Race 11: Division two. 2eme etape Parthenay. Contre le montre par equipe (750/20/5) July 23rd 2006
This was the scene of the second division 2 race. It was not a normal triathlon format but rather a time trial by team. Each of the 42 division 2 
teams would start one minute apart. Five team members could start with only three required to finish. As our team placed third in the first round, we were the third last team to leave. Behind us was Saint Raphael, the powerful team of former world champion Olivier Marceau. In front of us was the team Sainte Genevieve tri. This was the team of Aurelien Raphael, who had won the first race in Mimizan. Pretty good company.
The team we had gone for was Pierre Guilloux for his swim and bike ability, Fred Tulane, super strong on the bike (he just needed to hang on in the swim), Laurent Triquet for the run (and it was imperative he hung on in the swim), Herman 
Landemaine and myself, both to do everything. We had trained the weekend before in Lorient, without Herman, practicing different formations for the swim to see which was the best for Laurent, as he was the weakest swimmer. In Lorient we had used Gwen Dupas, however he would be replaced by Herman for the race. The best formula ended up being (and remember this as it plays a part in the story later); me leading with Laurent directly behind on my feet and Fred then on Laurent’s feet. Gwen and Pierre would flank Laurent and if he dropped too far behind Gwen would grab my leg and Pierre would 
fill in the hole and tow Laurent back up. Fred just had to hang on. I had to swim a steady pace and continually check if Laurent was alright. After about 45mins in the water we had it pretty down pat. The pace was good and everyone knew their spots.
We also practiced working as a team on the bike. On the day we did it Fred was super strong and blew half the team away before we even got into formation. He had told me before the session that he wanted to show how strong he was and that he could do all the work on the front. I was starting to believe him. Fred and Pierre did not have to run so they could spend 100% of their energy on the bike. I also had to work with them on the bike to leave Herman and Laurent as fresh as possible for the run. Similar to the swim training, we eventually found the right rhythm. I was still a little concerned about how hard Fred would go and Laurent had also told me in French, “We will run 15 minutes for five kilometres and then spew at the finish”. That sounds super I thought!
On the start line of the race we lined up so everyone was in their correct place. We got a clean 
start and found good rhythm and pace straight away. I could feel Laurent on my toes, a good sign, and looked to see Fred was still there, great. After a few hundred metres we had gained a little bit of time into the Sainte Genevieve tri team in front. The formation (the one you can remember) was working. As we rounded the far turn buoy and swam back down the course, towards the transition area, a crack appeared in the formation. I rolled to breath to my left and there was Herman! He was meant to be next to Laurent. Ok there is nothing to worry about he is probably just giving Laurent some more drag, I thought. Nope, he kept on swimming and after a furt
her 100m, was a few body lengths ahead of or team. Alright we had lost Herman, but there was no problem as everyone else was where they should be. Wrong! Pierre had moved up on the other side and was swimming next to me. I looked back and saw Laurent had dropped back, out of the drag of my feet. I slowed, Pierre continued and within 10 seconds he was gone also. Fred was further behind as he had lost the safety of Laurent’s drag. I was starting to freak out. What we the other two doing? I swam backwards to Fred then swam him back to Laurent’s feet then went around both of them and set the pace again checking their progress every few strokes.
Then problem two occurred. The team of Saint Raphael tri caught us and swam straight over the top of Fred and Laurent, causing them to drop off. We only had about 100m to go so I did the only thing I could think to do. I sprinted up next to the lead swimmer of Saint Raphael tri and pushed him off course (remember they had just smashed over my team). I then surged in front and reached the exit ramp before them, at the same time as Pierre. Then I just perched there. The Shaw brothers told me to move and shouted “what the f#@k are you doing” as they pushed past. Once Laurent and Fred were there I stood up and ran to the transition (Its quite a funny video). I trained with one of the Shaw brothers a few weeks later and we laughed at each others tactics. He couldn’t understand why or how this Cesson swimmer, that he had just swam over could pass him back. He said sorry for dunking Fred and Laurent and I apologised for getting in their way.
It was probably one of the easiest transitions I have had. No chasing the bunch or trying to get away, just cruse through and keep the team together. Fred had had a hard swim and took a few kilometres to feel alright on the bike. We had waited for him at the foot of the first hill and the pause in tempo had allowed the Saint Raphael tri team to gain a few hundred meters. I drove the team for as long as I could, let someone do a turn then jumped back on the front to keep the pace high. It was no good. After 5 km the other team was gone. For the remainder of the 2 lap bike course we did not see another team. I had worked as hard as I could. Fred did a very big turn with 4km to go, with Laurent right on his wheel yelling French at him to go as hard as he could. With all his energy used on the front for the team he swang off, his job done, and rolled back to the transition area at his own pace. Pierre with 3km to go did the same. In the final few kilometres we had passed a lot of single riders from other teams who had done similar. I lead Herman and Laurent the last few kilometres back to the transition, and the three of us headed out on the run. I know for the first 4.5km of this run I was the weak link. It was just survival for me, as I had come off the ride pretty tired. Herman had the run of his life and stayed right behind Laurent until 500m to go where I gave him a small push and he was right again. I didn’t think we were running very fast, it was just hard.
When we crossed the finish line I was sure we had completely stuffed up the race. A few minutes later Fred ran over with a big smile, and said we were 15th. That’s pretty good I thought, considering our crap swim and poor bike ride, we must have run well. Then Pierre came over and said he thought he heard we finished 5th. Fred’s
teams would start one minute apart. Five team members could start with only three required to finish. As our team placed third in the first round, we were the third last team to leave. Behind us was Saint Raphael, the powerful team of former world champion Olivier Marceau. In front of us was the team Sainte Genevieve tri. This was the team of Aurelien Raphael, who had won the first race in Mimizan. Pretty good company.
