Lucy Charles-Barclay‘s late call to race Challenge Roth paid dividends as she finished second on Sunday and she says it will also give her valuable data points to take into the business end of the season.

The 2023 IRONMAN World Champion became an unexpected starter after she identified the need for a significant performance benchmark as she continued building towards the defence of her 70.3 World title and Kona.

Tendon surgery at the start of the year had delayed the campaign but she returned to long-distance racing in style with victory at IRONMAN Lanzarote in May.

And in Roth only surprise winner Alanis Siffert was too good, Lucy crossing the line in second place in 8:16:41 – it was the same position she filled at Roth in 2018 before going on to win the 2019 edition.

‘Mentally ready to race’

Reflecting on the race, Lucy said: “Roth was never originally on the calendar. We knew we needed a really big data point to understand where I am physically, and the plan had actually been to do a big training day instead.

“As the weeks went on, I was feeling stronger and stronger, and we decided that if I was going to put my body through that kind of effort, I may as well do it in one of the best races in the world. Once we made that decision, I was fully committed and mentally ready to race.

“To come away with second place against such a strong field is really encouraging, because it shows we’re in a really good place without having specifically targeted this race, and gives us a clear picture of where my fitness is as we build towards the key races later this season.”

What’s next?

She will do a training camp in August and told Laura Siddall, on the ground at Roth for TRI247: “The best way to find out where you are is to put yourself on the start line. I enjoy gritting it out. I wasn’t sure how Alanis was going to run so I just went at my pace.

“The swim was good. I took it out super chill and felt really strong for the whole thing. T1 was a little bit of a calamity. I’ve made a few mistakes in there, but I’ll write those down and be better next time. And then on the bike, I was just sticking to what we had set as the plan.

“And then I came into T2, full wardrobe change, which I had planned to do if I felt okay, and I think it was a good choice.

“I felt really loose and free on the run and was happy with it. I think it was almost a PB for the marathon, so I can’t complain. It was just a solid day all round really.”