“When this amateur, this unknown Sufferlandrian came through, beating some of the best riders on the planet and won the Tour of Sufferlandria, the whole world took notice,” said Wade Wallace, editor of CyclingTips.com.au. “So it was no surprise when big teams started calling the Sufferlandrian team director Gunther Von Agony.”

The teaser video sees Team Giant-Shimano’s John Degenkolb shouting at the Sufferlandrian recruit as he fights to merit his inclusion in the team during stages of this year’s Tour of California and Tour de Suisse:

The Sufferfest & Team Giant-Shimano: The Rookie: Trailer from The Sufferfest on Vimeo.

The 55min downloadable video features a workout created by elite coach Neal Henderson of Apex Coaching, and is based around three 10min high-intensity race simulation intervals:

The Sufferfest: The Rookie: Sample Footage from The Sufferfest on Vimeo.

The Rookie is the 19th cycling training video by The Sufferfest and is available for download from their website here.

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Around 2,000 athletes took part in central France last August, with defending champion Andrej Vistica (CRO) winning the men’s race and Hungary’s Gabriella Zelinka overtaking 2012 winner Martina Dogana on the run to clinch the women’s race (race report here).

Challenge Vichy 2014 L’autre film from les films du grand large on Vimeo.

Next year’s race will be held on August 29-30 and entries should open very soon on the event’s website here.

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The course’s two runs take in internal roads and trails, with the occasional hill thrown in to test the legs. The 16km bike features narrow technical woodland trails that occasionally open out into straights where you can pass the opposition. 

If you fancy repeating the experience, Clumber forms the first round of the Midlands Off-Road Series, with two further events in November, the Evil Sheriff Duathlon and the Nottingham Off-Road Duathlon.

For a good all-round test of fitness and an early winter workout, Clumber should appeal. Darren Sharpe of RAF Triathlon, first in the 2013 men’s race in a time of 1:13:41, and series winner for the 30-39 age group, gives us his tips for some fun in the forest…

Kit

“The weather can be unpredictable in late October,” says Darren, “so bring plenty of clothing options – long-sleeved tops/arm-warmers, base layers and full-finger gloves. If it’s very cold, your glasses can steam up easily as the air isn’t moving as quickly in the tree sections of the course. 

“Try to avoid mountain bike shoes with buckles as they’ll slow you down in transition. A hardtail mountain bike with front suspension is the ideal set-up for this course and it’s 29er-friendly as there aren’t too many technical sections.” 

The first run

“The 5km run course starts on a downhill section of road. At the bottom of the hill the road bends before you start the climb, which is off road. The trails are hard packed, but an off-road shoe is recommended as there are some muddy areas.

“It’s worth walking round transition after racking your bike to see the entrance and exits for the run and bike as the start/finish line is around half a mile from transition.”

The bike

“The 16km bike course is fast and mainly flat with a couple of short, sharp climbs. Make sure you’re in the right gear as you approach the climb as it can catch you out, leave you with no option but to walk/run up it. 

“There are also areas of the course where you need to ride over tree roots. Watch out for these if it’s wet as they’ll be very slippery. The course is two laps with a short section out and back to pick up the loop.”

The second run

“The second run is an out-and-back loop using part of the same route from the first run. It’s only 3km, so there are no excuses for leaving anything in the tank!”

Where: Clumber Park, Worksop, Nottinghamshire
What: 5km run, 16km bike, 3km run
More info: www.onestepbeyond.org.uk

(Main image: Mark Epton)

Related: Clumber Park Duathlon – in pics

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Bermuda’s Flora Duffy won her first Worlds title despite a hard crash on the bike, while Spain’s Ruben Ruzafa claimed his third title in assertive style – full race report here. 

(Images: Xterra)

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Unveiled alongside the more affordable Charge (£99) and Charge HR (£119) models – which combine activity tracking, Caller ID and in the latter’s case an optical heart rate monitor – the Surge will cost £199 when it lands early next year.

