Simon Lessing’s 1996 Cannondale
In TSP18 I spoke about the 1980s tri-bike that I’ll be racing on this year. It’s roughly based on Mike Pigg’s 1987 Basso. IMO, technological advancements could have stopped right there.
Since I started triathloning in 1989, I’ve never really been seduced by bike-tech or convinced of it’s impact on your performance.
My priortity is always to have something solid and easy to maintain. I then use what I’ve got to juggle the comfort, power and aero equation.
Image: 220 (UK) April 1996
But here’s a more modern bike that I do really like. It’s Simon Lessing’s Cannondale from the 1996 season. I got to see a lot of it in transition areas as 1996 was my first full-season in France.
What do I like? I love the suspension idea. That could be locked out. I guess it could be useful on some bumpy road courses. Like in the UK! Although Leonard Zinn (below) wasn’t a fan. Too much power loss.
There’s also the drop-bars, clip-ons and Mavic Comete disc wheel vibe. Lessing was racing draft-free and draft-legal at the time. So he could mix and match wheel and cockpit set-ups as needed.
Image: Inside Triathlon (USA) November 1996.
My 2024 Race Bike
When I decided to race the whole 2024 triathlon season on the Peugeot, I knew I wanted to do a resto-mod. The beauty and simplicity of the 1980s. With some modern touches for speed and comfort.
I’m the world’s biggest Scott DH fan. I wrote 4000 words about them. But they’re not super-practical for everyday riding. And I find the bars too short to feel really fast in the hands-forward position.
So these aero bars are Profile Subsonics. The saddle is a Fizik Arione. And the pedals are Shimano Ultegra with 4mm extra spindle. The front chainring is a 52T Wolftooth Drop-Stop.
The front wheel I built myself. I love wheel building. And should do more. It’s a Mavic MA2 rim on a Shimano 1050 hub. With 32 black DT Swiss spokes.
I’ll put on some race tyres in May. Continental GP5000. Pleasingly, the Peugeot has enough clearance for 32s.
I’ve had to reacquaint myself with stripping, servicing and setting up rim brakes. And after a few longer training rides I’ll cut the brake cables to a more aesthetic length.
Thanks @oldtriathlonstuff for the 1980s bottle-cage bike-jumble find.
I’ve got 12 short triathlons planned. Here’s the schedule.
Aero-Bars in 1988
I’ve already done a podcast about the first aero-bars in triathlon. And my brother wrote about us getting our first pairs in Florida in 1989.
In 1987 Scott DH or something homemade were your only aero-bar choices. Although Mike Pigg and Scott Tinley used Aerolites at Hawaii in 1987. Were these prototypes? Aerolite didn’t run an ad in Triathlete until July 1988.
And then there were MB bars. Also talked about in TSP3. And the Australian clip-ons. See Hawaii video. Which as far as I know became the generation 1 Scott clip-ons. The Greg Lemond ones. After Scott bought the idea.
For the 1988 season Mark Allen, Scott Tinley, Mike Pigg and Dave Scott were all on Profiles one-piece bar. The Aero 1. Profile almost certainly had a bigger sponsorship and marketing budget than Scott.
In 1988 Scott didn’t run a single advertisement in Triathlete (USA) magazine. But they’ll bounce back in 1989 due to the Lemond Effect.
You also had a few other choices in 1988. See the articles below. But I’m guessing that all the brands except Profile hadn’t bought into Scott’s patent. And will probably soon get shut down. I like the Sark Bars. With the stem mount. Convenient yet somewhat sketchy.
The Absolute Must For Triathletes
Back when this magazine came out I probably wanted everything. I have it in English somewhere. Will post below when I find it.
But now I’d love to get hold of a Winning Club sleeveless wetsuit, the Campagnolo disc wheel and the Le Coq Sportif bag.
Image: Triathlet (DE) Nov-Dez 1988
1987 AeroLite Pedals Ad
I like this advertisement. But not really for the ahead-of-their-time pedals. I’m more interested in the photo of Scott Tinley.
It’s taken at the 1986 Avignon Triathlon. And shows that for a few years Tinley and Mark Allen were probably travelling to France without bikes.
