio. The first ten athletes’ selections will not be revealed until all 55 athletes have chosen their spot.

The GB men’s team (Brownlees and Gordon Benson) are numbered 4,5 & 6 while the women’s team (Helen Jenkins, Vicky Holland and Non Stanford) are numbered 14, 15 & 16.

Start numbers 30-39 hold good omens as to who might podium at Rio. So far five gold medals have come from start numbers between 30 and 39. These included Emma Snowsill (34), Brigitte McMahon (35), Kate Allen (39), Jan Frodeno (32) and Alistair Brownlee (30).

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However the number with the most success is 34. It was worn by Emma Snowsill (Gold in Beijing), Magali di Marco Messmer (Bronze in Sydney), and Susan Williams (Bronze in Athens). Start number 27 has also been a successful number, with Bevan Docherty claiming both his medals, silver in Athens and bronze in Beijing, in that start number.

Women’s start list
Men’s start list

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Lee will be joined by current British Champions Sophie Coldwell and Morgan Davies who together won silver at the U23 European championships in the mixed relay team.

Over the course of the season, the team will compete for Team Pedalcover across the world.

As part of Team Pedalcover, triathletes will get kit, clothing and branded merchandise, in addition to insurance cover.

Pedalcover also sponsors GB triathletes Vicky Holland and Tom Bishop, partners with Welsh Triathlon, and have launched an affiliate scheme to donate money to grassroots development.

Pedalcover’s founder Darren Thomas said: “As a former semi-professional cyclist and Ironman I know how hard it is at the start of your career. Through Pedalcover, I wanted to be in a position to support the next generation of GB triathletes.

“Through Team Pedalcover we aim to nurture the talent we have in triathlon in the UK and give something back to the sport we love.

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“We’ve got an exceptional bunch of elite athletes who are great ambassadors for us and we’re looking forward to following their success over the course of the season.”

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