220 Triathlon June 2018

After what’s felt like the longest winter on record, we’ve finally made it to the start of the British tri season – and with it, the need to honestly assess how ready you are. Did training go to plan? Did you get all those long rides in? Do you have any idea where you put your tri-suit at the end of last year?! Very few of us will have a perfect run-up to a race, but the good news is there are plenty of little things you can do to help the big day go more smoothly – as our Ironman feature on p36 shows. Much of the advice will work across shorter distances, too. Also this issue don’t miss your free guide to open-water swimming – with advice for…

We take gear testing seriously – you need to know that the kit you buy will help you reach your goals in all three disciplines and work as hard as you on race day. Our test team is made up of experienced triathletes, cyclists and runners who test each product that appears in 220 to the max during training and racing, rating it honestly for performance and value. ROB BANINO Former 220dep ed Rob has been riding and racing bikes on and off-road for over 20 years. Favourite pro triathlete? Sian Welch and Wendy Ingraham for their display of finish-line determination at the Ironman Worlds in 1997. JACK SEXTY A serious triathlete since blowing his student loan on a bike, sub-2hr Olympic athlete Jack moved to Ironman last year in…

A recent paper in Sports Medicine reviewed the evidence behind a number of supplements on sporting performance. These included the old and proven favourites, caffeine and glucose, and… onions! Onions, especially red ones, contain high levels of flavonoid substance quercetin that’s historically known for its anti-inflammatory benefits. However, the review suggested that quercetin also increases muscle and brain mitochondrial biogenesis. So what does this mean for tri? Well, mitochondrial biogenesis is the process by which cells increase their individual mitochondrial mass and number to elevate the production of ATP (adenosine triphosphate) as a response to greater energy expenditure. So a greater number means, in theory, you can train longer and harder. There are questions over whether positive results on rodents are enjoyed to the same level by…

Three-time Ironman world champion Daniela Ryf has had her stroke completely remodelled so she now swims 100m slower than she did as a junior. As an ad for her coach, it doesn’t sound the best. But Australian Brett Sutton’s methods – he also trains 2012 Olympic champion Nicola Spirig – clearly work, and a cornerstone of his beliefs is that he’s not melding swimming, cycling and running ability, but creating triathletes from the get-go. At face value, it might seem a subtle difference, but to the eponymous Trisutto squad, that now runs its own coaching certification programme, it is marked. In fact, Sutton shuns tech-reliant methods that lean on single-discipline experts, believing the sum of these parts fall short of the desired whole: “The single sport specialists do not teach…

If Bollé’s new lid looks a little familiar it’s because you’ve probably seen it before. The One Base is essentially the ‘undressed’ version of Bollé’s The One Premium, which is to say the Base doesn’t come with the Premium’s aero shells. It still has the same 31 vents as the Premium, the same sunglasses garage and the same ‘click-to-fit’ dial-operated retention cradle. All it lacks is the clip-on, drag-reducing covers used to give the Premium a sleeker profile for reaching – and maintaining – higher speeds when training and racing. It may not have all the high-speed capability of its counterpart but the Base will accept the same rear LED for early morning and post-sunset riding and visor for mountain biking that Bollé has made for the Premium. It also…

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