It seems they’d either borrow something from a local athlete or pick up a temporary local sponsor’s bike.
Image: Tri-Athlete (FR) Octobre 1987
At Avignon in 1985, Allen was on a blue, un-badged bike. While Tinley’s bike was covered in Mercier stickers. But was it actually a Mercier? 5th that day was Mercier sponsored-athlete Jean-Luc Capogna.
In Nice in 1985, Allen, Scott Molina and Tinley were on brown Peugeots. With chrome forks. Maybe the carbon-bonded PY-10-FCs.
At Nice in 1986, Allen was again on the Peugeot. Maybe the same one. Stored somewhere in France. Had he bought it? I’ll ask him via Instagram. In Hawaii, two weeks later, he’d switched to his grey Schwinn. Proof. Maybe. That the brown Peugeot had stayed in France.
When Scott Tinley won Hawaii in 1985. Just two weeks after Nice. He was also on a Peugeot. Was it the same one as in Nice and Avignon? Although he’d swapped out the drop bars for the AeroLite Delta Wings.
Just updated my list of vintage triathlon projects.
Re-create the 1994 France Iron Tour. Riding between the stage towns.
Be in Embrun during race week. And do the course over several days.
Explore Avignon. Find out where the course went. Do as much of it as possible. Ride Avignon - Mont Ventoux - Avignon. Like Pigg and Allen did the day after the race in 1989.
Organise an annual non-competitive vintage triathlon.
What are your vintage triathlon projects? Comment below. And I’m happy to be corrected on the bike identifications above. or other facts.
The 1987 Triathlon International de Paris
Image: Tri-Athlete (FR) Septembre 1987
The 2nd edition of this race took place on 13th September 1987. I’ve already looked at 1986 here. It seems the sponsor-issue tri-suits were not compulsory anymore. Although some athletes still wore them.
Athletes were bused about 2.5km upstream along the Cours Albert 1 to the start at La Pont de la Concorde. It was hot inside with a wetsuit on. The dive start was chaotic and rough. You then needed to be vigilant to avoid hitting a bridge during the fast, downstream swim.
Wolfgang Dittrich, Phil Gable and the pure-swimmer Christophe Mourier were first out. The bike course was out and back to Versailles. Through the Bois de Meudon, Chaville and Viroflay. The roads were narrow and pot-holed.
The swim didn’t break up the race and bunches soon formed on the bike. Although the top 10 seemed to be able to ride clean.
Who was there? Dittirch. Blondeel. Hofmann. And Methion. Making up over 30 seconds in the first half. However, at 27 km he hits a pothole, rolls his tub and falls. A friend glued it on he said.
Dittrich hits the run 1st. He doesn’t look back but Blondeel is only 11 seconds down. And he’s a much better runner. Benefitting from a long straight section, he passes Wolfie at speed. And wins. The Italian Palmucci runs into 2nd. Shaking off Fabrice Trousset late in the race.
British athlete, Sarah Coope, was 2nd off the bike behind Anne-Marie Rouchon. But. She’d raced and won the day before in Geneva. Results below. Yes. This was a time when people did that.
However, her baggage was lost on route. Sent to Nice! And she only got the essentials at the last minute. I’m guessing her partner, Glenn Cook, was also planning to race Paris. He’d finished 3rd in Geneva. Behind Yves Cordier and Rob Barel. Yes. This was also a time when the best athletes used to race each other nearly every week.
Coope was riding a beautiful bike in 1987. A yellow and blue Rossin. With Scott DH and a Campagnolo disc-wheel. See photo. She wins her second race in two days. Catherine Jay is second and Anne-Marie third.
The athletes are happy at the finish. But they agree that the bike course needs to be improved. It’s too narrow and too dangerous.
Now to find the 1988. And plan the logistics for a Paris triathlon history trip. Lots to explore. Les Mureaux. Hauts de Seine.
The 220 Triathlon Series: 1992
I’ve already looked at 1991 here. In 1992 there were only four events in the series. I did three and was ranked 47th at the end of the season. I missed Bath because I was on a student exchange in Canada.
Swindon was nationals. And a selection race for the European Short Course Championships in Lommel. Lessing, Smith and Cook medalled for the men. Spoiler alert. All 3 did well in Lommel too.
