Winning pair ready for ‘Worlds’

James Travers won the men’s race by three minutes and Amy Critchlow took the women’s equivalent by six, with both triathletes hoping for strong showings in Switzerland on 1 September.

The strong wind had added extra challenge on the outbound leg of the cycle and for much of the coastal section of the run.

Leading the 800m point-to-point swim, 17-mile cycle and 4.75-mile run event from start to finish, Travers clocked 1hr 27min. 9sec. to cap off a strong solo effort.

He had never been truly pressured, with Ove Svejstrup taking runner-up three minutes back, although the latter had a closer race as Ian Scholes produced the fastest ‘full course’ run of the day – 30-44 – to close him to within seven seconds.

James Tipper also ran particularly well and his reward was fourth overall.

‘It was a good, solid effort,’ said Travers afterwards.

‘The swim, I went non-wetsuit again and to lead it from the start was nice.

‘The bike leg out was hard, and there was a lot of crosswind, so every time you went through a gateway, you’d be quickly jammed across the road ... the leg back was nice and I don’t mind a strong headwind, as I normally do quite well in it.

‘The run, it’s hard to know where you are – I knew I had a lead, but I had to just keep pushing as hard as possible, as when you’ve got out-and-backs, you can see whether you’re being gained on or increasing the lead.

‘My last proper run-out before I go to Switzerland,’ added the 2014 ‘Worlds’ bronze medallist.

Among the women, super-veteran Wendy Leathem started superbly to hold Magda Murphy on the swim and enter the run still on her tail.

They had both been tracking Critchlow leaving the water but on a current domestic stage with her gold-medal Island Games teammates injured or otherwise absent, no-one could truly rival the star coach-triathlete.

Critchlow had pulled several minutes clear with a well-paced bike and extended the gap further on the run.

She eventually finished in 1-38-33 to Murphy’s time just under the 1-45 mark, with Leathem just over three minutes further in arrears.

‘I loved that triathlon – it’s different from any of the other ones in the series,’ said Critchlow, who will step up to the 40-44 category in Lausanne.

‘Point-to-point swim, cross-country run and the bike’s a slightly different route from the normal, as well.

‘After the Island Games, it’s been about getting back to that level of training. Training has been pretty good and I’m getting back where I should be.’