Consisting of a 2.4-mile point-to-point lake swim, a 112-mile bike leg and 26.2-mile run on the Dekra Lausitzring motor racing circuit near Dresden, Britain\u2019s Kat Matthews<\/strong><\/a> and Joe Skipper<\/strong><\/a>, Switzerland\u2019s Nicola Spirig<\/strong><\/a> and Norway\u2019s Kristian Blummenfelt<\/strong><\/a> all took up the challenge.<\/p>\n With Matthews winning the women\u2019s race in 7:31:54<\/strong><\/a> and Blummenfelt the men\u2019s in 6:44:25<\/strong><\/a>, all four athletes finished well under their target marks, but the splits only tell part of the story. Here\u2019s what else we learnt from the fastest triathlons the world has ever seen.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s park the draft-legal aspect for a moment. When you have Joe Skipper running a 2:36:43 marathon and Kristian Blummenfelt runs six minutes into him, you know there\u2019s some talent on show.<\/p>\n When Matthews runs 2:46:09 and Spirig 2:45:07, having also completed a 2.4-mile swim and 112-mile ride, these are athletic achievements to be celebrated and inspire.<\/p>\n Yes, the draft effect on the bike was big. It\u2019s how team time-trials work \u2013 and we always knew that would be the case.<\/p>\n For those whose issue is the polluting of the solo test of triathlon, perhaps don\u2019t view it as a triathlon in the traditional sense. More a hybrid of triathlon and cycling, one both sets of fans can embrace.<\/p>\n The discipline that triathletes struggle with more than any other, and the one where the gap to world-class single-sport athletes is the biggest. No more illustrated than with Spirig\u2019s swim team where Lucy Buckingham and Angela Maurer led the way as pacers.<\/p>\n Maurer is a two-time 25km open water world champion. She\u2019s also 46 and looked like she was swimming a cool-down. When swimmers are that good it\u2019s inspiring to watch, and a little bit heart-breaking too.<\/p>\n London 2012 champion Spirig<\/strong><\/a> is the most successful female Olympic triathlete, a veteran of five Games and a mother of three.<\/p>\n Now 40, she has announced that this season will be her last<\/strong><\/a>, and if her Sub-8 challenge is the swansong then it was the type of gutsy performance \u2013 coming back from a bike crash in February \u2013 that has typified her career.<\/p>\n While there are triathletes who love the bike, there are others who just see it as a necessary evil to link the swim and run.<\/p>\n In Sub7\/Sub8, the bike section was borrowed wholesale from the world of team cycling \u2013 both track and road \u2013 as tactics over how much power could be sustained, how many pacers should be on track at any given time, and how long the turns at the front should be, came into their own.<\/p>\n If this is a format that is to be repeated there\u2019s a whole host of fun to delve into, and plenty of skills to practise at home.<\/p>\n This project had its detractors from the outset, and whatever the bike splits had been there would have been an angle to criticise.<\/p>\n To some, the fact they were so fast \u2013 Skipper\u2019s team largely consisting of track and road time-triallists from Ribble-Weldtite put in a 3:16:42 bike split \u2013 will only serve as evidence that holding ninth wheel in a paceline requires very little effort.<\/p>\n Releasing the power data would certainly help to provide clearer context, but Skipper, Blummenfelt, Spirig and Matthews all still had to hold that wheel and their concentration for hours on end. And while they might have flashed by in a blur, they definitely looked like they were pedalling.<\/p>\n Or to clarify, Sub 8 for women was easier than Sub 7 for men. This was generally predicted given there is rarely an hour between the sexes when analysing the comparative times of the best Ironman performers.<\/p>\n It meant Matthews, who started an hour before, took the tape first. You can argue among yourselves whether her 7:31 performance was better than Blummenfelt\u2019s 6:44, but I\u2019d suggest they were pretty much on par.<\/p>\n No, these were not new Ironman, iron-distance or long-course world records, but aside from a bit of obfuscation for simplification in the mainstream media, no-one ever claimed they were.<\/p>\n There was an evident advantage in this one due to the draft-legal bike leg, but there have been more subtle advantages on other \u2018record-setting\u2019 races such as short courses and down-current swims<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n If you want to put huge store in finish times, that\u2019s your lookout, but there are probably better ways to expend energy.<\/p>\n Kat Matthews\u2019 team mantra was \u201chappy heads make for fast legs\u201d but it\u2019s worth more than fluffy psychobabble. When you\u2019re riding at breakneck speed centimetres away from the wheel in front, it helps if you trust and have confidence in each other.<\/p>\n You could see from the camaraderie and cuddles how much this meant to all four groups. As Matthews said in her post-race comment: \u201cHonestly, of all the triathlons of the whole world, this is about the team.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n A post shared by Kat Matthews (@katr_matthews)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\nWe sure have some fast triathletes<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Drafting<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/34\/2022\/06\/blummenfelt-sub7-bike-63e3ec5.jpeg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>There are swimmers\u2026 and there are swimmers<\/strong><\/h2>\n
If it was Spirig\u2019s final bow \u2013 it wasn\u2019t a bad way to go out<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/34\/2022\/06\/nicola-spirig-sub8-63d72b5.jpeg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Team time-trialling is an artform<\/strong><\/h2>\n
You\u2019ll never please everyone<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Sub 8 was easier than Sub 7<\/strong><\/h2>\n
But world record talk is futile<\/strong><\/h2>\n
The team spirit was evident all week<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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