Windsor was back. And had 3 qualifying sports in every age group for the Worlds in Canada. The AG thing was getting bigger in UK triathlon. Apparently Saturday night had a Hawaiian shirt pool party. I don’t remember this. On Sunday, Alison Hamilton and Spencer Smith won.
Ironbridge became Middle Distance. And was ace. The first middle distance where I felt I went gun to tape. At a solid pace. No blow-ups.
18 year old Ben Bright cycled away from Britain’s best. On a steel bike with training wheels. And Bianca Van Woesik beat Sarah Coope.
Bath moved fully into town. And stole the BBC slot from Portsmouth. More on Portsmouth in a future blog post. Hamilton ran down Neilsen. Barel ran down Bright. Ben looked knackered after a long French season.
Swindon and Ironbridge also had some TV coverage. And Alison Hamilton and Matthew Belfield were overall series winners.
1993 Worlds in Manchester
Posting this reminds me that I need to finish the work I started about Ben Bright and the summer of 1992. Here’s Part One.
I tried to qualify for these worlds in the 20-24 age-group. It was a team of 6 back then. I didn’t make it. But I can’t remember how close I got. I was going to go and watch. But I raced locally on the same day instead.
The thinking back then. One year before draft-legal racing came to the World Cup Series. Was that if you put some hills in the first few kilometres it would break up the pack and create a fair race.
It kind of worked on this occasion. The podiums included all the big bikers. Ritchie, Smyers, Jones, Carter, Lessing and Smith.
Karen Smyers is definitely in my top-5 female triathletes of all time. When ranking athletes I consider winnability, longevity, history making and competitive range. That’s 4th (1989), 1st (1990), 9th (1991), 6th (1992) and 2nd (1993) for her in Worlds so far.
And as Triathlete (FR) states (below). Smith was Simply The Beast.
My main take-away from this race in the end was sartorial. I ended up dumping the Speedo for Hamish Carter’s cycling shorts-look. I still dress like that for any gun-to-taping today.
Take another look at the Carter photo. There’s the famous 220 / Human Race tabs-on-table wrist-band. Cut-off drops. And a bike that looks like it has been doing battle around Europe for a few months.
Sign Me Up!
Although I’m pretty sure the bus thing never happened. The race series did go ahead. Here are all the results. Although they called it the ETU European Cup rather than a Grand Prix Circus.
I’m pretty sure the athletes intending to travel were the members of Bedford Harriers. This was an elite composite team formed by prolific triathlon promoter Bill Steel in late-88 or early-89. As a triathlon arm of the Bedford Harriers Athletics Club, established in 1985.
I’m pretty sure the concept was to compete for team prizes in France, Germany, the Netherlands or Belgium. With the big clubs in Europe. So making sure race licenses with club mentioned were all in order.
Honestly, it was cool and exciting to see the black and yellow kits and Dave Russell bikes at the races and in the magazines. As they pretty much dominated the Grand Prix in 1989. Podcast episode here.
But they also caused a kerfuffle at the National Relays in Nottingham in August 1989. When their male team consisting of Rick Kiddle, Glenn Cook, Richard Hobson and Jon Ashby won quite easily. But was the formation of elite composite teams really in the spirt of club racing?
The First Copy Of Triathlete (USA) I Ever Bought
Yesterday I covered the 1988 America’s Paradise Triathlon in St. Croix. So today I was going to look at the 1989 race. There was a report in the August 1989 issue of Triathlete (USA).
But then I realised this was the first copy of a US triathlon magazine that I bought. From a triathlon shop in Florida. I think @oldtriathlonstuff and I also got our Profile Aero 2s there.
Erin Baker and Mark Allen won St. Croix in 1989. And inside there’s also a report of the Gold Coast World Cup. The history of this race needs to be covered separately. And Bermuda. I’ll start work.
The other stand-out article is about Mark Allen and Julie Moss’s trip to New Zealand. In January 1989. To train with Erin Baker and Scott Molina.
Allen credits this trip with setting up his excellent 1989 season. I’ve already covered that here. Best male triathlon season ever?
