As good years go, 2024 was pretty spectacular for Cassandre Beaugrand with gold at the Paris Olympics in the triathlon and a world championship title to boot.
Last weekend, the 27-year-old Frenchwoman kicked the new triathlon season off in style by picking up the victory at the Super E tri powered by MyWhoosh in London, an event she last won in 2022.
For the past two years, the title has belonged to Scotland’s Beth Potter, who finished second this time around, with Germany’s Julia Brooecker in third.
Whereas most elite-level triathlons are made up of a 1.5km swim, 40km cycle – usually around roads or a circuit – and a 10km run, the Supertri E event was held entirely within London’s Aquatic’s Centre in Queen Elizabeth Park, with it featuring a 200m swim, 4km cycle on a smart trainer to simulate real-life terrain and 1km run on a curved treadmill, repeated three times.
Having held a three-second lead following the first swim, Beaugrand never looked in trouble, eventually winning the event by 30 seconds.
‘I knew it would be a long race. Even though it is short distance it is still 40-45 minutes, so you have to keep some energy and I gave it everything I had,’ said Beaugrand. ‘I was not chilling, I was pushing hard.
‘It’s a very hard and very different format so I think sometimes you can be good and sometimes not and it is hard. I didn’t train properly for this event, my main focus has been on the outdoor triathlon, so I’ve been thinking with this race is my way back into racing.
The Super E tri – held in London – was a triathlon with a difference, with a 200m swim to start
That’s followed by a 4km cycle on a smart trainer to simulate real-life terrain…
… and then a 1km on a curved treadmill, with the course repeated three times
‘The cool thing is that I’ve raced here a few times so I know exactly what I need to do. There’s no break, it’s just back to back, so you need to think about everything. I knew there wouldn’t be many surprises.’
After the highs of last year, Beaugrand revealed she had adapted her training volume going into this year’s event, having struggled in each of the last two editions.
Having become the first woman to win medals at three major tournaments – Olympics, world championships and European championships – and just the second overall behind Alistair Brownlee, Beaugrand may have been entitled to relax her schedule and take time to let it all sink in.
However, after achieving her life’s dream of winning gold at the Olympics, the Frenchwoman admits that she doesn’t feel any pressure going into races now, enjoying each race she competes in, though she still goes to the start line looking to win.
‘Last year I was in a big block of training so it was feeling harder but today I was more fresh and I didn’t do a lot of training the last few weeks and it was a good race for the rest of the season,’ she said. ‘It’s the beginning of the season and now we have to push a bit more.
‘I’m actually very relieved after Paris last year. Every race I’m doing now, there’s no pressure at all because that was the biggest calling in my life, I would say. Every race is just fun and nothing to lose now.
‘It was a bit challenging until the end of the year (in 2024) because basically you’ve done the best race you could do and then you need to re-focus, see something I haven’t done before in becoming world champion.
France’s triathlon Olympic gold medalist Cassandre Beaugrand
‘I want people to know that I deserved the Olympic title so I wanted to win the world championship, so it was very important for me to do that. It just shows that everything I’m doing it’s positive.
‘I’m a very competitive person, so I know at the start of the race, I want to win. I still have the competitive mindset, so that’s a good thing. I think when I don’t have that any more, it might be time to stop racing.’
With Beaugrand admitting that she had not focused on her training specifically ahead of this event, some may be forgiven for assuming that others may have targeted this event so early in the season. For Potter, bronze medal winner in Paris, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
‘I’ve not done a whole lot of prep, I haven’t really focused on my biking this winter,’ she said. ‘Well, I haven’t done many bike sessions but been more focused on my running this winter, but I’ve done a lot of training but no short stuff. On this, endurance, I’ll be fine.
‘It was a good test to see where I’m at and it gives me enough time to go away and work on things ahead of the outdoor season. It’s early enough that you can get a good gauge of where you’re at and it’s a really hard effort. Regardless of where you finish, hopefully you get a good training effect from that in any case.’
While it wasn’t to be three London Supertri wins in a row for the 33-year-old, Potter still sees the benefits of races such as this one, not only in terms of the athletic test, but also in inspiring the next generation.
‘In a normal triathlon, there’s a lot more to consider, like bike handling and contact,’ she said. ‘Those are the main ones whereas here you’re on a computer doing it, so you don’t have the kind of rivalry that’s right next to you on a bike, could be touching you or whatever. It’s still a really hard effort and you need an aggressive racing style to be good at this event.
‘It’s hard because, a lot of the time, it’s you against you because they’re there on the screen in front of you but they’re not right next to you. I still really enjoy opening up my season here – I think this is my fifth year in a row that I’ve opened up with a Supertri race. It’s really exciting.
‘This kind of racing is very similar to relay format that we have in the mixed team relay. At Paris, there was three of us finishing within half a second for the medals which was one of the most exciting races, that after 80 minutes of racing you have a sprint finish that’s won by the same margin that the 100m final was won in.
‘There’s always a lot of kids in the crowd. There’s Olympic medallists here, world champions, and if I were a kid and I saw them competing on my home turf, that’s really inspiring and I think it would inspire kids to pick up our sport.’
Founded in 2019 in Abu Dhabi, UAE, MyWhoosh is a leading free-to-use virtual training platform that offers immersive cycling, running, and triathlon experiences. With an extensive library of structured workouts, training plans, and professional-level racing events like the Sunday Race Club (SRC), MyWhoosh caters to athletes of all levels-whether they’re cycling enthusiasts, runners, or triathletes.
