Heather Fell: It's the GTN Show, welcome back. At last, 2020 has delivered. It has been
the race of the year, Challenge Daytona did not disappoint and we're going to be going back over
the race action from the weekend, looking into the highs as well as the lows. This week, we're
feeling extremely generous here at GTN because we have two giveaways, we're giving away a place
for the Norseman Xtreme Triathlon, as well as some Kask cycling helmets. If that's not enough
to get you excited, we've got a few motivating and inspiring photos of yours that we're going
to be sharing. [music]
The world of triathlon has been dominated by the talk of this big race, Challenge Daytona. It was
no surprise really, we saw top level, short course and long course pros on the start list and with a
$1 million prize purse in total, it's no wonder that we were getting excited about it, plus the
fact that there's been very little racing this season. To see so many athletes able to get over
to America in what looked like good shape, it was bound to be pretty exciting. As a result of that,
there's not really been that much else going on in the triathlon world so we're going to focus
on this race today and have a good detailed look and look at some of the photos and video
clips of what exactly went down over the weekend. It was the women's race that went off first.
We were expecting a fast swim, we have those ITU athletes who are known for their strong swims.
Lucy Hall didn't disappoint, she set out and no one managed to stay on her feet. Lauren Brandon just a few
seconds back. Then it was a bit of a pack including the likes of Holly Lawrence, Paula
Findlay and those strong swimmers who were a bit off but Lucy Hall went out on to the bike first.
However, the bike was obviously a pretty tough course. It's a 20-meter drafting zone. It meant
that tactics became a little bit different to a normal race. It was completely flat so there
was no hills for a let up and the aero position became crucial. This is where we saw Lisa Norden
really benefit. She's been racing at the World Championships for Sweden in time trials so she's
got her position honed and this course was all about having that aero position and being able to
get past that paceline. Once the line formed, 20 meters, you had to basically overtake one
person in 45 seconds. If there was a chain of people, you had to continue to overtake until
you got to the front. When the athletes did want to go, they really had to be sure. This played in
Lisa Norden's strength. She actually came off the bike first along with Paula Findlay but
still a lot of athletes in contention including some very fast runners not too far off the pace.
At the front of the race it soon opened up because very sadly, Lisa Norden actually had to withdraw
and it looked quite emotional. She had a calf niggle that seemed to be okay but after that
amount of pressure on the bike and the run she had to just- Was brought back to walk. I think,
she was debating whether to walk to the finish. All the athletes were getting prize purse for
finishing but I think she realized that 18K was quite a long way to walk. Actually, I should
approach the distances. The swim was 2K, it was 80K bike and an 18K run. A little bit different,
actually weighted slightly more towards the swimmers than a normal half distance and
obviously, a bit less on the bike and the run. Well, Paula Findlay took advantage of that with
Lisa not breathing down her neck and she just looked absolutely class. I haven't
seen her race very often but I was enjoying just watching her running. There was nothing
exciting happening at the front. She was opening up that gap but every time the camera came back
it was just a delight to watch an athlete who looked so in control and so comfortable.
Talking of an athlete who looks good running, Annie Haug. She was one of the favorites going
into this. She did make life harder for herself because she got a two-minute time
penalty for drafting and she took that straight after T2, I think. It was apparently to do with
the overtaking. She maybe didn't manage to complete that overtake in the time allowed.
She set off, after that it was about six minutes behind Paula Findlay. She had a huge amount to
do over what's just an 11-mile course. It was four laps of the circuit for the run
and she closed. She had a lot of athletes to get past. She flew past the likes of Holly Lawrence,
who we know is such a good runner and it's just incredible to have seen that. Then she caught
up with Laura Philipp and it was a battle to try to chase down Paula Findlay but even without the
time penalty, Paula Findlay would have still taken the win and it was an incredible performance.