Here’s a selection of my favourite pages:
The cover. Beautiful. Mark Allen in Australia.
Profile For Speed advertisement. Their 1989 range.
Gold Coast World Cup race report.
Grip Shift advertisement.
St. Croix race report.
Lyttleton.
Images: Triathlete (USA) August 1989
The 1988 America’s Paradise Triathlon
I’m working on a podcast with @oldtriathlonstuff about the 1991 St Croix Triathlon. The first ever race in the new ITU World Cup Series.
There’ll be Virgin Islands facts, ITU history, video analysis, kit and equipment reviews and plenty of laughs. Coming soon!
The race was first organised in 1988. And called The America’s Paradise Triathlon. The distances were 3km / 95Km / 20 km. I love that!
St. Croix was one of a few new big money events drawing the best athletes in 1987 and 1988. With Bermuda, Perth and the Gold Coast World Cup Triathlon. Of course. Nice and Hawaii were already established.
The St. Croix event has an interesting history after 1988. But you’ll have to wait for the podcast to hear all about that.
Three 1988 race reports are below. So I won’t go through everything that happened. Kirsten Hanseen and Mike Pigg won. Pigg would eventually win the race four times. Karen Smyers would win five!
British athlete Sarah Coope was 9th. And Glenn Cook was there too. But he punctured. Below. Pushing his bike. In the Le Coq Sportif vest!
1992 Simon Lessing Interview And Michael Rughede Stuff
Here’s an interview with Simon Lessing. It was done just after he won the World Short-Course Championships in Muskoka in September 1992.
It compliments what I posted yesterday about the 1989 Triathlon International de Cannes. It gives some more information about his sporting background, leaving South Africa, life in France, professional triathlon at the time and his training. See also my Simon and Brad post.
Images: 220 (UK) October 1992
I also like finding random triathlon history stuff online. Fact checked or decent first person sources. Here’s something from Michael Rughede posted on the Triathlon Denmark site.
Michael was a solid Danish athlete in the late-80s and early-90s. And was a member of Salon Triathlon with Simon. I’ve just done a quick Google Translate but there’s some cool info in there.
About moving to France with fellow Danish triathlete Gabor Klozcl (1989 and 1990 Embrunman winner). Their first French race in Toulon (I’ll try and find the race report) and racing the Grand Prix for Mantes la Ville.
In 1989 Michael switched club to race for Salon. And therefore training and raced with Simon for a few years. Here’s what he had to say:
Next season we moved 40 km up the road to Salon de Provence. We lived there for a few seasons with Simon Lessing. Triathlon superstar in the 1990s. 4 x world champion in the short distance and once in the long distance.
He had come to France as a big 17-year-old boy from South Africa with a couple of friends. Simon had turned down a free college stay in the USA as a runner, to try his luck as a triathlete in France instead.
When he got to the Salon de Provence, he trotted down to the stadium and ran his intervals. He hadn't even had down on his upper lip and he was already running 2.37-2.38 in the 1000 meters.
He was also a good swimmer (his mother was a swimming coach) and had cycled on a regional youth team. So everyone knew that here was the future world champion. Simon became Nike's new global name and set to replace Mark Allen as Nike's front man.
However, his career turned out to be a little different. He was not as good at the Ironman distance as he was at the short distance, where he was the king. The explanation probably lay somewhere between genetic predispositions and form of training.
Simon trained for many years after his own head and wanted to win every training session. But intensive training just above and below the acid limit just doesn't harmonize with long distance.
On the other hand, we had fun on the bike! His problem was that the French would not train with him and that the international class triathletes who planned to stay a few months left after a few weeks.
No one thought it was fun to train with Simon.
1989 Triathlon International de Cannes
The image used on the 1990 Triathlon International de Cannes poster (above) is from the 1989 race. It shows Simon Lessing and Jorg Ullman in the process of running down Karel Blondeel. Lessing won. He was 18.
Lessing had only arrived in Europe from South Africa at the start of the season. He raced Southport, the first televised UK triathlon, on 18th June. Where he got 6th at Mark Allen’s only ever UK race appearance.
He then moved to France where he was welcomed by Salon Triathlon. That’s the kit that he’s wearing on the poster. Mandy Dean, the women’s winner in Southport and Cannes, also raced for Salon.
