ETU CUP Holten

ETU cup Holten was my first experience of an international race.The race was slightly unusual as of it taking place in the evening starting at 7:30 pm ,therefore making pre race nutrition and activities as important as ever. It also had a split transition which was pretty unique, therefore adding more things to think about on race day.

We left to Holten three days prior to race ,in which I had to pack my bike into a bike box as we flew out there.The accommodation was split out into little cabins with groups of 3-4 people staying and each, with the food being self catering.This added an level of independence to the trip as usually I’d have my dad drive me to race day and all I had to do was race and nothing else.Couple of days prior to the race we did some recces of the bike course.However on the official recce day it started thundering leading it to being cancelled,therefore i feel like i didn't know the course as well as i wanted to going into the race. From the start I knew it was going to be a fast course therefore most likely going to be split up into several packs making it as important as ever to have a good swim and get into a good bike pack.

As race day rolled around I made to drink a lot of electrolytes and water as the climate was very hot therefore wanted to be properly hydrated before the race.The swim start was on a pontoon,which was a different experience to usual as in the Super Series we usually have in water starts or beach starts. I sadly was was seeded 49th right at the back as I previously hadn’t done a European Cup race before and didn't have any ranking points. I therefore didn’t have the greatest starting position as I was right in the middle therefore as soon as it started I was boxed in making the swim quite difficult and violent. In the second half I managed to find some clear water and overtake people ,therefore leading me out the swim at around 20th which wasn’t ideal as I had no chance of making it onto the front bike pack however it might gave me a chance of making the second.

I had a speedy transition and essentially hammered the first couple of km of the bike course to catch up to the groups forming ahead.I luckily managed to catch up to the forming second pack in which I stayed in the wheels for a while to recover.The bike wasn’t ideal as the pack was a group of 10-15 people in which only 4-5 ish were actually working on the front leading us to making virtually no time onto the front bike pack of 8 who were,10-15 seconds ahead. This stayed the same into T2 ,however once again I managed to have a good transition taking me around 10-12 position onto the first lap of the run.

On the first lap of the run I settled into a pack and got into a nice rhythm,I then pushed it on the second lap breaking away from the pack and managed to have a sprint finish for 9th place.

Overall I am happy with the result,it was a great experience ,especially considering I was one of the youngest athletes.