With “super support from crowds” #TeamTCUK athlete, John Percy, describes the Royal Windsor Triathlon as a real UK classic. We’ll blame the very early start on the fact that he lost his bike in T1 and T2 - great racing John!

Pre-race

Good, my training was pretty consistent and I was looking forward to it. It is a very early start, and you have to rack your bike the day before – so in many ways the logistics were the most challenging!

Absolutely, the TCUK programme was excellent preparation and I could really feel the progression through the early parts of the season.

Swim

Time: 28 mins

It seemed to go pretty quickly, I think there must have been a bit of a current helping me along. As always, there was a bit of a melee at the start.

T1

Time: 5.42

Windsor is a massive transition with approx. 400m run to get to the mount line once you have your bike. I could not find my bike straight away which slowed me down even more… not as much as T2 though…

Bike

Time: 1.08

Lovely flat and fast course so you can really nail it, busy in parts though as not closed roads.

T2

Time: 3.33

Terrible time – I just could not find my bike. The wave stands were split in two and I was early back so not many other bikes in. It was also a relay wave as well as solo so loads of people standing around waiting for their co-entrants which blocked a lot of the access points.

Run

Time: 43 mins

Felt good on the run. It is pretty hilly which brought the average speeds down. Because I was in one of the early waves the run course was really empty on the first lap – felt like I was in the lead!

Post-race

I’ve fully recovered post-race and have since done a couple of sprint triathlons including getting a PB at Dorney.

Coaching

The coaching from Ady and TCUK really helped structure my season and I am definitely faster and stronger than 2017. I would recommend.

 

Race review

Windsor is a ‘classic’ UK triathlon, and very scenic. You start with a river Thames swim, before heading out into the Berkshire countryside. It is a nice flat route, rewarding putting the power down and maintaining it throughout the course.

It is a big race with lots of competitors and waves, therefore make sure you firmly consider all the exits and entrances from the different disciplines. I learnt this to my cost as I could not easily find my bike space in either T1 or T2 losing precious minutes.

The length of the transitions is also pretty big, and distances on the bike around 44km rather than 40 meaning this is not a course for an all-time PB.

The run out goes into the centre of Windsor and up the famous hill to the castle – now extended into Windsor park. It runs for 2 laps.

I really enjoyed the whole race, and you have super support from the crowds that gather in Windsor. Despite all the logistics in transition I came in at 2hrs 29 mins. It is a recommended race.