Just finished my first 70.3 race in the pro field and figured I’d share some of the specific numbers that I have always wondered about that most pros don’t openly share, now that I have a sample size of one race! Let me know if there are any personal questions, always happy to share!
The Swim
The first 400 meters was SO hard. I knew it’d be hot, but I couldn’t believe it. My 25 yard pool times from a wall push are ~57s for 100 yards, 2:04 for 200 yards, 4:15 for 400 yards, and I was still getting dropped like a hot potato by the lead pack. Perhaps it was Leon Pauger and McElroy pushing the pace hotter than a typical American 70.3, two world class ITU guys, but I almost got dropped by the lead pack… I was able to bridge up to grab the 6th of 7 positions in the front pack from 400-800m after someone had make a mistake and turned early at a sighting buoy (LOL) - and then hang on for life in the draft. It was then a steady 9/10 threshold effort for the rest of the swim for me, which is exactly 1:08/100 yards in a pool for me. Not sure what that translates to in real “race speed†with a wetsuit + cold open water + drafting, but generally I would say that the swim in the pro front pack (mid 23 mins) was equivalent to swimming a 2000 yard pool time trial swim with a 4:15 - 4:20 400 off the gun, then holding 1:08/100yd pace for 1600 more. Front guys are probably 1-2 seconds hotter, with less swim draft.
The Bike
Bridging up solo: I fumbled through T1 like an amateur and got dropped quickly by the ITU guys in the front group getting on the bike as I fell over trying to mount and get my shoes on. I was strung out solo but could see the cameras and motos up about 30s ahead and got fired up and decided to go for it. I held 324 watts for 15 minutes and could tell I was slowly closing on them, so made one big “all in” move and held 357 watts for 5 minutes until I closed the gap as the 4th wheel. Had I not screwed the pooch in T1, I could have avoided burning these matches so early. I was thinking to myself almost the entire bike “what am I doing? Am I going to blow up?" - as my best power to date was 307 in Santa Cruz, and I was way out of my comfort zone early. But as I quickly learned, I had made the right move because had I not, I never would have been able to ride with the strongest guys for as long as I did.
Riding in a group of 4: McElroy, Leon Pauger, me, Pimental - 295 watts for 8 minutes as the 4th wheel in the train. A sweet relief. I would guess that it is about 7-10 watts per bike of legal drafting benefit. The top 8-10 guys had refs on all us all day on the bike so we were all about 15m apart, playing it very safe as you have to. When I saw Sam Long and Jackson Laundry rolling up behind me (so soon? shit!) I bridged up to 2nd as I had recovered enough to be able to try to go with them. Laundry flew by everyone and nobody responded, but I knew Sam was still behind us so I was going to wait for his move and go with him.
Sam shatters the group, me hanging on for life: 75 seconds at 455 watts as he rolls by, then into 8 minutes at 355 watts to hold his wheel as he dropped McElroy and the other guy. Me and Leon Pauger hung on with Sam for dear life and he caught Jackson. We rode another 15 minutes and I was holding 330 watts for those 15 minutes as fourth wheel in that group. I would guess that Sam and Jackson were around 350-370 but I don’t know their weights. Not as relevant on this pancake flat course. Insanely hot pace, I was scared but stoked to just be in the moment and hung on. I was having too much to not go for it and thought to myself “If i blow up i blow up, I’m riding with Sam Long one of my favorites in the sport and at least I’m on TV…†At some point, Leon in the 3rd position let the gap open up and I was content not trying to burn yet another match trying to bridge all the way up around to catch Sam and Jackson since they would have dropped me and left me solo at some point shortly after anyways. Traded turns with Leon the rest of the ride at 310 watts on the front / 300 when behind, and Lionel and Bart caught us at mile 55 / right before T2. Lionel looked over at me and said some nice words which was one of the highlights of my day. I’ve met him a few times and he is such a good dude.
Unfortunately Leon Pauger who I rode with the entire ride didn’t know you couldn’t litter… In Austria I guess you can litter, haha? He did it right in front of the ref and had no idea he was doing anything wrong. He got an intentional littering penalty that cost him 5 mins and 5th place finish. I thought I had cracked him on the bike and that he had DNF’d hahaha. Nope, he ran 1:13 and those are the rules… he’s a great dude getting ready for Paris 2024 olympics and it was his 24th birthday and also his first 70.3. So impressive.
I finished with a 2:06 bike split and 317 NP, 308W average power. While these are reasonably high numbers (10 watts better than I’ve ever ridden), the big difference was that I spent 11 minutes above 410 watts, and had to hold 500-510 watts for 30 seconds at 3 different times. Just burning so many more matches than you normally would when riding a steady solo TT in the amateur field.
The run: same same, but guys are just way faster than you lol. Solo run with nobody in front or behind me until McElroy came by me at mile 10. Didn’t even attempt to go with him, just said great job and then locked in to the finish. Even split the run almost every mile at 6:00, ran my own race on dead legs from overbiking, stayed in control until sending it the final 5k (no faster, just way harder…)
Overall it was by far the most fun race experience I’ve ever had. But I’m also so glad I waited until this point to make the jump. Really looking forward to 2023. Ready for off season, but I’m fired up. Big thanks to my coach Lauren Goss. Hit me up @jriele on instagram and Strava here if interested. Thanks for reading!
