Triathlon d'Yverdon-les-Bains: Course, Route Profile & Map

Course & Elevation

The start is at 8 in the morning from the beach at Yverdon-les-Bains: 750 metres in Lake Neuchâtel, right in front of the race site. As the closing round of the age-group championship series, the field here is sharper than in the weekend's other competitions.

The bike leg is the heart of the format: five times a 4.5 kilometre city circuit through the historic centre of Yverdon-les-Bains, on fully closed roads. The profile is irrelevant: 88 metres of climbing across 22.5 kilometres, 71 per cent level, not one registered climb, an elevation band of seven metres. What matters is the rule: drafting is explicitly allowed, aero extensions are not. That turns the bike into a group race of corners, accelerations and fights for position rather than a solo time trial.

The run is two laps of 2.5 kilometres, partly on the beach site and partly in the woods along the Grande Cariçaie, the nature reserve on the southern shore of the lake. Here too the course is flat: 33 metres of climbing, half of it level, no climbs. Entry is open from age 18.

Pacing Strategy

A race with legal drafting is paced differently from a non-drafting sprint. The 750 metres in the lake decide more here than elsewhere: miss the group and you ride 22.5 kilometres alone against riders sharing the work. So swim at the edge of what you can hold under control, and get onto feet early.

The race is decided on the first bike lap. The groups form in the first four kilometres out of transition, and after that a gap on a flat city circuit is almost impossible to close. Invest more there than feels right, and recover in the draft once you are in.

The main trap is the corners. Five laps of a city circuit mean dozens of accelerations out of tight bends, each of them a short anaerobic effort. Sitting too far back in the group means accelerating harder than the front after every corner; across five laps that is the single largest drain of the race. Ride as near the front as you can and brake late rather than hard. And because the gun goes at 8 am in mid-September, the surface in the old town may still be damp: braking points belong in the course inspection.

Training plan for Triathlon d'Yverdon-les-Bains: 12-week build

The sprint at Yverdon takes roughly 60 to 85 minutes depending on your level. The demand differs markedly from a classic sprint: instead of a steady time-trial output, the city circuit asks for constant short spikes accelerating out of corners, interspersed with recovery in the draft.

Two abilities therefore decide it that barely feature in non-drafting triathlon: riding in a bunch on a tight circuit, and the repeatability of anaerobic accelerations. Train only steady power and you will lose here not in endurance but in position.

The training emphasis accordingly belongs on criterium work: 10 to 15 efforts of 20 to 30 seconds hard out of a corner with two easy minutes between, ideally in a group and on a short circuit. Add regular group rides with turns on the front, so that spacing, line choice and braking in a bunch feel safe.

For the swim it is the hard opening that counts: 750 metres with a fast first buoy determine which group you land in, so starting sets of 6 to 8 times 100 metres with short rests and open-water work on someone else's feet belong in the plan. For the run, two flat tempo sessions a week over 3 to 4 times 1,000 metres are enough: across 33 metres of climbing, running speed is all that counts.