"...With a tight in-water start, I was concerned with finding the right spot to have a good, relaxed swim start while everyone else was fighting and struggling with each other. Moments before the gun, I moved to the outside (counter-intuitively) to line up next to Matty Reed and hopefully a smooth, fight-free start. The gun went off and of course it was pure bedlam. Fortunately, I made the right choice as me and a few other ITU guys were in a small pack to the outside while everyone was frantically spazzing in the whitewater to the left of us. I did my best to remain relaxed, even around the crazy 180-degree turn and try to hold my good spot through the first half of the swim. With about 400m to go, I realized that I was actually in the front group, and having a great swim! Upon jumping out of the water, not only had I made the front group, but I had actually come out of the water ahead of Reed--who I had hoped to pace behind for most of the swim. Unfortunately, I stopped right before the swim timing mat to take off my speedsuit, so my time is registered a bit differently than the other guys, but it was still a great feeling knowing I had been right where I wanted to be!...."
Henry Hagenbuch reports on his ITU Pan American Race in Kelowna, Canada, where he finished 7th American with a time of 2:30:19.
Re-cap of the Long Beach Tournament by NPN sponsored volleyball player, Joey Dykstra.
After my early season success and jump in rankings, my coaches and I made the decision to go to Europe for a few weeks this summer and do two ITU World Championship Series races in Hamburg, Germany and London, England. These races are known as the most competitive triathlons in the world, where the best athletes are essentially racing on home turf. A strong majority of the racers either live in Europe, or are based there for the summer, so they are at their fittest and fastest. Going into Europe, I knew the racing would be hard and good results would be even harder, so I was essentially looking to get some good experience for the next few years.
A report from Henry: "I wanted to send you an update of my latest East Coast trip for two Life Time Fitness Series triathlons (Minneapolis and NYC). Thanks again for all the support!"
Congratulations to Chris Foster for his 3rd consecutive win at the San Diego International Triathlon. Read his report.
Joey Dykstra's report on AVP Virginia Beach Open
Ben Day convincingly won today’s Stage 4 Time Trial with 1.01 separating him from second place and in the process taking both the Yellow jersey (overall leader) and White jersey (points classification).
Ben Day becomes the second only two time winner if Beauce’s 26 year history.
David Tanner has been in scintillating form in recent weeks and has delivered a strong win in Stage 2 of the Tour de Beauce.
Re-cap of the open by NPN sponsored volleyball player, Joey Dykstra
Commenting on the team’s performance at the end of the week’s racing, Fly V Australia team owner Chris White said, “We have had a successful week, and all of our riders should be proud of their accomplishments at this week’s race. Coming in, we had two objectives – top 10 overall and a stage win. In what has been one of the toughest races in the world this year, we achieved one of these objectives, and narrowly missing the other with Ben Day going desperately close to taking the stage into Bakersfield after animating the race”.
White went on to say, “We have stepped up from where we were last year, and feel that our journey to Pro Tour status is on track. We are encouraged by where we are at, but highly motivated to keep raising the bar and pushing the envelope and moving forward”.
For the Fly V Australia team, today’s Stage 5 of the Amgen Tour of California was all about planning and executing. Covering 195 kilometers over a sinuous route from Visalia to Bakersfield, and taking in two categorized climbs and finishing with 2 laps of a punishing circuit that featured a tough 1.5 kilometer climb to the line, this was always going to be a stage where the cream rose to the top.
Fly V australia’s plan centered on getting Jay Thomson into an early break to help set the stage for Fly V australia’s fast men with good climbing legs. However just 5 kilometers into the stage in a fast tailwind section, a touch of wheels led to a massive crash which would have a big bearing on the race, the stage and the day’s plans. With the crash taking out Jay Thomson – not to mention Lance Armstrong, Stuart O’Grady and Heinrich Haussler – it was time to enact plan B.
Fly V Australia’s Jonathan Cantwell claimed a second top 5 performance at the Amgen Tour of California.
Stage 4 covered 195 kilometers over largely rolling terrain with a tough first up climb of the Category 1 climb of Sierra Road reached after 10 kilometers. The stage featured an early break that stayed way for the majority of the stage, however Fly V Australia’s plan for the day revolved around an expected sprint finish.
Sponsored triathlete Chris Foster speaks out about NPN's Supercharge Karbolyn Nitric Oxide on LA Talk Radio. Host Simon Gowen interviewed Chris live for a 45 minute clip, where Chris stated Supercharge was part of his top 3 components for competitive training and racing. Check out the interview!
Fly V Australia’s Phil Zajicek finished a grueling stage 2 of the Amgen Tour of California safely in the front group of favorites along side pre-race favourites; Levi Leiphiemer, Lance Armstrong, David Zabriskie, Michael Rogers and Peter Sagan.