Annie Haug was second and then there was a battle still for the podium or for the top
10 to be honest but it was Laura Philipp who had the second fastest bike ride of the day,
who managed to hold off Holly Lawrence closing her down on the run and she finished on the
podium for third. It was Holly who was fourth. I just need to check for fifth it was Amelia
Watkinson of New Zealand and Skye Moench in sixth. I could go on to the top 20 because
the whole field was just incredibly strong. In the men's race, there was even more drama
although not at the start because the swim it was strung out but there weren't really any obvious
packs and the first group was pretty huge. They just kept coming out of the water. It was not
surprising to see the likes of Alistair Brownlee in there, Javier Gomez and those ITU-based
swimmers. It was just a massive pile who were then heading out in bit of a race to get on to the
track for the 20-lap bike course. Obviously, it was then going to be 20 meters once they actually,
got out on to the track. You saw a huge amount coming out, trying to jostle for the places and
having to ease off to find that 20-meter gap. Obviously, they were keeping an eye on drafters,
as we saw in the women's race. We did have a couple who fell foul to that. Jonny Brownlee
and Vincent Luis, who were in that first swim group actually got given a two-minute penalty
which they both well. Vincent Luis took at the beginning of the run and then it was Jonny
Brownlee who decided to take it later. That sadly put them out of contention although not on the
bike but they were still riding incredibly strong. It looked like it was Alistair Brownlee who was
very much taking control. He went to the front to start with, set the pace and it was like, "This is
my race. I'm going to control it." We then started to see athletes getting frustrated with this
concertina effect of the 20-meter line, with so many of them in such a huge pack. It was such
commitment when they did have to ride through. We so a few athletes going through to the front.
It looked like they were taking a little bit of a turn. Even with 20 meters apparently there's still
quite a big benefit. I've never raced something of that distance but it's incredible how it becomes
so tactical. It was also a significant wind, so you had a headwind on one side and a tailwind
on the other. All of this was playing into it. I think we started to see, just the stress on the
body holding that aero position so immaculately. There's no changes other than grabbing water
but even that the athletes don't really move. It was a matter of having your body conditioned
enough to hold the aero position. Some of these ITU athletes aren't used to even riding TT bikes
and sadly, we saw one or two drop out on the bike due to injuries so hamstrings, for example,
were starting to go but it was on to the run that we started to see it all just completely change.
I must admit, I thought we were going to see a bit of a repeat from Nice, the Half Ironman World
Championships back in 2019 when it became a bit of a race between Alistair Brownlee and Gustav Iden
and it was Gustav Iden who went away with the run. However, he had obviously got this penalty to
serve and Alistair set out first, just behind Sam Appleton and soon cruised through and went past
looking just really comfortable and looked like he had everything under control and wasn't too
hot. We knew the conditions Alistair would like and that distance, he's very very familiar with.
It really looked like it was a done deal like the women's race. Although very sadly, we saw Alistair
come to a walk. I hoped it was maybe something that he could walk off and it turned out it wasn't
and he's actually had an injury that he's been dealing with and just decided to be sensible and
not aggravate it and think of next year because obviously, next season is a rather important one.
This left the race then massively open. There were so many changes going on. We saw the young
American, Sam Long coming up to Rudy Von Berg and Those two together for a quite a significant
part of it. We had Sam Appleton running with Davis of Great Britain for a long time and
those positions were changing. Then we started to see Gustav Iden
come through the pack, absolutely flying and when he went past Appleton and Davis,
it looked like they were jogging. We'd seen Alistair go past pretty convincingly. Gustav,
it looked like was just putting a surge to really put the stamp down but he didn't let
up and he didn't need to. He just kept that pace going to the end and won by just under a minute.
