Triathlon de Portalban: Course, Elevation & Route Profile

Course & Elevation

At 13:30 the race begins with a rolling start in Lake Neuchâtel: 750 metres from the kitesurfers' launch point back onto the beach at Delley-Portalban, marked with 60 buoys. Out of the water it is only a few metres into transition on the shore.

The bike lap leaves the lake plain at once. A 1.63 kilometre climb at 4.9 per cent begins after just 250 metres, and at kilometre 2.88 the steepest section follows: 1.15 kilometres at 7.1 per cent average with peaks of 15.2. From the start at 430 metres that takes you up to around 567 before the route rolls back to the lake via Chabrey, Montmagny, Salavaux, Villars-le-Grand, Les Friques, St-Aubin, Vallon and Gletterens, with another long climb of 1.55 kilometres from kilometre 11. Only 34 per cent of the lap is level, and the roads stay open to traffic.

The run is a scaled-down copy of the same pattern: after 480 flat metres the course climbs for 1.43 kilometres at 5.4 per cent and up to 10.6, through the Bois des Biolles forest and the village of Delley to around 505 metres, then falls back to the lakeshore across a good two and a half kilometres. 41.5 per cent of the run descends and only 22 per cent is level. Youth and age classes from U20 to M60 all race the same course.

Pacing Strategy

On this course everything is decided in the first minutes out of the water. Swim the 750 metres under control, because the first climb begins just 250 metres out of transition. A heart rate carried out of the lake cannot be brought back down there, since the road rises for four kilometres straight.

The race is decided between bike kilometre 2.9 and 4. One point one five kilometres at 7.1 per cent with peaks above 15, ridden with a cold system and a wet trisuit: get out of the saddle there and you pay for it across the remaining 16 kilometres and again on the climb of the run. Choose an easy gear early, stay seated and ride to your breathing.

The main trap is the distribution of the run. The climb between kilometre 0.5 and 2 costs more than its 74 metres suggest, because it arrives immediately out of transition. After that come two and a half kilometres of descent: that is where the time actually is, but only if there is coordination left at the top. Run the climb deliberately with short strides at a high cadence and let the descent to the lakeshore run. Note the start time too: 13:30 in late August is the warmest point of the day, and the open roads of the Broye offer little shade.

Training plan for Triathlon de Portalban: 12-week build

The Triathlon de Portalban takes roughly 80 to 115 minutes depending on your level. The demand is a sprint distance with a mountain profile: the first four kilometres on the bike already contain 160 metres of climbing, and the run too begins with a sustained climb rather than a run-in phase.

What decides it is the ability to absorb a multi-minute supra-threshold effort straight after a change of discipline, twice at exactly the same point in the race, once on the bike and once on the run. The second factor is downhill running: 41.5 per cent of the run descends, and that is where the time is made on tired legs.

The training emphasis therefore belongs on brick sessions with a climb immediately after the changeover: 3 to 4 rounds of 10 minutes on the bike at race effort followed straight away by a 3 to 4 minute climb at five to eight per cent. Add weekly downhill running, 5 to 6 times 400 to 600 metres on descending forest track, with short strides and a high cadence.

Add two or three open-water sessions sighting along a line of buoys, plus gearing that suits ramps of 15 per cent. Inside a sprint with 381 metres of climbing that is not a comfort question. And because the roads stay open and the gun goes at 13:30 in August, riding in real traffic and at least two sessions in afternoon warmth belong in the preparation.