Sports Tours Triathlon - Lisbon Triathlon Report

Martin Boddie from Sports Tours Triathlon (www.sportstoursinternational.co.uk/triathlon) has contacted us with his race report and some photos from the Lisbon International Triathlon.

Sports Tours Triathlon took out a group of competitors and supporters to the Lisbon International Triathlon which is in its 4th edition. We were greeted with blue cloudless skies and 24 degree heat as we got off the plane at Lisbon International Airport. We arranged for transfers for our customers to the event hotel where we were staying, which was in an excellent location, close to the airport in the Parque das Nações district of the town that was developed for the World Expo in 1998. The area features a number of stand-out architectural landmarks including the famous Tryp Oriente Station, Parque Cable Car, the Vasco De Gama Shopping Centre and the Lisboa Oceanaria which is the second largest aquarium in the world with a huge central tank with sharks, rays, barracuda and loads more. You can easily take a metro or bus into the centre of Lisbon in 15 minutes or if you fancied exploring the delightful towns of Estoril or Sintra or Cascais they are a short train ride away.

The race kicked off at 8am sharp and the race organizers, officials, marshals and volunteers did an excellent job.

Dann Brook lead into T1 and headed off on the bike as we headed back in for a cup of coffee at the hotel bar from where we could watch the bike unfold literally across the street. As the leaders entered T2 Dann Brook was chasing hard and quickly regained the lead. Towards the end of the bike there were a few short showers which came as a welcome break from the heat.

Competitors were remarking that the wind was a challenge at various points including the turn around point. On the final few laps of the run things got more exciting as the lead started to slip but he held on well to take the victory in 3.53.50 and received a well earned cheer form the crowd including his mother who was stood beside us and a hug from the race organizer! Dennis Devriendt finished second behind Brook in 3.54.16 with Markus Fachbach in 3.55.44. Christel Robin won in impressive fashion, exiting the swim with Sofie Goos but putting in a 2.24.57 bike to put five minutes in to her and wrapped off the victory with a rapid 1.18 half marathon. Goos finished in second in 4.23 and Joan Blafoss finished third in 4.26.

Well done to all the UK and Ireland finishers.

Overall it was a fantastic, challenging race, and everyone did well to finish. We hung on to cheer the last few competitors across the line and there was a really good atmosphere throughout the day. We will be back next year and offering packages to this event which will continue to grow.

For more info on our any of our packages to triathlons and training camps all over the world please email triathlon@sportstoursinternational.co.uk or call 0161 703 8161.