Last weekend the Castle Triathlon Series’ latest event was held at the Chateau de Chantilly in France.
FOR THE eighth year Castle Triathlon Series bought a true festival of triathlon to the Chateau de Chantilly, with over 3,300 athletes taking part in the biggest Triathlon de Chantilly yet. The Chateau is the French jewel in the Series’ crown, with the sun shining on the impressive athletes most of the bank holiday weekend.
Highlights from the weekend included the strong French and British elite field battling to defend their titles, and a celebration of triathlon as a truly inclusive sport with Paralympic road cycling medallist, Olivier Donval, racing the sprint as well as 17 visually impaired athletes and their guides competing in a tailored duathlon as part of the ISVHN Association programme.
Sunday was a good day for British athletes competing at Chantilly, with two new course records set for Le Gantelet (half-iron distance) and an all British men’s and women’s podium for the Olympic distance race.
Le Gantelet course records were broken by male and female winners.
George Goodwin stormed to victory this year at Chantilly, shaving 23 seconds off the course record previously set by French pro, Victor Debil-Caux.
In the Women’s Le Gantelet race Fenella Langridge arrived on the sun-soaked finish line in front of the Chateau in 04:41:16, beating the course record of 04:43:43 set by Ruth Purbrook. French triathlete William Mennesson, who came third this year, after his second place in 2016, also collected a prize of £1,800 Wheelscience Racewheels for the fastest bike split of the race*.
Over 3,300 triathletes took part in the Triathlon de Chantilly.
Women’s Le Gantelet Podium
1) Fenella Langridge – 04:41:36
2) Alice Jenkins – 04:54:01
3) Laurie Kanac – 05:23:29 Men’s Le Gantelet podium
4) George Goodwin – 04:04:00
5) Laurent Lambert – 04:09:53
6) William Mennesson – 04:13:16
Brits victorious as they dominated the Olympic Distance podiums
Sunday also saw many Olympic Distance triathletes return to Chantilly to compete, including Luke Pollard, Sam Wade, Christopher Silver and David Bardi. It was an all-British podium for both the men’s and women’s race, with Pollard retaining his first place on the podium with a time of 02:07:09, two minutes faster than last year’s time and Wade moving from third to second place on the podium with a faster time of 02:08:25. The women’s race saw Catherine Jameson in first place followed by Gwen Kinsey and Hana Kolarova.
Women’s Olympic Distance Podium
1) Catherine Jameson – 02:27:16
2. Gwen Kinsey – 02:31:53
3) Hana Kolarova – 02:37:25
Men’s Olympic Distance Podium
1) Luke Pollard – 02:07:09
2) Sam Wade – 02:08:25
3) Christopher Silver – 02:09:13
Triathlon for all
Saturday’s races at Chateau de Chantilly Triathlon were a true celebration of triathlon as an inclusive sport for all, with the inclusion of the ISVHN para triathletes in the Sprint races, including Olympic paratriathlete Olivier Donval, and a range of children’s races which added to the family festival atmosphere at the 16th century chateau.
Olivier Donval, who raced in the Louis XV Super Sprint race said: “It was a wonderful race with lots of people taking part.” Olivier was joined in the Super Sprint race by 17 teams of visually impaired athletes and their guides as part of the ISVHN network, which para-athletes take part in sports in France, particularly with tandem bike-runs across France.
Saturday afternoon’s junior races highlighted the growth of junior triathlon in France, with Castle Triathlon Series leading the way with over 250 children taking part. Returning to Chantilly was BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award winner Bailey Matthews, who stormed to the finish line in 01:27:08, improving on his time from last year.
Many were competing to raise money for worthy charities.
Tri Challenges for Good
The weekend saw many athletes competing to raise money for a variety of charities, including the French Charity Partner Partage, which provides sponsorship for deprived and vulnerable children in France and national charity partner, Macmillan Cancer Support. The Castle Triathlon Series has helped raise over £47,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support so far this year, raising funds for an information and support pod, which provides important resources to support those affected by cancer, as well as their families.
The Chateau de Chantilly Triathlon will be hosted on August 25-26, 2018.
