Lucy Buckingham narrowly misses podium, finishing 5th at T100 Singapore
Lucy Buckingham and Lucy Byram claimed 5th and 7th places respectively in incredibly hot and humid conditions at T100 Singapore. After leading the race from the start of the swim until the final kilometers of the bike, Buckingham eventually crossed the finish line in 5th place with a time of 3:52:10. Lucy Byram had a solid all-round performance and posted a finishing time of 3:54:08 to claim 7th.
After suffering from food poisoning in Miami, Lucy Buckingham was determined to show what she is capable of in Singapore. Right from the start, she settled in behind Charles-Barclay to lead the swim. With an advantage of 1’13, she took off for the technical bike course together with Charles-Barclay. Two minutes behind Buckingham, Lucy Byram jumped on her BMC Speedmachine in 11th place. Byram would move up some spots to settle in the chase group, battling for 3rd place. In the front of the race, Buckingham decided not to overdo her pace at the beginning of the bike, given the hot conditions, settling in behind Charles-Barclay.
The duo held a 3-minute advantage halfway through the 80k bike leg. Just a few kilometers later, Lucy decided to take over the lead from Charles-Barclay and set the pace. Pushing the pace, the leading duo extended their advantage to nearly 5 minutes over the first chasers. Reaching T2, Buckingham jumped off her bike a few seconds behind the leader Charles-Barclay to start the run.
Her teammate Byram took off for the 18k run in 5th place. It was obvious that the hot and humid conditions would play a role in the run. Buckingham was controlling her efforts to hold on to 2nd place after the first of three laps. With one lap to go, she had to settle for 3rd as it became clear that the danger came from behind. Lucy gave her all in those final 6k to eventually come home in 5th place after being passed in the final 100m in a sprint finish for 4th. After starting the run in 5th place, Lucy Byram gave her all in those brutal conditions to cross the line in 7th place. A strong all-round team performance from the BMC Pro Tri ladies.
Better than expected in the heat
Afterwards, Lucy Buckingham reflected on her performance and how she played things safe to prevent overheating.
“I am super happy considering it was tough racing conditions. I was hoping to hang on to 4th, but it wasn’t meant to be today. The swim didn’t feel amazing, to be honest, due to the hot water, I guess. The bike was going well, but I landed early this week with a bit of sciatica, and that started kicking off around the 60k mark, which led to cramping. Luckily, it eased off and didn’t come back on the run. During the run, I was just being super careful not to overheat and keep my HR controlled as much as possible. Either way, I wasn’t expecting to go well in the heat, so I’ll take this result for sure”.
Brutal conditions
Lucy Byram also looked back at her performance: "Well, that was brutal, the racing conditions in Singapore were incredibly tough. I am pleased to come away with another solid race, finishing in 7th. There is definitely more to come for me this season, it just might take a little while to get it right!"
In the men's race, Clément Mignon didn't have his day and started feeling ill immediately after the finish. Despite his off day, Clément stuck it out to finish in 15th. So much more to come from this young man this season.