There was an incredible run performance by man who was maybe, slightly overlooked in the predictions,
Matt Hansen. Now, I was actually watching the race and towards the end, it looked as though
he was putting on a sprint finish a bit too soon because his running gait looked like everything
was going into it and he was flying past some very impressive runners. It looked like he couldn't
maintain it but then he just worked his way up through the field. He overtook George Goodwin,
who'd moved up into second place at that point and went on, carried on closing on Gustav Iden
until the end but ended up finishing second. It was George Goodwin from Great Britain who
hung on for third. Although, Lionel Sanders who'd had a disappointing swim, obviously, not his ideal
distance ratio with a longer swim and a shorter bike and run but he really did put together a
pretty good package and was closing on those final few minutes but had to settle for fourth. Then
it was fifth and sixth, let's have a quick look. Rudy Von Berg finished in fifth and Sam Appleton
managed to hold on for sixth. Just an incredible exciting race and I must admit, I don't often
actually watch the full race and both the men's and the women's were incredible. If you do have
a moment to go back, you can even watch some of the highlights. It is a race to watch, trust me.
Let's move on to some giveaways. Now this first one, hopefully, doesn't need too much
of an introduction, the Norseman Triathlon. If you're not familiar with it, then I would suggest
checking out GTNs video following Mark when he completed it in 2019. It's a long course triathlon
of traditional distance, but that's pretty much where the traditional normality ends. The swim
is extreme in the fact that the water temperature is Baltic. You start from a ferry in the dark,
pretty much in the middle of a Norwegian fjord, and from the swim to the land,
you then get on your bike and you head along these beautiful mountains, and it's still pretty extreme
conditions, as well as a lot of climbing. Then it finishes off with a breathtaking run,
that it's so tough actually requires you to have a support runner with you is very much off-road
and the whole thing finishes on top of a mountain. The 2020 event was sadly canceled, but hopefully,
in 2021 we're going to see athletes jumping off that ferry into the fjord again. We see thousands
of athletes entering the ballot for the Norseman triathlon but only 250 places are available,
or due to the fact that the event has been rolled over from last year there are none available,
there is no ballot system this year. However, we have some exciting news for
you here because there is an opportunity to get a slot for this incredible race.
[music] You heard me right, we have one slot available
for you guys to win. If challenge and adventure is your thing and you really want something to
put in your diary to work for for 2021, listen up. This is being run through the Zalaris website, the
title sponsor of Norseman for 2021. Just follow the link in the description below this video and
importantly, make sure you select GTN under the where did you hear about this opportunity
section. It's worth noting that as a winner, you will be required to raise money for the charities
AKTIV against cancer and 5K Your Way, both super charities and again all the info can be found
in the link. Well, the entry for that will be open until the 31st of December so best of luck.
As we are being super generous this week, it's time for our second giveaway. You might have
noticed Mark and I wearing the Kask Utopia helmet in many of our bike and triathlon videos. Well,
we are giving away three of those helmets. In actual fact, we do have one here.
This isn't the one that's going to be given away. This is a CONUS limited edition one but you guys
have your chance to get your hands on one of these style of helmets.
All you need to do is follow the link in the description, fill out the details
and just sit with your fingers crossed. We have three of these giveaway and
the entries will close on the 21st of December. We'll be announcing the winners in the new year.
[music] You know I mentioned some inspiration
and motivation. Well, it's time to take a look at your photos and there's some wonderful ones. I was
feeling motivated just selecting these so here we go. This first one from Ben and it's his Felt B16
with an Ultegra cassette SRAM Apex from Gosport and Lee-on-Solent, which is in the UK for those
of you who don't know. Anyway, it's his first ride back on the TT after a new paint job.
Love it. You're not going to miss your bike in transition with that one, are you?
Wonderful bright colors there. Our next one is another lovely outdoor cycling photo,
a little bit different though. It's from Crawford, and it says Fuji Sportif. The lowest lookout point
on the Pikes Peak Highway in Colorado Springs. He says, "After Boulder 70.3 was canceled,
my bike partner and I decided to pivot and go for Pikes Peak." I'm not sure if that's just sent
to be a tongue twister for me. The 40-ish mile took around four hours and ascended 7,000 feet.
Not the big effort I was hoping for to do after eight months of tri training but still an amazing
experience. See you next year Boulder 70.3 and maybe Pike's again, I'm just loving those photos.