After his arrival in France Simon raced the Vars Triathlon on 9th July where he got 2nd to Danish athlete Michael Rughede.
Then 3rd at Courcouron the week after behind Greg Welch and Pierre-Alain Frossard. I spoke a bit about that race in TSP17.
He raced Toulouse on the 27th August. 2nd again behind Patrick Girard. Finally Monaco on 1st October. Another 2nd. Behind Yves Cordier.
The French scene was fast and deep at this time. So to instantly get results like this. At 18 years old. Showed a remarkable talent.
Simon might have also made a trip to Germany in August and / or September. As friend and training partner Mandy Dean had a West German passport and would race for them at the World Championships in Avignon.
Cannes is just 30km from Nice. And the course is somewhat similar. A tough sea swim from Iles de Lerin to the mainland. A bike ride through the mountains behind the town. And an out and back seafront run.
In 1989 Nice moved to June. Mainly to not clash with Hawaii anymore. So Cannes could take up an October date. The 1989 race was on the same weekend as Hawaii. So Yves Cordier was over there. Where he got 8th.
The poster below annnounced Cannes for the 17th September. But it eventually took place on 15th october. I’m not sure why.
Here’s race report from Cannes in 1989. And I’m currently working on a translation. I’ll copy and paste it below when it’s finished.
Images: Tri-Athlete (FR) Nov-Dec 1989
Mark Allen At The 1986 Hawaii Ironman
I’ve already done a post about the 1986 Triple Crown. But here’s some more stuff about Mark Allen at the Hawaii Ironman in 1986.
In fact it’s my first request post from a reader. Let me know if you’ve got a fetish race, athlete or period that you’d like me to research. Or join me on a podcast to dive deeper into the subject.
Mark got 2nd at Hawaii in 1986. Although he showed up only two days before the race. He wasn’t really supposed to be there. As he’d planned to focus on Nice. After too many disappointments in Kona.
Although Nice always offered good prize and appearance money, Hawaii was offering prize money for the first time in 1986. So after winning Nice two weeks earlier. And feeling good. Mark decided to tackle the Ironman too.
I like the Bell Stratos helmet. The Eyeshades. The Lake shoes. The Nike kit. Obviously. The Coke bottle behind the saddle. And the low-pro bars. Most pros wouldn’t be on Scott DH bars until May 1987.
Oh. And there’s a bonus photo of Dave below. Because it’s so good.
Images: Tri-Athlete (FR) Jan-Fev 1987
Fresh Brew
From 1990 until 1992 Robin Brew was sponsored by Fresh Brew Tea. We mentioned it in TSP14. I also spoke a lot about Robin in TSP9. What a link up. Robin Brew. Fresh Brew. I’ll get in touch with Robin to find out more about how the deal got done. Then post the info here.
Anyway. Although he was minimally branded in 1990. See Emberton Park photo below. He had some pretty cool kit and equipment in 1991. InSport. Quintana Roo. Grip Shift. Hed. Scott DH bars were a rare choice in 1991 however. As most athletes were on clip-ons by then.
The 1991 photos I’ve included below are from the St. Croix Triathlon. The first ever round of the ITU World Cup. Back when it was still draft-free. And let’s take a moment to remember how good the photography and race coverage was from John Lillie and 220 magazine.
In 1992 Robin’s sponsor was Ty-Phoo Tea. Guessing this brand was part of the Fresh Brew group. He was also now on a Serotta with Syntace bars. By 1993 the tea was gone and Robin was sponsored by Trek.
1992 European Short-Course Championships
The 1992 European Short-Course Championships were in Lommel, Belgium on 5th July. Simon Lessing was the defending champion. These were the non-drafting but we-are-actually-kind-of-drafting days. Except for Spencer Smith. He was pumping away off the front on his beam-bike.
There was no internet back then. So my source for results was the Tuesday editon of The Daily Telegraph. I was pretty stunned to read about the GBR podium-sweep. It certainly motivated me to keep training hard and improve my placings in the second edition of 220 Triathlon Series.
