Reid increasing bike load in training tweak

IN THE SADDLE: Tayler Reid is increasing his load on the bike as he tweaks his training. 2018 file picture by Paul Rickard

TRIATHLON

TAYLER Reid is increasing his load on the bike, tweaking his training after fading to 20th in his most recent sprint triathlon.

“He’s fit and fast; you can just be off by 1 percent and finish 20th,” his coach Stephen Sheldrake said.

Reid, from Gisborne, is traditionally a strong swimmer and cyclist and has been working on his run, but was well down the list on the run section at New Plymouth’s ITU Triathlon World Cup event at the weekend.

That might not mean the run was the problem, Sheldrake said.

“Triathlon is about delivering yourself to the run in the best possible shape.”

Kiwi compatriot Ryan Sissons had a solid day out in New Plymouth, returning from a stress fracture and finishing ninth.

Reid, the under-23 world champion, has had a bright start to 2019 — an Olympic-qualification year — but the big meets are yet to come.

Competition for places in the New Zealand team, who are focusing on the mixed-team relay, will heat up during the Northern Hemisphere summer.

Reid’s next event is in Queensland on April 14. Racing the full Olympic distance, which athletes complete in about twice the time of the sprint races, will create its own challenges there.

Athletes are building up ranking points while New Zealand are also eyeing automatic Olympic qualification in the sprint-focused mixed-team relay if they can stay within the top eight.

A “test event” will also be held in August for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, providing selectors with another useful gauge of their athletes’ form.