Coming in three different colours (black, blue and our pick, tangerine), the Surge features built-in GPS to track pace, distance, elevation and more, and its smartwatch features include Caller ID, text alerts and mobile music control.

Claimed battery life is an impressive seven days, and other features include automatic sleep detection, multisport metrics, a backlit LCD touchscreen and food intake tracking.

But it’s the optical heart rate monitor which is likely to garner most interest, based on PurePulse technology for automatic, continuous heart rate tracking.

We’ll be getting our hands on one shortly to see how it stacks up against similar tech from Mio and TomTom…

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More info from Fitbit.com/UK.

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The routes will take athletes along Copacabana beach on the restaurant-lined Avenida Atlantica, with the Olympic course also climbing through local neighbourhoods – along the same route as the real thing in 2016.

The 2015 Rio de Janeiro ITU World Olympic Qualification Event will feature a start list of 75 men and women, and will offer the maximum level of Olympic qualification points available, putting it on par with the World Triathlon Series Grand Final. Neither prize money nor ITU World Cup or World Triathlon Series points will be available at the test event however.

Speaking to 220 this morning, top British athlete Jodie Stimpson said: “I had heard a few people talking about the possibility of a world cup test event being held in August and am really excited to be able to go over and race on the course that will be the next Olympic course. Next year for me is all about trying to get on the Olympic team so going to race the test event obviously will play a big part in that plan.”

2013 WTS champ Non Stanford added: “It’ll be great to finally race on the proposed 2016 Olympic course. It will more than likely stand as a selection race for TeamGB athletes too, so it will be a key event in our calendar. The course also looks really exciting; the bike is technical and hilly which is great news for us.” 

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The 2015 Rio de Janeiro ITU World Paratriathlon Event will mimic the Paralympic Games course, with a minimum of 60 athletes set to participate. Qualification criteria for the test event will match that of a World Paratriathlon Event, and points earned at the race will go towards both Paralympic Qualification and ITU World Paratriathon Rankings.

It’s clearly not been easy to secure a date and fix the course for the necessary test event for Rio and the ITU are cutting it fine.

They have ensured it will be a strong field by making it a Level 1 Olympic qualifier, but ideally this race would have been confirmed at the end of the summer so it could take its rightful place in the World Series.

Instead, it will now not be part of the Series, and has been crowbarred in alongside the 10 existing events, up from eight in 2013 and seven from 2012. 

It really throws a spanner in for preplanned World Series schedules, splitting up the three European races and adding to the extensive and expensive travel from Abu Dhabi to Australasia, Japan, Europe and North America. 

On the plus side, we really are now witnessing a global series and athletes do not have to compete in every ITU event and can still gain maximum World Series or Olympic qualification points.

What it will do is whet the appetite for 2016. The Copacabana backdrop will offer some stunning vistas and let’s hope the course throws in enough challenging hills on the bike to make it a real test.  

It’s an equally exciting time for Paratriathlon, a debut test event, ahead of a debut games, whose crusading competitors will relish the opportunity. 

It doesn’t seem many months since thousands crammed into Hyde Park for one of the spectacles of 2012. With this announcement, Rio has been brought fully into focus. It’s set to be a busy and intriguing year of racing. Let the fun and Games begin.

(Main image: Mteixeira62)

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Do you think they got the dates right for next year? Let us know in the comments below!

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The Eton Sprints will take place on 23 May next year, sending athletes on a 750m swim in the famous rowing lake, followed by a 21.2km bike and a 5km run. This year, the three top finishers all posted sub-1hr times.

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To secure your spot at the Eton Sprints, head to www.humanrace.co.uk/triathlon.

She’s kindly agreed to join us for a live Q&A at 7.30pm tonight (Wednesday 29 October) to field your questions!

Whether it’s training issues, what went through her mind on the Queen K highway or something else entirely, send them in to [email protected]

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(Main image: Paul Phillips)

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