Two of the team were racing the popular and competitive Chirk Triathlon last weekend. Dave obliterated his competition taking more than 3mins out of the next competitor in his age group and Ian also produced a credible performance just narrowly missing out on a 10 top.

Here’s what Dave had to say:

“After having to clear frost from the car before we left for the race, I was worried that a post swim bike in a wet tri suit would bring on hyperthermia. Luckily we had a dry sunny day, but with a cold wind; overheating was not a problem!

I had lots of complementary remarks about the Wilier TwinFoil when pushing it into transition, so the pressure was on for me to perform.

For a change there were no problems with crowding in the swim lane and I had a solid swim. After that it was into transition and out on the Wilier. The combination of my lower position on the front of the bike and the deep fast forward aero wheels meant that I was up to speed straight away and being able to catch a couple of people early spurred me on. Out of the town and onto the main section, the road surface was very uneven and the Wilier was bouncing around a bit, but despite this there was no problem with being able to stay on the aero bars or with bike handling. I entered transition to post a new personal best for the bike leg of 38-20 for the 14 mile ride which included the transition time.

Onto the run I felt strong and was soon into my stride, managing to overtake people whilst trying to maintain a consistent effort on the undulating run course. On the final downhill stretch, I pushed as hard as I could to finish the run in 19-40 for a total finish time of 1-04-38 just 2 seconds outside my personal best to win my age group by over 3 minutes and finish 13th overall in a very fast field.

It felt good to finish the first race of the season with a good result and to be able to put the top quality kit kindly supplied by the many TORQ sponsors to the test.”

Ian’s account of the day is as follows:

“Having raced Chirk Sprint Triathlon as my first competitive race in 2004, this was the first time that I had returned to the event. It was as I had remembered with a great atmosphere, excellent racing conditions, but only this time I was racing for TORQ.

This was also the first outing for the amazing Wilier Twinfoil, which got undivided attention as soon as I entered transition. It looks amazing. As I had posted an estimated swim time of 5:40 I was placed in a later wave and therefore my start time was at 2pm with many class athletes in the field (including full time professional athletes – JE).

The swim was uneventful as I entered T1 in 5:51 and exited ahead of the athletes that I had swam with due to a speedy transition, the bike was a deceptive effort with the out and back course taking in a slow drag for the first half through the valley and then a shallow descent for the return to transition, however with 2km to go on the bike there was a sting in the tail with a slight climb up towards T2.

Exiting T2 onto the run I hadn’t been caught, but had passed a few of the athletes from earlier waves, I was unsure of my position, but aimed to run under 17 minutes for the 5k hilly run. During the run I passed tiring athletes, but didn’t lose any positions even though I suffered with cramps on the hilly sections of the course (an early season necessity). As I crossed the finish line, I awaited my final position with some quality athletes still to finish. I finished 11th Overall.

As this was the Wiliers first outing, I am still making adjustments and testing for optimum position, I certainly look forward to racing it again and aiming for those podium places for TORQ. Certainly something to aim for in the forthcoming races at Ribby Hall Triathlon next weekend and Harlech Triathlon at the end of the month.

With thanks to Gwynfor at www.sportpicturescymru.co.uk for the Professional photographs.

Many thanks to our fantastic sponsors:

www.wilier.it – Triathlon Frames
www.ffwdwheels.com – Aero Wheels
www.ritcheylogic.com – Aerobars, Saddles and Finishing Kit
www.cycleops.com – Power Meters
www.racezone3.com – Wetsuits
www.limarhelmets.com – Helmets & Glasses
www.lakecycling.co.uk – Cycling Footwear
www.jagwireusa.com – Cables & Housing
www.scott-sports.com – Running Footwear
www.shimano.com – Groupsets
www.triathlonspecific.com/Sable/Sable.html – Swim Goggles (Sable Water Optic)
www.max-mediagroup.co.uk – Team PR
www.amphibia-sport.com – Transition Bags
www.schwalbe.com – Tyres
www.lezyne.com – Pumps, Tools and Bottle Cages
www.champ-sys.com – Custom Trisuits and Cycle Wear