The British Triathlon Big Weekend continued on Sunday 8 September with mixed relay racing. TriStars and Youth and Junior Mixed Relay races took place alongside the Accenture Mixed Relay Cup at Mallory Park.
Making its debut at the Olympic Games in Tokyo next year, mixed relay triathlon is a fast, exciting team format of the sport. Regional teams raced in TriStar and Youth and Junior races, as the athletes tested their skills and gained invaluable experience of mixed relay racing.
Youth and Junior Mixed Relay
In the first race of the day, the Youth and Junior Mixed Relay, it was the visiting team from France who took the victory, with South East and East Midlands second and third.
A strong performance from the French team saw them build a solid lead, leaving Theo Texereau to cross the line for victory, “they [the team] built a lead and it was nice to race on the motor circuit and a tough, technical course.”
Bethany Cook, from second placed South East, said after the race: "everyone worked really well together and it worked out well with a strong performance before the strong French team took the lead. It was great to be the first British team across the line."
Accenture Mixed Relay Cup
The annual Accenture Mixed Relay Cup brought together the British Triathlon Performance Centres, as well as teams from Oxford University and Australia, for its third edition. Having won the previous two editions, it was a second place finish for Leeds I in 2019.
In a tight race that saw Leeds I, Cardiff I and Australia Green exchanging the lead throughout, it was Australia Green who took the victory to be crowned Accenture Mixed Relay Cup 2019 champions ahead of Leeds I and Cardiff I.
Coming into the final run, it was Leeds I and Australia Green who were out on their own. Lorcan Redmond, fresh from silver at the Junior race at the Grand Final in Lausanne, knew he had to put the hammer down to build a lead as he had a time penalty waiting before he could cross the line.
“I knew I had a good gap going into the final straight, so as long as I could maintain a second or two after the penalty I’d be alright”, said Redmond after bringing the Australian team home to victory.
TriStar Mixed Relays
The final action of the weekend saw the TriStar 2s and 3s combine to form teams of four in the TriStar A and B races.
The A race saw the West Midlands, South East and East lead a very tight top 10, with Wales making the jump to lead out of T1 and onto the bike course of the first leg. The South East build a lead across leg B, with East close behind as they left the rest of the field behind coming into the handover.
The two regions built a commanding lead with the East region stretching ahead, a lead they maintained through to the finish for victory. South East finished in third, with North East coming home in third.
In the B race, there was breakaway from the beginning with South East, Wales and North East taking the lead throughout the A leg. Onto leg B and throughout the bike leg, the South West joined the top three to take the lead out of T2.
The North East started to pull away and some competitive racing saw them build a commanding lead on the run to set up the final leg. This was a lead that was maintained all the way through to the finish, with South Central second and East in third.
The fastest two results for each region across the two races were taken forward for the final results, with the overall top three: South East, East and North East.