I really thought Cook’s career was heading slowly downhill at this point. But I certainly didn’t have the courage to tell him that the next time we met up for the Wednesday ride. Next to the post-box outside the Eastbourne Campus of the University of Brighton.
Three weeks after Lommel he won the European Long-Distance Championships in Finland. Probably his second best career result after Avignon. I recently got hold of the 220 with the report in. Blog post coming soon.
1992 Embrun Olympic Distance Triathlon
The Embrunman is still on my bucket-list. The goal would be to just get fit enough one year to enjoy a long day out in nature.
The Embrunman Triathlon was started in 1984. The distances the first year were 750m/30km/10km. Then increased to 1500m/70km/21km in 1985 and 4km/132km/42km in 1986. In 1987 they moved closer to the ironman standard with 5km/180km/42km. Seriously. 5-clicks of swimming!
They stuck with the same distances in 1988 before settling on 3800m/180km/42km in 1989. Finally the Col d’Izoard was first used in 1990, creating the super-tough course that is still used today.
They added an Olympic Distance race in 1988. In the 1989 race Yves Cordier had a bike crash which put him out of the first ITU Short Course World Championships in Avignon. He would have been one of the favourites. Instead he did some commentary for Canal+.
In 1991 the ITU launched their World Cup Series. The races were draft-free back then and Embrun was a stop on tour in 1991, 1992 and 1993. By 1997 the World Cup Series was draft-legal but Embrun was back on the docket.
Since 1990 the race has always been held on 15th August as it’s a French public holiday. Here’s all the Olympic Distance results.
I raced it in 1996 in the middle of a hectic Grand Prix season. It was something like my 15th race of the year. I swam and climbed well and descended and ran not so well. The following week I was on antibiotics with a throat infection. They worked though, as I had a solid September.
The article below about the 1992 Embrun Olympic Distance Triathlon is from the October 1992 issue of 220 Magazine. It’s written by founder and editor John Lillie. The race was one of the many Spencer Smith and Simon Lessing head to heads from the early to mid-1990s.
Images: 220 (UK) October 1992
Looking through my archives shows me that Simon seems to have come out on top most often. But Smudger had a few significant victories, including the 1993 Worlds in Manchester. Here in Embrun Spencer found the long, steep climbs and technical descents pretty tough.
Check out Scott Molina’s Lightspeed. You can see that he sometimes switches the GripShift from the tri-bars to the drops. He won the long-distance Embrunman the year before. He had a year-off triathlon in 1993 and then came back in 1994. Even returning to France to do the 1994 Iron Tour.
Loft Finds 6: TVT Car Window Sticker
Probably from 1989. Goodie bag swag from TVT Relays in October. Thames Valley Triathletes were formed in 1983. Maybe UK’s oldest tri club.
Loft Finds 5: 1989 East Grinstead Junior Triathlon
In 1989 a junior was anybody born in 1972, 1973 or 1974. So 15, 16 or 17 at the end of the year. There weren’t that many stand-alone junior races. Although at 16 we could enter races of approximately sprint distance.
The East Grinstead race had been going a few years and seemed to draw good fields of juniors from the south of England. It was to be my third triathlon. And the last for my Peugeot Elan.
Memory suggested it was a bit of moral-killer. After easily beating local Berkshire juniors in May. And then getting 3rd, in a better junior field at Biggleswade 2 weeks earlier. But reviewing the results I actually did OK. 7th place. 5:30 behind the winner and 3:30 behind James Long. Who would finish 4th at the National Juniors a month later.
I never went back. I think the date eventually clashed with a local event or Ironbridge or something. But of course. This became the race to do if you wanted to get beat by all 3 Herbert Brothers on the same day.
Loft Finds 4: My 1990 Training Plan
I’m guessing this is a week of school holidays. I was in my first year of Sixth Form at Upton Grammar. And I’m using miles and metres.
I’m baffled by the short swims. As I was already a member of Windsor SC. And getting used to the 2 hour / 5km sessions at Eton College.
I liked to ride hard. Still do. And the Tuesday and Thursday runs would be with Burnham Joggers. The 1 miles would be off the bike.
Pretty I sure I didn’t do any stretching. And Saturday might have been a full triathlon starting at Montem Leisure Centre.