Shaw Wins at Mount Mason – International Roundup
International Round-Up August 12th & 13th
While the National Championships were under way in Co. Westmeath over the weekend, Triathlon Ireland high performance athletes were also racing in the Philippines and in Belgium.
The highlight of the weekend was undoubtedly Ben Shaw’s victory at the Mount Mayon Asian Cup in the Philippines.
Shaw Turns Up The Heat
Australia based Shaw dominated the field. He was quickest on the swim, emerging after 1,500m in 20mins 05secs. From there, Shaw led a breakaway of six riders over the 40km bike leg before running the third quickest 10km of the field to win by 27secs over Ran Sato of Japan.
He told Triathlon Ireland afterwards that the intense heat of the race in the Philippines was one of the reasons that led him to make the trip:
“The Mt Mayon Asian Cup Race provided the opportunity to have a hit out in specific conditions and on a tough course. With the Tokyo Olympic Games to be the focus of the next Olympic cycle, the reality is that if an athlete can’t cope with extreme heat, they are in trouble.”
According to Ben, the race started at 6.00am and at that time the temperature was already 28 degrees. By the time he crossed the line, the temperature was 32 degrees, which because of the humidity felt like 38 degrees.
“I led a group of nine out of the swim and initiated a break away of six athletes pushing the pace on the bike. For those interested in numbers we averaged just under 300 Watts, which is about the same as a normal World Triathlon Series event. After leading onto the run, I didn’t see any other competitors and ran consistently. The run had two very tough hills each lap of the four lap course, which acted as a good challenge.”
.jpg "Mount Mayon Group Pic")
Ben races next at the Beijing International Triathlon on September 10th and in second round of the Super League in Jersey laster that month.
Ben said: “I am thrilled to be flying the flag for Ireland in these big events. Further events will be determined by Triathlon Ireland’s Selectors for the ITU Grand Final in Rotterdam and World Cup in China. This will make for a very busy September of racing. I am looking forward to staying healthy and strong.”
You can follow Ben:
Instagram and Twitter – @BenShawTri
Facebook – BenShawTriathlete
Mintern 30th, Carroll 40th In Wuustwezel
In Belgium meanwhile, sprint distance national champion Chris Mintern got more international experience racing in the European Cup event in Wuustwezel, Belgium.
A total of 69 athletes lined out for the race – including local man Marten Van Riel – the winner of the previous week’s ETU race in Malmo. Van Riel made it two in row, winning the race in 53mins 48secs.
In a fractured race, Mintern emerged from the water in the middle of the field on 10mins 39secs. He went on to post on the quickest bike splits of the day to work his way through the field before running a 17mins 01secs 5km to finish in the top half of the field.
Mintern said he was disappointed with the race: “I have finished in the middle of the field in all European Cup races this season, nothing to celebrate. I’ll keep fighting and male sure to put all three disciplines together at later races in the season”
Follow Chris on Twitter, Instagram and facebook
Ailbhe Carroll had a tough day out, finishing in 40th place. “Swam terribly. Biked awfully. Ran at walking pace. All in all, just not a great day. Still trying to get to that point where a bad day is still an acceptable result somewhere…” said Carroll in a characteristically frank assessment of her performance.
She was full of praise for the event organisers however, in what sounds like a bucket list triathlon: “Wuustwezel…you sure do know how to put on a show. The support on the course was beyond incredible. Every inch of the course had someone shouting even at the outer most point at the dead turn. Your love for triathlon as a town is incredible and I guess the fact that your little town has eight clubs in it says a lot…”
