Innehållsförteckning för January 2026 från 220 Triathlon

If anything, this year’s women’s Ironman World Champs was a lesson in a race never being over before the finish tape is broken. I’ve lost count of the number of people who told me they went to bed during the run (tsk tsk), figuring it was a done-deal one-two between Lucy Charles-Barclay and Taylor Knibb, only to wake up the next morning to the shock news that first Lucy, then Taylor, had to DNF in the hot and humid conditions. If you missed the end of one of the most dramatic (and heartbreaking) races of our times though, then the picture recap from page 20 is your friend. Plus we have an exclusive interview with Solveig Løvseth, the Norwegian outsider who took the win, continuing an amazing run for the…

If we’ve whetted your appetite for building a tri bike of your own, here are a few pointers to help you source the items you’re likely to need at the best prices. Firstly, do not underestimate the brilliance of Marketplace or eBay. Both places are cracking for finding key components from individuals, versus businesses, meaning prices are often lower than what you’d otherwise find the items for. Another great avenue to explore are Facebook ‘group’ pages. There are loads of different sub-sites on Facebook, such as ‘Triathlon, Buy, Swap and Sell’. I posted a pic of my bike on there and listed the parts I was after. Several people got in touch and offered items at very tasty prices. What’s more, buying from people in the triathlon community meant I…

Fat has a bad rep, but nutritional research over the past few years has shown that eating fat will, in fact, do us many favours. One of the three macronutrients alongside protein and carbohydrate, fat helps the body absorb the fat-soluble vitamins A, D and E, and is a major source of energy. We also need fat to produce important hormones, for our immune function, healthy skin and nerve function. Simply put, we can divide fats into saturated and unsaturated, but it’s the latter that can help reduce the risk of heart-related disease, as well as improve immunity levels, mood and brain development and sports performance. That’s where omega-3 comes in. Part of the ‘unsaturated’ family, omega-3s can lower the level of ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol in your blood. Growing research…

A sell-out field of over 2,000 athletes took part in Challenge Vieux-Boucau (11 October), which delivered victories for Guillem Montiel (ESP) and Audrey Merle (FRA), who took her maiden professional middle-distance win, seven months after becoming a mum.…

Solveig Løvseth is in demand. She’s been back in her hometown of Trondheim, Norway, for the last two days, just four days after winning her first Ironman world title in only her third-ever full-distance race. She hasn’t stopped talking to the world’s media, and here we are taking up more of what should now be rest time but is in fact training prep for her next, and final, fling for 2026 – the 70.3 Ironman Worlds at the start of November. The 26-year-old former Olympic-distance athlete and Paris Olympian is trying to get used to this new-found attention, with mixed results. “My whole swim club was at the airport to greet me,” Løvseth explains in our video call, “and my family and some newspapers. I just really didn’t expect it,…

You no doubt have a busy training schedule, busy family life and busy work life. So what’s all this about us imploring you to squeeze yoga into your schedule as well?! Don’t skip this feature, though, as the benefits you can gain from at least one yoga session each week will be noticeable. Plus, if you can’t fit in any more sessions, it’s arguably worth dropping one of your swim, bike or run training sessions for yoga. Why? Key is injury prevention. Spending long hours training, especially when it comes to sitting hunched over on your bike, can develop muscular imbalances that can result in injury. Yoga can go some way to correcting these imbalances. Also, while cycling and running can build powerful hamstring and quadricep muscles, the strengthening of…

I ’ve been thinking about this climb for months. If I can just get up it, I’ll feel I’ve broken the back of this brutal bike leg. But talking of broken backs, mine is straining. Like fudge doughnuts, sustained climbing on a bike is a weakness of mine. I can feel the calories burning at an alarmingly rate and thinking of chocolate-filled pastries is not helping. My mind is all over the place, grasping at a wide range of topics in an attempt to get up this huge stretch of rising tarmac. The occasional tourist bus passes, its occupants straining their necks to give me looks of either bewilderment or awe – it’s hard to tell. They look ever so comfortable in their air-conditioned vehicle. I am not. The landscape…

There was an amusing skit on social media where a young female triathlete professed to having the key to unlocking Ironman World Championship qualification – glue on some facial hair and pretend you’re a 50-plus-year-old-man. The astute jibe was aimed at the new Ironman qualification system that appears to be favouring the older male age groups, with potential women qualifiers suffering as a result. The performance-based qualification system was introduced in August for 2026 and – with the race returning to just one day in Kona from next year – pitted men and women against each other using an age-graded system for coveted race slots. Explaining the full detail would take the rest of this column, but suffice to say, there is unrest that women are not only being frozen…

The internet is a dangerous place; one minute you’re asking it for advice on pruning hydrangeas… and the next you’ve fallen down the rabbit hole of looking for bargain tri bikes. I must admit, casually scanning Facebook Marketplace has become a bit of a habit in recent times, so when I stumbled across a frame for a Giant Trinity, I wasn’t even looking for one. But there it was, luring me in with its provocative £500 price tag. Nope, it didn’t have wheels, extensions, a group set or even crank arms for that matter. But it was blue, and it was cheap, and it was located just 15 miles down the road – I had to have it. A message of intent was sent, and a time and location was…

MEET THE TEST TEAM HELEN WEBSTER 220’s editor is also a qualified open-water swimming coach. ROB SLADE 220’s resident adventure seeker and former staffer. EDWARD PICKERING Cycling author, also races run distances from mile to marathon. JAMES WITTS Sports scientist and author of multiple sports book. SARAH BROADLEY Keen endurance athlete and openwater swim coach. OUR RATINGS 0-49 % POOR SIMPLY PUT, DON’T BOTHER! 50-69 % AVERAGE IT’LL DO THE JOB WELL ENOUGH 70-79 % GOOD A DECENT PERFORMER 80-89 % IMPRESSIVE ONE OF THE BEST YOU CAN BUY 90+ % BUY NOW A GENUINE CLASS LEADER…

Come the winter months and triathletes are few and far between at the lake I coach at. It’s understandable too –swimming in colder water is difficult and with time at a premium with three sports to tick over at, you get far more training bang for your buck if you head to the pool. Winter swimming still has a lot to offer triathletes though. Getting outdoors is good for our mental health and there’s a valuable boost of Vitamin D to be had that you won’t find in the local leisure centre. Plus the positive effects of immersion in cold water are wellreported and come next spring, it will be so much easier getting in if you’ve kept acclimatised through winter (though if you have any health concerns, do check…

01 DOWNWARD DOG This is a great yoga exercise (photo right) to ease tension in the calves and feet from running, while strengthening the lower back for cycling. Start on your knees with your hands out in front of you, pushing your bottom up until you feel a stretch in your calves and base of your feet. Straighten your legs if you can to feel a greater stretch but make sure you keep your back straight. 02 PIGEON FOLD The Pigeon Fold loosens up the hips, which can become particularly tight when cycling. Start in a Downward Dog position, before bending your right knee and sweeping it down in front of you. Lower yourself to a comfortable seated position. Then stretch your left leg behind you. You should feel the stretch in…

What’s the best excuse you have ever made for performing badly in a race? I’m not talking about those deliberately vague ones we all trot out at short notice when we’ve had a shocker like “I’ve had a virus” or “I’m still struggling with my injury (the existence of which I haven’t mentioned before until this precise moment)”, I mean those genuine ones which have to be true because they sound made up. I’ve had a few over the years, the most memorable being that I got accidentally drunk on free wine given to me by six-time Ironman world champion Dave Scott, and ended up throwing up both before and during a 10k race I was doing the following morning. On another occasion I skinned my toe on an underwater…