Beautiful scenery and a lovely looking bike. Thank you very much. Our next one is a race is
sent in from Rachel and in Napier. She says we were incredibly lucky here in New Zealand that
we're able to race at the weekend. I competed in the Ironman half which is an incredible event.
The support and atmosphere was so nice, my first half Ironman distance event. I've already signed
up again next year, now I have to beat my time. Brilliant that you loved it so much.
Your first one stepping up to that distance, and how exciting just to see people crowds
and doing sport and look at that swim. Oh, it looks stunning, doesn't it? Yes,
good luck for next year. I'm sure you'll smash your time. Now we're going indoors. This is a bit
more sort of realistic for us over here in the UK. Anyway, this though comes from Brian it says
Cervelo P3 in Annapolis. Excuse me there. Yes, Annapolis, MD. I should know, I don't, anyway.
It says it's his little escape from the cold months. I'm guessing it's somewhere
in the Northern Hemisphere, at least if he is escaping and some cool photos on the wall there,
and a nice tidy bike setup. I think this is our final one this week, is sent in from Denise,
it's Cannondale Synapse, this week apparently, in brackets. Obviously swaps the bikes in and out
from Carson City in Nevada, USA. Now, she says her swimming, pedaling, and lifting
area. It's just something about this that makes me feel slightly uncomfortable because, well,
that's a lot of water just being held up by pile of a little bit of Canvas. Having that outside is
one thing if you lose all the water, yes, that's a bit of a nightmare but you can refill it and
you're probably not going to flood your house. Whereas if that goes wrong, you're in trouble.
Anyway, I'm not [unintelligible 00:15:48] photo fixing, am I? It's an impressive setup and the
fact that you can cycle and swim all in one room is just brilliant. Well, we're moving
towards Christmas now guys, and I want to start to feel festive, and I'm hoping you are too. I
would love it if you could share any photos of you doing anything to do with triathlons.
Whether that's training, whether that's racing, whether that's just going out for a social jog. If
you're doing it in something Christmassy or some Christmas decorations near you or you're passing
a lovely Christmas scene, please share them. Next week and the next few weeks I want to have a bit
of a Christmas theme when it comes to your pics and you've done a wonderful job for motivating
and inspiring us. Now it's time to get Christmassy so you can use the uploader that's on-screen now.
You can also find it in the description below. [music]
It's caption comp time and last week we rewound back to 2019 and WTS Hamburg with this photo,
and we have a wonderful selection of caption suggestions from you guys. This first one
from Bailetas. Too late to save you a spot with the pros. I liked it. Next, we have Milind Chohan.
Hey, it's been so long I forgot the swim comes first. Yes, it has been a while, hasn't it?
Our final runner-up from Jodie Smith. €50 years and you can sit on my feet, but the winner this
week comes from Vincent Weeda. Hey, man, can you give me a hand with this swim? Well, well done
Vincent. We'll be sending a GTN cap to you just make sure you get in touch with your details.
This week, we have a photo from the Daytona challenge race. Christmas is getting pretty
close now and you guys might be panicking for some last-minute Christmas buys or maybe you just want
to treat yourself I would recommend heading to the GTN shop pretty promptly, you've still got
time left to order things in time for Christmas. The limited-edition t-shirt however I know is
running out, I'm not even sure if it's still up there but it's one of my favorites. Go and
check that out. I think the link is going to be on screen in just a moment, and there's plenty
to look forward to this week. We've got some more tips coming from Joe Skipper, he's actually going
to be sharing his winter training tips. We've also got a swim video investigating how the rotation in
a freestyle stroke actually affects your swimming efficiency. If you haven't done so already,
make sure that you click on the globe to subscribe so you get all of our videos here at GTN. Give us
a like if you've enjoyed this show and a couple of videos you might want to take a look at. We have,
well, talking of Christmas. A little few more ideas as we have our Christmas wish list.
Yes, Mark and I are elves that one can be found on screen now and our final video to suggest is
Cheap Choe Versus Super Shoe. [00:18:30] [END OF AUDIO]