Cameron Wurf‘s adventurous IRONMAN Pro Series schedule got off to a frustrating start as he was forced to ride in just one gear on the bike at IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong.
The popular Aussie may be a brilliant professional cyclist but that handicap would prove too much for anyone, though he made the best of a bad situation to finish the race and get some training miles in as Jelle Geens took the win.
Wurf is aiming to take in as many Pro Series races as his cycling calendar will allow in 2025 but he’d flagged up just before Geelong that his biggest strength had been all but nullified by mechanical issues.
‘I won’t be interfering with the race’
Posting on Instagram, he explained: “Just set up the bike in T1, unfortunately the tech issues I was having yesterday with the power for the gears through the bike has resurfaced and I have none.
“So I’m with a one-bike chainring but I’m also one gear at the back so I’ve no idea how that is going to pan out! So I won’t be interfering with the race.
“I’m obviously still going to line up, I’ve come a long way. But I’ve been around long enough to know it’s something I can’t control right now so I’ll just make the best of the situation and get a great day’s exercising in and enjoy the crowds.”
‘I couldn’t find my bike’
However there was still one huge positive to take out from Geelong for Wurf as the hard work over the off-season on his swimming has already started to pay dividends.
In his post-race report he added: “I was really, really happy with my swim, I’m so glad I was on the line still for that.
“I was within 30 seconds of the front. I swam so well in fact that there were so many bikes in transition when I came out of the water that I actually couldn’t find my bike. Normally I don’t have any trouble finding my bike as there’s not many left!
“Apologies to whoever’s box I threw my goggles and cap into before I realised that wasn’t my red bike.
“But really happy that the winter of swimming has paid off. For the rest I just did the best I could with one gear on the bike and had a good jog. Excited for the next race so on to Oceanside.”
