Busy and eventful weekend for BMC's triathletes

Plenty of events last weekend in which BMC athletes were competing. BMC Pro Tri's Lucy Byram, Clément Mignon and BMC-athlete Alistair Brownlee all competes in London's T100, while Richard Murray, Vasco Vilaca, Max Studer, Julie Derron and Sam Dickinson all traveled to Paris.

Byram finished in 5th place at her home race in London. The BMC athlete put together an exceptionally strong bike leg to climb her way up to third and hold that position until the final 5k of the run. Lucy crossed the finish line in a time of 3:40:26, a performance that moves her up to 5th place in the T100 series standings. Ashley Gentle (AUS; 3:36:17) broke the tape, with Imogen Simmonds (SUI; 3:39:11) and Kat Matthews (GBR; 3:39:29) rounding out the top three.

Round 4 of the T100 Series was close to home for Byram as she toed the line in London. During the two-lap swim, Byram settled herself in the large second chasing group. A fast transition in the indoor T1 area saw her jump on the bike at the front of that chase group, 2’50” behind the lead, while battling for 6th place. On the bike, Lucy felt strong straight away and started her hunt towards the athletes in front of her. After 20k, as a driving force of a small chase group, she had closed down the gap towards 5th place. The deficit towards the front had come down to 1’50” as well. Another few kilometers further, she connected with 4th place.

Byram felt strong on the second part of the bike too, and managed to break away from her fellow athletes to go after 3rd place on her own. With 14k to go, she had bridged the gap. As Lucy had found an excellent flow, she used those final 14k to break away again and entered T2 on her own in 3rd position, clocking the second-fastest bike split of the day. Byram took off for the run with a 1’30” advantage over fourth place. She kept giving her all, though the gap was cut down to just 30 seconds halfway through the run. The BMC athlete pushed hard but saw two athletes pass her with 5k to go. Lucy kept going strong and crossed the finish line in a time of 3:40:26. With this performance, she moves up to 5th place in the T100 series standings.

Felt Strong All Race Long

Afterwards, Byram was more than satisfied with her race. "I felt really strong all day long. Annoyingly, I received a drafting penalty on the bike early on, but a little later that penalty was revoked because of a malfunction of my Race Ranger device. I felt strong on the bike. I rode at my own, consistent pace to work my way up through the field. On the run, I went all in and gave it my all. So, I am very proud and satisfied with my performance today. I am getting closer and closer to that podium spot. It was great to race so close to home. The atmosphere was amazing, and I loved getting cheered on by so many friends and family."

Alistair Brownlee fights back after puncture to take 8th place at T100 London

Brownlee finished 8th at T100 London after suffering from a flat tire on the bike early on. He fought his way back with a strong bike and run, finishing in a time of 3:20:27. Sam Laidlow (FRA; 3:13:38) broke the tape just in front of Kyle Smith (NZL; 3:14:03), with Daniel Baekkegard (DEN; 3:16:41) snatching the final podium spot.

There was more than enough motivation for Alistair Brownlee to perform well, racing in front of his home crowd. Alistair had an excellent start, swimming on the heels of the leader Royle for most of the swim leg, and entered T1 in second position. On the bike, Alistair settled well inside the huge lead group of 15 athletes. Just before the 20k mark, disaster struck as Brownlee suffered a flat front tire. He was able to reach the technical aid station to continue his race but dropped back to 15th place and lost around 2 minutes with that issue. Unfazed by the situation, Alistair went to work for the remainder of the bike. At the 55k mark, he connected with the group in front of him, charged past them, and immediately took control of 11th position. Alistair continued that great pace and was able to break away to hunt down the top 10 on his own.

Racking his bike, 30 seconds behind Heemeryck in 10th, Brownlee started the run looking to pick up more athletes. The British athlete immediately closed down the gap towards Heemeryck. Running side by side, they managed to make two passes in the first 6k of the run and started battling for 8th place. Just before the halfway mark, Brownlee had to settle for 9th as he couldn't keep up with Heemeryck's pace. Still going strong, Alistair kept his pace as high as possible to chase down Barnaby. With less than 4k to go, he caught up with the Italian and slowly started to break away, crossing the finish line in 3:20:27 to take home 8th place.

Tough day for Clément Mignon

Unfortunately, Clément Mignon didn’t have the day he hoped for. He struggled to find his rhythm all day long but kept battling through. He eventually came home in 18th place.

“I had a complete off-day today. I didn’t feel quite well in the swim and lost the tow of the group in the second lap. On the bike, I just had no power at all. I couldn’t even reach the watts I pushed in Ironman Texas. The same story on the run. I felt empty in the legs and didn’t have any pace at all. My preparation went well, and I didn’t do anything different than for other races. So, I have no explanation for what happened today. In such a high level of racing as today, you can’t hide, and you pay dearly for those off-days. I will analyze everything in detail with the team over the coming days, turn the switch, recover well, and build up towards IM Frankfurt in a couple of weeks.”

Paris

Last but not least, BMC's Murray, Studer, Vilaca, Derron and Dickinson made their way to France for their biggest goal of the season, racing Tuesday and Wednesday in Parisian water and on Parisian roads.