Anybody race 70.3 Cascais in Portugal? It lines up perfectly with a business trip I have to Europe that week, so I’m thinking about registering for it. Would appreciate any feedback about the course, town, race day logistics, etc.
Thanks.
Ps. I did notice that IM Barcelona is the next weekend and that has me thinking…but doing an Iberian double is in one week with a bunch of meetings in the middle is a tall order, and realistically beyond my fitness capabilities…but it would be fun trying.
I would definitely pick Cascais over Barcelona, but I am biased as I lived in Lisbon for a while.
But…
If you’re wanting to do a race during your travel, then do the race at the beginning so you can focus on whatever else there is (family time, business meetings) later. Else all you are going to think about during your meetings or when hanging out with your family will be your race. You don’t want to do that.
Barcelona, to me, seems quite hilly - from my travels/visits around there. But I haven’t checked out the course. Cascais is located about 30 minutes west from Lisbon. It’s like a posh part of Lisbon. Very nice, but… posh.
Catalan people are very nice but my personal experience dealing with spaniards/catalans and Portuguese… is much much better with Portuguese.
Just my 3 cents.
Anybody race 70.3 Cascais in Portugal? It lines up perfectly with a business trip I have to Europe that week, so I’m thinking about registering for it. Would appreciate any feedback about the course, town, race day logistics, etc.
Thanks.
Ps. I did notice that IM Barcelona is the next weekend and that has me thinking…but doing an Iberian double is in one week with a bunch of meetings in the middle is a tall order, and realistically beyond my fitness capabilities…but it would be fun trying.\
My housemate has done both.
Barcelona is a ‘boring as f*&k’ course. Cascais is great.
He’s MOP and likes Lanzarote.
Make of that what you will.
I’ve been to Cascais for a normal holiday many years ago and it was a lovely place. It’s a ‘small town’ by the sea a little way out of Lisbon.
I’ve done Cascais twice now. Let me know if you have any specific questions.
I would definitely pick Cascais over Barcelona, but I am biased as I lived in Lisbon for a while.
But…
If you’re wanting to do a race during your travel, then do the race at the beginning so you can focus on whatever else there is (family time, business meetings) later. Else all you are going to think about during your meetings or when hanging out with your family will be your race. You don’t want to do that.
Barcelona, to me, seems quite hilly - from my travels/visits around there. But I haven’t checked out the course. Cascais is located about 30 minutes west from Lisbon. It’s like a posh part of Lisbon. Very nice, but… posh.
Catalan people are very nice but my personal experience dealing with spaniards/catalans and Portuguese… is much much better with Portuguese.
Just my 3 cents.
Thanks for the info. Just focused on Cascais now. Well, I don’t know a word of Portuguese, so oh well.
Cheers.
Anybody race 70.3 Cascais in Portugal? It lines up perfectly with a business trip I have to Europe that week, so I’m thinking about registering for it. Would appreciate any feedback about the course, town, race day logistics, etc.
Thanks.
Ps. I did notice that IM Barcelona is the next weekend and that has me thinking…but doing an Iberian double is in one week with a bunch of meetings in the middle is a tall order, and realistically beyond my fitness capabilities…but it would be fun trying.\
My housemate has done both.
Barcelona is a ‘boring as f*&k’ course. Cascais is great.
He’s MOP and likes Lanzarote.
Make of that what you will.
I’ve been to Cascais for a normal holiday many years ago and it was a lovely place. It’s a ‘small town’ by the sea a little way out of Lisbon.
Thanks. Heard that Barcelona is fairly flat, boring…though it can’t be as bad as the IMFL bike course. that’s a really boring course.
Def selecting Cascais. Hopefully it all goes well.
I’ve done Cascais twice now. Let me know if you have any specific questions.
Thanks. A few questions…transition seems to be in the centre of Cascais…are there places to stay in the area within walking distance of Transition? Are race day logistics well organized? The swim looks fairly straightforward, bike looks flat until the last third, and the run looks pretty flat. How are the hills on the bike? according to the elevation profile, they look fairly steep, but not that long. Is that right? Any other insights on the course, or things that would be helpful to know for someone racing it for the first time?
Appreciate the help.
Thanks.
My experience is that you’ll find a good number of people with a pretty good grasp of basic English. With the healthy tourism there and the fact that a lot of people start learning English at a young age in school, you can get by with almost no Portuguese, I think, at least in the bigger population centers. My parents are from northern Portugal and I’m fluent as well. If you’re up for staying in central Lisbon, I’d highly recommend the Torel Palace, we stayed there last summer and it was exceptional.
yes, there are plenty of places within walking distance, but you should try to book in advance, as it is a very touristic area;race day logistics are pretty well organized, it’s a very good organization;the bike is indeed very flat during the first part of the race (last third is a good number), but there are a couple of difficult climbs towards the end. When you come down, you go through Guincho, which can be a very VERY windy area, so lookout for your wheel selectionthe run may seem flat, but has a lot of ups and downs that grind you over, it’s definitely not flat;one thing that changed last year, is that you have a somewhat long run between the swim exit and T1. Some people would actually put on snickers (there was a T0) to make it into T1 faster. It’s probably something like… I don’t know 400m?
My experience is that you’ll find a good number of people with a pretty good grasp of basic English.
Exactly. Pretty much everyone understands English. But if they don’t, they’ll ask someone close or passing by to either translate or help you out. Just be your friendly self and smile. You’ll be fine.
“Se faz favor”, “serveja” and “obrigado” is all you need to really know 
Good luck in the race!
I’m a local, what do you need
.
I will bring my TT bike and not rent. A bit insecure wether I should adjust my rear cassette for the climbs (11-25). Anyone an idea or experience on the grades of these climbs?
thanks!
can you recommend a good tri shop that would build a tri bike back up after a flight?
11-25 and a TT bike will be fine, the stated climb is around 950 metres, 2 years running I’ve read about 700m max.
Climbing starts around 50km as you head to Estoril and the GP circuit, 2-4% then tips up to maybe absolute max 10% before the turn point and then a very fast descent to sea level, watch out for the cross wind.
“Bike Fix” will be at the Expo, they will offer that service for sure
Have been to Cascais on a few trips…you won’t have a problem being English only.
Has the swim at 70.3 Cascais been shortened or canceled in the past several years or is it uniformly good conditions for the swim? Anyone here do 2018 or 2019? How was it? Anyone here signed up for this year (in less than 3 weeks)? Is it going to happen with COVID?
For US triathletes, nice to see direct flights to Lisbon (at least from NYC.) How are you planning to bring your bike over? I see that Tribike Transport, even in a normal non-pandemic time, doesn’t offer transport to 70.3 Cascais or any other 70.3 in Europe from the US other than when there is a 70.3 WC.
As someone who has recently moved to the cascais area; I don’t think this swim would ever be cancelled or shortened. Water will be on cooler side and doesn’t get too cold even in October (low to mid 60s F). Cascais is a protected harbor and I’ve never seen any significant waves in the area where the swim is held.
With covid restrictions being removed including 100% attendance at sporting events, I think this event goes on as planned. Get a bike box and come on over. Bike course is fun, the new first loop has a nice 10% grade kicker at the very top before the decent back down.