Tempo-Sport Wyfelder Xathlon Training Plan & Preparation

Course & Elevation

The start is at 8:25 in the Thurbad pool at Weinfelden: 500 metres in a pool, so lengths and turns rather than buoys. For a cross triathlon that is a deliberately low-threshold opening — the difficult part comes afterwards.

The bike leg is two laps of a 17.8 kilometre loop on gravel and field tracks along the Thur. Classified as rolling at 9 metres of climbing per kilometre it looks tame, yet only 37.6 per cent is level and the course has a clear structure: between kilometre 7.5 and 11 it climbs from around 445 to 520 metres, with a 480 metre ramp at 6.3 per cent as its steepest point, then drops back to the Thur across six kilometres. Both laps contain that sequence, for 308 metres of climbing in total. And because the surface is gravel and farm track throughout, it is not aerodynamics that count but rolling resistance and traction.

The run covers 11 kilometres on gravel paths, meadows and forest tracks along the Thur. At 71 metres of climbing and 51.6 per cent level it is classified as flat and contains no registered climb — after a bike leg with more than 300 metres of climbing this is the calmer part of the day, but it is run on soft ground. The same course is also scored as a Team Cross Triathlon in relay form.

Pacing Strategy

Five hundred metres in a pool can be paced exactly: a fixed time per 100 metres rather than a feeling. The bike course starts flat along the Thur, which encourages too quick an opening — the real work only waits from kilometre seven.

The race is decided on the climb between kilometre 7.5 and 11 in its second repetition, from bike kilometre 24. Around 75 metres of climbing on gravel with a 480 metre ramp at 6.3 per cent inside it: on loose ground an out-of-the-saddle effort costs traction immediately, so this section wants to be ridden seated at high cadence. Ride the first lap deliberately in reserve; the second decides what the 11 kilometres of running look like.

The main traps are the surface and the equipment. Gravel and farm track roll considerably more slowly than asphalt, and because mountain, gravel and city bikes are all permitted, very different speeds share the same race — positions on course say little. Choose tyre width and pressure deliberately beforehand and ride to your own output. On the run: soft ground calls for shorter, more frequent strides, and with an 8:25 start in mid-September the early morning by the Thur is often damp, which makes gravel paths and meadows heavier still.

12-Week Preparation

The Ambitious Cross Triathlon takes roughly two and a quarter to three and a half hours depending on your level. The demand is a long aerobic effort with two clearly bounded climbing blocks on the bike and a long, steady run on soft ground.

What decides it is rolling resistance rather than aerodynamics. Across 35.6 kilometres of gravel, your speed sits well below what the same output would produce on asphalt, and anyone who knows their race pace only from the road will misjudge it here. The second factor is the change into 11 kilometres of running on gravel, meadow and forest floor — a load on calves and ankles that asphalt training does not reproduce.

The training emphasis therefore belongs on gravel or forest rides of two to three hours with 2 times 15 to 20 minutes just under threshold, one of those blocks deliberately on a climb of five to seven per cent on loose ground, ridden seated. Use the same tyres and pressures you will race on.

Add a weekly brick run of 30 to 45 minutes on natural ground plus running strength for calves and ankles. For the swim, pool sessions with turn practice are enough; this race needs no open-water technique. And because the gun goes at 8:25, at least one session early in the morning with the routine you will need on race day is worth doing.