A year since deciding to switch to triathlon, Hugo Milner was on the top step of an international podium, ending his first season competing in swim, bike, run with victory at Europe Triathlon Cup Ceuta.
The 24-year-old from Derby has represented Great Britain internationally in cross-country and has also had athletics success on the road and track, but last October made the decision to focus on triathlon.
“The switch was for a mixture of reasons,” Milner said. “The pandemic gave me the opportunity to cycle a bit more and see what I enjoyed the most. I also finished uni in America in May 2021, so after that I was thinking about what I wanted to do next.
“The American collegiate system is amazing in terms of the funding and the support you get, and I just felt that when I came back to the UK, especially for running, the opportunities I was looking at, it seemed like it wasn’t really possible at the time to achieve that much in running compared to triathlon.
“Seeing the Arena Games, Super League, the Olympic Games, all of that really inspired me to think that could possibly be me one day. I saw triathlon as a massive opportunity so I thought I would give it a go.”
Although it’s in running where Milner has mainly competed, including at the World Cross Country Championships in 2017, the Harvard University graduate is no stranger to swimming and cycling having used it as cross training for athletics, as well as being a member of the City of Derby Swimming Club when he was younger.
Now focused on all three of swim, bike, run, the decision to pursue triathlon is a choice he’s not looked back from despite the challenges of juggling a full-time job as a data analyst alongside his training.
“I’ve been working full-time since I graduated," Milner said. “It’s been tough trying to balance triathlon training 25-30 hours a week with a full-time job worth 40 hours as well. It hasn’t been easy.
“Once I’ve got into the routine of things it’s definitely got slightly easier, and it does help working remotely most of the time. I’m getting up at five or half five in the morning every day, swimming for two hours before work, coming back home, working, I might do a quick 20-30 minute gym session during my lunch break and then work until six o’clock, and then once that’s done I go out training for two hours whether that’s on the bike or running.
“At the weekend, that’s my opportunity to get all the hours back in, so it starts with a four or five hour ride on the Saturday and then normally cramming in another swim, a long run, a few more gym sessions. I don’t really get too much time to relax but it’s all worth it when you get the results.”
Victory in Ceuta rounded-off a year that has included representing Great Britain at both the World and European Duathlon Championships, racing in the French Grand Prix, and finishing 14th overall in the British Triathlon Senior Super Series including two top-10 finishes.
Reflecting on his first season, Milner said: “It’s a year ago since I sat down with Steve Lloyd, my coach, and we had a discussion of goals and aims for this year. I think initially it was just trying to qualify for the Super Series, to try and be competitive in that and then hopefully qualify for European Cups and events like that, but that wasn’t really in mind until next year.
“To get a call-up this year and win the European Cup event exceeded expectations, but I think deep down I knew I had the potential to do it, but it was about gaining experience and learning this season. Luckily, I was able to join a French Grand Prix triathlon team, Valance Triathlon, at the start of this summer so I managed to get quite a lot more experience competing for them.
“To have some results over the summer that I wasn’t too happy with, it makes it really disappointing because I put in so much work and effort and I wasn’t really seeing the results or the reward, but I feel at the minute, each race I do I’m learning so much. To get this final result of the season was really special, and it’s really nice to close the season with as it gives me some kind of result for all the hard work I’ve put in over the last year.”
With his first international race win now ticked off, Milner is already looking forward to seeing where the sport will take him in 2023.
“I’m hoping to have a good cross-country season now. I don’t think there’s any more triathlon races that I’m going to do, so I’m going to be focusing on my triathlon training and doing a few cross-country races and cyclo-cross races,” Milner said. “Hopefully I can continue the run of form that I’m in and hopefully next year I can develop on this.
“For me, I really want to pursue my dreams and with Paris around the corner, that’s my main dream at the minute. I really want to throw everything at it and try and do my best. I feel like I have the confidence to do it, but, having only been in the sport for a year, I’m lacking a bit of experience and race knowledge, but I think the result from last weekend shows that I am capable of competing at the top level.
“Hopefully I can have a good winter’s training and comeback next year and have some good races and show what I’m capable of.”
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(Icon image: Europe Triathlon)
(Header image: Simon and Laura Maddox for Race Rapid at Mallory Park)