The team we had gone for was Pierre Guilloux for his swim and bike ability, Fred Tulane, super strong on the bike (he just needed to hang on in the swim), Laurent Triquet for the run (and it was imperative he hung on in the swim), Herman 
Landemaine and myself, both to do everything. We had trained the weekend before in Lorient, without Herman, practicing different formations for the swim to see which was the best for Laurent, as he was the weakest swimmer. In Lorient we had used Gwen Dupas, however he would be replaced by Herman for the race. The best formula ended up being (and remember this as it plays a part in the story later); me leading with Laurent directly behind on my feet and Fred then on Laurent’s feet. Gwen and Pierre would flank Laurent and if he dropped too far behind Gwen would grab my leg and Pierre would 
fill in the hole and tow Laurent back up. Fred just had to hang on. I had to swim a steady pace and continually check if Laurent was alright. After about 45mins in the water we had it pretty down pat. The pace was good and everyone knew their spots.
We also practiced working as a team on the bike. On the day we did it Fred was super strong and blew half the team away before we even got into formation. He had told me before the session that he wanted to show how strong he was and that he could do all the work on the front. I was starting to believe him. Fred and Pierre did not have to run so they could spend 100% of their energy on the bike. I also had to work with them on the bike to leave Herman and Laurent as fresh as possible for the run. Similar to the swim training, we eventually found the right rhythm. I was still a little concerned about how hard Fred would go and Laurent had also told me in French, “We will run 15 minutes for five kilometres and then spew at the finish”. That sounds super I thought!
On the start line of the race we lined up so everyone was in their correct place. We got a clean 
start and found good rhythm and pace straight away. I could feel Laurent on my toes, a good sign, and looked to see Fred was still there, great. After a few hundred metres we had gained a little bit of time into the Sainte Genevieve tri team in front. The formation (the one you can remember) was working. As we rounded the far turn buoy and swam back down the course, towards the transition area, a crack appeared in the formation. I rolled to breath to my left and there was Herman! He was meant to be next to Laurent. Ok there is nothing to worry about he is probably just giving Laurent some more drag, I thought. Nope, he kept on swimming and after a furt
her 100m, was a few body lengths ahead of or team. Alright we had lost Herman, but there was no problem as everyone else was where they should be. Wrong! Pierre had moved up on the other side and was swimming next to me. I looked back and saw Laurent had dropped back, out of the drag of my feet. I slowed, Pierre continued and within 10 seconds he was gone also. Fred was further behind as he had lost the safety of Laurent’s drag. I was starting to freak out. What we the other two doing? I swam backwards to Fred then swam him back to Laurent’s feet then went around both of them and set the pace again checking their progress every few strokes.
Then problem two occurred. The team of Saint Raphael tri caught us and swam straight over the top of Fred and Laurent, causing them to drop off. We only had about 100m to go so I did the only thing I could think to do. I sprinted up next to the lead swimmer of Saint Raphael tri and pushed him off course (remember they had just smashed over my team). I then surged in front and reached the exit ramp before them, at the same time as Pierre. Then I just perched there. The Shaw brothers told me to move and shouted “what the f#@k are you doing” as they pushed past. Once Laurent and Fred were there I stood up and ran to the transition (Its quite a funny video). I trained with one of the Shaw brothers a few weeks later and we laughed at each others tactics. He couldn’t understand why or how this Cesson swimmer, that he had just swam over could pass him back. He said sorry for dunking Fred and Laurent and I apologised for getting in their way.
It was probably one of the easiest transitions I have had. No chasing the bunch or trying to get away, just cruse through and keep the team together. Fred had had a hard swim and took a few kilometres to feel alright on the bike. We had waited for him at the foot of the first hill and the pause in tempo had allowed the Saint Raphael tri team to gain a few hundred meters. I drove the team for as long as I could, let someone do a turn then jumped back on the front to keep the pace high. It was no good. After 5 km the other team was gone. For the remainder of the 2 lap bike course we did not see another team. I had worked as hard as I could. Fred did a very big turn with 4km to go, with Laurent right on his wheel yelling French at him to go as hard as he could. With all his energy used on the front for the team he swang off, his job done, and rolled back to the transition area at his own pace. Pierre with 3km to go did the same. In the final few kilometres we had passed a lot of single riders from other teams who had done similar. I lead Herman and Laurent the last few kilometres back to the transition, and the three of us headed out on the run. I know for the first 4.5km of this run I was the weak link. It was just survival for me, as I had come off the ride pretty tired. Herman had the run of his life and stayed right behind Laurent until 500m to go where I gave him a small push and he was right again. I didn’t think we were running very fast, it was just hard.
When we crossed the finish line I was sure we had completely stuffed up the race. A few minutes later Fred ran over with a big smile, and said we were 15th. That’s pretty good I thought, considering our crap swim and poor bike ride, we must have run well. Then Pierre came over and said he thought he heard we finished 5th. Fred’s
head nearly fell off. Within a minute of this there was an announcement that the first three teams were Saint Raphael tri in first (no surprise, they hammered us), Metz (who won in Mimizan) in second and TOC Cesson were third. I couldn’t describe in words the size of the smile on Fred’s face. He said to me as we stood on the podium that it was pretty special for him to be standing up there next to Olivier Marceau. The run that felt slow and hard ended up being the quickest by any team. We had one of the quickest bike rides and had also swam in the top 20 times.
Result for race 11: 3rd (a team effort)
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