Seems a far way off in current situation, but wanted to know what the best go to locations in europe are for the triathlete ?
Let me know the best places you have been to that have - triathlon atmosphere (local athletes) roads for cycling, trails for runnings, olympic pools and possible open water too.
Brunico, Italy
The lodging is way cheaper than Alta Badia, there’s an outdoor 50m pool open June-August that is pretty inexpensive at the daily rate, running trails in town along the river are fantastic and did I mention it’s in the Dolomites?
If you can handle the cold water, there’s a mountain lake 30km to the NE, right near the Austrian border.
Ya, totally epic training spot. I was there for 10 days leading up to the ITU AG Oly Distance World Champs in Lausanne last fall. I had my TT bike in full race setup and got a lot of stares on those climbs.
Next time, I’ll bring my road bike.
Mallorca. Open water, super cycling friendly, lots of roads, both flat and climbing.
I have always been very happy for going to Torrevieja, Spain. Theres an olympic pool in the city, good open water possibilities and there is good options for running on dirts around the two salt lakes just outside the city.
Where the olympic swimming pool is at Torrevieja Sports City, there is also a track for doing the running track work.
Most of the roads in the area are with good tarmac. Mostly flat roads, but it is possible to do a few medium hard climbs on 3-10 kilometers length on the 70+ kilometer rides.
I have been there on training camps a lot of times (10+ times) as both a cat 1 cyclist and a triathlete, so I know the area pretty well.
In the smaller towns 15-20 k outside Torrevieja, there are a lot of both small and big cycling clubs in various depth that is always happy to have new athletes training with them.
I know that there is a local triathlon club in Torrevieja, but I have never trained with them. I have only seeing them a few times training in the olympic pool. And some of them looks to be very fast.
I have also been to Lanzarote and Furteventura, but still my go-to place is Torrevieja. I just feel more “at home†there. I dont know if it’s the people there or what it is, but I just feel more comfortable in Torrevieja.
Alicante Airport is situated only 45k north of the city, so it’s an easy transfer with cab, bus or rental car to Torrevieja.
Also, if you wanna go to the real mountains known from the Vuelta (Like the Aintana climb), rent a car, drive an hour to Villajoisa, Calpe or Benidorm and start climbing mountains on 15-26k length. Those mountains takes you from sea level to around 1500m altitude.