This was my second World Cup start and my first in Australia, so I was very excited about racing in Mooloolaba. This course is arguably the hardest course on the world cup circuit due to the technical bike course and challenging hills, so I knew you had to be smart throughout the three legs.
It was a beach start so I was confident of getting out in front without any hassles. This was the case and by the first buoy (300m) I was sitting comfortably in 4th position. I stayed in this position the entire way until the final meters where I exited the water in third.
In past years, this course (2 hills per lap, 7 laps) has offered opportunities for a break away and his race was no different. A small group of 5 including myself formed a break for the first lap. I conserved my energy in the group and tried to be patient until the run leg. A small group swallowed us up on the second lap but two athletes continued on and formed a leading break. They held this lead coming into T2 with a 1min 50sec gap. Several groups were able to catch the pack I was in and there was a large group of riders heading in to T2.
On to the run and my legs felt heavy during the first kilometer but I thought I could run my way into the race (4 laps, 2 hills per lap). This wasn’t the case as I continued to fade each lap and struggled for the latter half of the run.
I finished 30th and was disappointed with this result but if I look at where I was 12 months ago to this race just gone, there has been massive improvements! I’m now looking forward to training hard before heading to Europe.
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