By Paul Eddison, Sportsbeat
Alistair Brownlee has spent the majority of his career taking on every challenge presented to him and now the time has come for the two-time Olympic champion to master the T100 Triathlon World Tour.
An Olympic gold medalist in London and Rio, Brownlee has since turned his attention to the longer formats of triathlon and will compete this weekend in the T100 in Las Vegas, a 100km race which is broken down into a 2km swim and 80 km of cycling. and finally an 18 km running race.
Brownlee achieved his best result of the season in Ibiza at the end of September, finishing fourth, but is now desperate to end his podium drought in Vegas.
He said: “I’m feeling good, I was a bit ill after Ibiza but I hope I’ve recovered from that. I’ve had a good week and I’m looking forward to the race.
“After a mixed year full of ups and downs, it’s great to be able to put on a race that I’m proud of and after a few more weeks of training, I hope it’s a stepping stone to another good one.
“It would be nice to be a little better than Ibiza and get on the podium. It would mean a lot. I’ve done maybe five of these races so far this year and I haven’t made it yet, so that would be nice.
Brownlee left in plenty of time to acclimate to Nevada’s desert conditions – although the weather on race day is expected to be a bit cooler than the current scorching temperatures.
But even though Brownlee has been to Vegas before, the race location at Lake Las Vegas — about 20 miles to the east — is new terrain for him.
He added: “I’ve been enjoying being in Las Vegas for about a week now. It’s really nice on the edge of town, you can go out and bike and run in the desert, which is way better than I expected.
“It’s a beautiful place and at the moment it’s very hot and it lasts all week. But if the forecast is good, it will be much cooler this weekend, leading to an incredible change in weather.
“I’ve been to Las Vegas several times over the years, but I’ve never been to this area. It’s really good to be here.
Brownlee currently sits ninth in the overall T100 season standings, with an athlete’s best three results combined to form his series total.
This tally will then be added to the results of the Grand Final in Dubai next month, where a world champion will be crowned.
And with 20 of the world’s best long-distance triathletes competing in the series, Brownlee believes the T100 is transforming the sport, both on and off the course.
He added: “The tour has been incredible. This is a big step in the right direction for long distance triathlon. It’s good on many levels, having the best long distance athletes competing against each other on a regular basis is great for fans to watch.
“It’s exciting and on the other hand you know how much the circuit has taken care of the athletes, they are definitely setting a new standard in the care of professional triathletes.
“Long distances are remarkable for their unpredictability. It depends on a lot of different things, I think that’s one of the most exciting things about it.