Lucy Buckingham and Lucy Byram claimed 5th and 7th place respectively in incredibly hot and humid conditions at T100 Singapore. After leading the race from the start of the swim until the final kilometers of the bike, Buckingham eventually crossed the finish line in 5th in a time of 3:52:10. Lucy Byram had a solid all-round performance and posted a 3:54:08 finishing time to claim 7th. Ashleigh Gentle (AUS; 3:44:23) came home victorious, accompanied on the podium by Lucy Charles-Barclay (GBR; 3:45:58) and Els Visser (NED; 3:51:38).
After suffering from food poisoning in Miami, Lucy Buckingham was determined to show what she is capable off in Singapore. Right from the gun, she settled in the feet of Charles-Barclay to lead the swim. With an advantage of 1’13 she took off for the technical bike course togher with Charles-Barclay. 2 minutes behind Buckingham, Lucy Byram jumped on her BMC Speedmachine in 11th place. Byram would move up some spots to settle in the chase group, battling for 3rd place. In front of the race, Buckingham decided to not overdo her pace in the beginning of the bike given the hot conditions, settling in behind Charles-Barclay. The duo held a 3-minute advantage halfway through the 80k bike leg. Just a few kilometers later, Lucy decided to take over the lead from Charles-Barclay and set the pace. Pushing the pace the leading duo extended their advantage to nearly 5 minutes over the first chasers. Reaching T2 Buckingham jumped of her bike a few seconds behind the leader Charles-Barclay to start the run. Her teammate Byram took off for the 18k run in 5th place. It was obvious that the hot and humid conditions would play its roll on the run. Buckingham was controlling her efforts to hold on to 2nd place after the first of three laps. With one lap to go, she had to settle for 3rd as it became clear, the danger came from behind. Lucy gave her all in those final 6k to eventually come home in 5th place after being past in the final 100m in a sprint finish for 4th. After starting the run in 5th place, Lucy Byram gave her all in those brutal conditions to cross the line in 7th place. A strong all round team peformance from the BMC Pro Tri ladies.
Better than expected in the heat
Afterwards Lucy Buckingham reflected on her performance and how she played things safe in order to prevent overheating.
“I am super happy considering it were tough racing conditions. I was hoping to hang on to 4th, but it wasn’t meant to be today. The swim didn’t feel amazing to be honest, due to the hot water, I guess. The bike was going well, but I landed early this week with a bit of sciatica and that started kicking off around the 60k mark, which led to cramping. Luckily, it eased off and didn’t come back on the run. During the run, I was just being super careful not to overheat and keep my HR controlled as much as possible. Either way, I wasn’t expecting to go well in the heat, so, I’ll take this result for sure”.
Brutal conditions
Lucy Byram also looked back at her performance: "Well that was brutal, the racing conditions in Singapore were incredibly tough. I am pleased to come away with another solid race finishing in 7th. There is definitely more to come for me this season, it just might take a little while to get it right!"
In the men's race Clément Mignon didn't have his day and started feeling ill immediately after the finish. Despite his off day Clément stuck it out to finish in 15th. So much more to come from this young man this season.
"A 4th place for me at the Supertri E World Triathlon Championships in London. Gutted to miss out on the podium for the team. I was in 3rd until cramping in the last run and struggled home for 4th. The heats had been negotiated in the morning leaving it all to play for in the Finals. 3 stages: Swim bike run / run bike swim / swim bike run, 200m swim - 4km bike - 1km run. 5’ between stages.Averaging 2:08 swim splits / over 5W/kg on the bike / 2:52-2:56 run splits. Holding onto a podium place all race until battling cramp on the final run to cling onto 4th by .4 second."
