The Cave Triathlon 70.3, Belgium, 27 July 2025

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Preparation


First 70.3 of the season, so wasn't to sure what to expect from the 21k at the end as in training brick sessions hadn't always been very successful. No injuries leading into the race so I had been able to follow the prescribed trainings. Didn't really set any targets for this particular race except to swim around 32-34 minutes, stay around 250W on the bike and hopefully don't feel dizzy on the run.

Location


Swim, T1/T2 and finish line are all located near the bridge of Kanne. So from a logistics point of view this race is very easy. The swim was a one loop setup in the canal, bike course was a 3 loop setup with every loop including the "Slingerberg" and the run course were 4 rolling loops including a passage through the cave in each loop.

Swim 0:31:33 (AG-10/141)

  • I started off relaxed trying to avoid blowing up as I rarely swim with a wet suit. As it was a rolling start it was never to crowded in the water, nor where there any fights near the turning buoys. On the way back I was looking for an extra turning buoy as on the race course map, but I couldn't sight any and I noticed the other athletes were just going straight for the exit so I followed their line. Overall a controlled swim with from time to time some sighting issues as the canal is so wide it's not always easy to stay on track. Looking at the pace it's clear that the first part was with the current, while the way back was against the current, otherwise I can't explain the drop in pace just around the first turn buoy. 
  • Overall happy with how the swim went, 1:41/100m is around what I'm able to swim in a wet suit, 10th swim time in my AG (top 7%) so not bad neither. (Disclaimer: I filtered out the Pros from our AG for the results listed out in this post)

T1 0:02:56 (AG-18/141)

  • Pretty uneventful T1, just had a hard time keeping my balance trying to put on my socks. 

Bike 2:27:51 (AG-18/141)

  • 3 loop flat course setup, with long straights alongside the canal perfect to put your head down and as well the Slingerberg which is a punchy climb.
  • Right out of T1 I felt like I couldn't push my normal power numbers. I assumed it was due to my high heartrate coming of the swim so I tried to stay relaxed and was hopeful to find my cycling legs later on. However the first time up the Slingerberg was a nasty reality check, I just didn't have the power to go up the climb as I wanted. After the first lap my legs already felt empty although I had been able to following my nutrition plan. The power and speed just weren't there and it felt like we had a head wind for like 80% of the race course. Normally I'm the one picking off people but now as the race went along people were passing me instead. The second and 3rd time up the Slingerberg where a disaster and were blowing up my legs even more, every lap was clearly slower on this incline. 
  • Looking at my heart rate it remained relatively steady once I got over the high heart rate at the beginning due to the swim leg and as always my cadence dropped a bit as the race went on. 
  • Overall disappointed about how I felt on the bike. 18th in my AG (top 13%) so actually not even as bad as I expected based on the feeling during the race, maybe there was just that much headwind after all? Looking back at previous races on this same race course it's actually pretty similar to my last race here 2 years ago:
    • July 2025: 90k - AG 13% - 36.4km/h - NP 247W
    • June 2023: 75k - AG 16% - 35.9km/h - NP 251W
    • June 2022: 100k - AG 8% - 38km/h - NP 288W
    • June 2021: 100k - AG 25% - 38.2km/h - NP 251W


T2 0:02:26 (AG-16/141)

  • Used elastic laces, so relatively quick transition. No cramps the first few meters off the bike although my quads were not happy at all.
  • After T2 I was actually 7th in my AG apparently (top 5%) so really surprised with this based on how shitty I felt on the bike.

Run 1:49:03 (AG-80/141)

  • My quads were just dead hopping off the bike. I decided to take it very easy on all the uphills to avoid cramping up. I never looked at my watch for the pace because I knew it was just horrendous. Energy wise I felt good, but my quads were just hurting all the time so I never took the risk trying to up a gear. I just wanted to complete the run course without having to walk at this point. As well wanted to use it as a test case to see if I would get dizzy / have lead legs after around 15k. To avoid this I took 2 cups of water/iso/coke/whatever I could get my hands on at every aid station just to compensate my high sweat rate. This seemed to have worked as I didn't feel dizzy and the legs felt heavy but not nearly like they felt during Knokke 70.3 last year. During the last 5k I started to get light cramps in my right inner thigh during the uphills so I had to slow down even more to avoid it to fully cramp up.
  • Seems the run course was about 1k short and in the end I had an average pace of 5:28/k, good for a brilliant 80th place in my AG (top 57%), so a run to quickly forget!

Overall 4:53:49 (AG-31/141)

  • Mixed feelings about this one:
    • positives:
      • the swim was in line with previous wet suit swims +- 32'
      • didn't walk on the run
      • didn't feel dizzy nor did my legs feel super heavy on the run
      • felt like I had hydration and calorie intake under control
      • didn't pick up any injuries
      • I finished!
    • negatives:
      • my quads were really not ready for a 2-3 minute high power output needed to go up the Slingerberg and never recovered from that resulting in a bad day on the bike and run


Result

  • Swim  0:31:33
  • T1       0:02:56
  • Bike    2:27:51
  • T2       0:02:26
  • Run     1:49:03
  • Total   4:53:49


Tags: The Cave Triathlon 70.3 race report, race report The Cave Triathlon 70.3

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