Self-belief rising in Reid

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

A change of mindset has Gisborne’s Tayler Reid believing more than ever that he can medal at the ITU World Triathlon Grand Final on the Gold Coast next month.

Reid is home for a couple of weeks after two full-on months of training and competing in Europe, highlighted by an individual silver medal in Belgium and a mixed team relay bronze in Canada.

“My silver in the ITU World Cup (elite men’s) race at Antwerp, Belgium, (in June) was my best-ever performance, said the 21-year-old.

He followed that up by playing a key role in his New Zealand mixed team’s bronze medal performance in Edmonton.

In the relay, Reid recorded the fastest time (18 minutes 45 seconds) of all athletes for the 300-metre swim, 6.6-kilometre cycle and 1.6km run.

That included the likes of Great Britain gun Jonathan Brownlee, who is sitting fourth on the ITU world rankings.

“Those results have given me more confidence especially the second placing in Belgium,” said Reid.

“It should have been first. There were five of us in a sprint to the finish and I knew I could outsprint the others, but when I saw the finish I made a tactical mistake. I went for it a fraction early and got beaten on the line. I should have been more patient.”

Reid and winner Jelle Geens, of Belgium, recorded the same time, 58:15, for the 750m swim/20km cycle/5km run.

“It was something of a bittersweet moment. A world cup win doesn’t come around too often, which is why I went for it, but I’ll take second.”

Following two “bad races” in England before the Belgium event, Reid made what proved a crucial “change in mindset”.

“In those two races, I destroyed myself on the bike. I kept attacking, trying to break the leading group, and then got outrun. I didn’t have the confidence in my running.

“Stephen (Sheldrake, Reid’s coach) has been telling me for so long now to have more confidence in my run but it’s taken a while for that to get through.

“This time (in Antwerp), I decided to heed what Stephen said. Now I know I can compete with these guys on the run over the sprint distance.”

Reid and his New Zealand teammates were based in Spain for training before racing in England, Germany (where Reid and his New Zealand team placed 11th in the mixed teams relay), France (a club race) and Belgium.

“It was a great experience, even finishing 26th in the elite men’s race in England,” he said.

“Sometimes you learn more from a race like that. Once the race is over, Stephen and myself take a look at my split times, park the result and move on — focus on the next race. It’s all about getting it right on the day.”

Nowadays, Reid is based in Cambridge but loves to get back home to see family and friends.

“Without their support I wouldn’t be able to do what I do. I’ll have a couple of days off, then get back into serious training.

“I can’t wait to go to the Gold Coast. We’ve got a couple of weeks training over there and it’s been a goal of mine for a long time to win a medal at the world champs over the standard distance (1.5km swim/40km cycle/10km run).

“My best result was 11th. It’s a big jump from 11th to the podium but that’s the goal.”