Maria Seferoglou

Race Purpose

This is an A race.

Success is not defined by a finishing time, individual split, or age-group placement. Success means racing confidently across all three disciplines, using the fitness you brought to Nice, and remaining engaged when the race becomes uncomfortable.

The goal is to finish feeling good about how you swam, biked, and ran because you actively raced each discipline rather than waiting for the race to come to you.

Race Strategy at a Glance

Swim

Swimming is a strength. Use it immediately. Bring urgency to the start, establish your position, and then settle into your rhythm.

Bike

Ride with controlled pressure from the beginning. Stay seated on the climbs, manage the steep pitches, and do not allow World Championship surroundings to make you unnecessarily conservative. Descend safely and return to purposeful riding once the technical section ends.

Run

You have repeatedly practiced running with purpose immediately after demanding bike work. Begin the run with intent. You do not need to wait until the final miles to “go there.”

Primary Race Anchors

Your Control System

Your current run-threshold HR setting may not accurately reflect your present fitness. Do not use it as an absolute limit or chase a particular HR.

Power and pace tell us what you are producing. HR and RPE tell us what that production is costing. Conditions change the relationship between them.

Stay assertive

Your natural tendency may be to begin conservatively, especially in a World Championship field. Control is important, but control does not mean passivity.

There is a difference between patiently executing and simply accepting less than you can produce. Look for that difference throughout the day.

Numbers are guides

A missed number does not mean the race is going poorly. It means you have information to interpret.

• What am I producing?
• What is it costing by HR and RPE?
• Are terrain, wind, traffic, travel, or sleep affecting the relationship?
• What is the next good decision?

Do not allow one number to determine your confidence.

You have trained the run response

The quality running you have completed directly after demanding bike sessions matters. You have practiced accessing real run effort without waiting to feel completely comfortable.

When the run becomes difficult: This is not new. This is the work I have done.

Swim Execution

1.9 km / 1.2 mi

Start to approximately 300 m: Establish yourself

Bring urgency from the start. Do not use the opening as a long warmup.

You have practiced abbreviated warmups followed by immediate main-set work specifically to improve this response. Use that training.

• Begin with confident, purposeful swimming.
• Establish space and position.
• Look for useful feet.
• Do not wait too long to make a group decision.
• Allow the effort to settle only after you are properly established.

Cue: Swimming is a strength. Use it from the start.

Approximately 300–1,500 m: Hold rhythm and make decisions

Once established, move into strong, sustainable swimming.

• Draft when the feet are genuinely useful.
• Do not remain with a group that is clearly holding you back.
• Maintain deliberate sighting.
• Stay long, composed, and connected to your stroke.
• If contact interrupts your rhythm, solve it and resume swimming.

The swimmers around you are not automatically too fast because this is a World Championship. You belong in the field.

Approximately 1,500–1,900 m: Finish the swim

• Reconfirm the exit line.
• Maintain pressure through the final section.
• Do not mentally transition before reaching the beach.
• Prepare for T1 without shortening or rushing your stroke.

Wetsuit decision

You are prepared for either outcome. Follow the official race-morning wetsuit determination and adjust without allowing it to change your confidence.

T1

Move with purpose, but remain composed.

• Complete each task once.
• Do not rush yourself into mistakes.
• Get onto the bike prepared to begin riding immediately.
• Leave the swim behind and start solving the bike.

Bike: The Big Picture

Mapped course: 93.3 km / 58 mi · 1,247 m / 4,090 ft of climbing

The official guide inconsistently describes the bike as 90 km/56 mi, while its detailed map and elevation profile show 93.3 km/58 mi. This plan uses the mapped 93.3 km/58 mi course.

1. Establish through the controlled urban opening.
2. Manage the short, steep Pugets pitches.
3. Fuel and prepare for Col de Vence.
4. Climb Col de Vence with steady seated pressure.
5. Release over the summit and prepare for the technical descent.
6. Descend with patience and complete attention.
7. Re-engage after the descent and ride purposefully back to Nice.

This is not a course where one average-power target tells the entire story.

Bike: Section by Section

0–10.2 km / 0–6.3 mi
Exit Nice and establish

Target: approximately 145–151 W

Begin under control, but do not disappear into an effort that is too comfortable.

• Settle into the bike.
• Begin fueling early.
• Observe HR and RPE without chasing either.
• Respect the narrow no-overtaking section around km 4.
• Once the course allows it, ride with steady intent.

You rode approximately 145–146 W in Maine and felt good about that performance. There is no reason to begin Nice materially below that output merely because the field is strong.

Cue: Controlled does not mean passive.

10.2–15.2 km / 6.3–9.4 mi
Montée des Pugets

This section includes rolling terrain and two short, steep pitches.

• Rolling and rising terrain: 151–158 W
• Steeper pitches: 160–170 W
• Brief ceiling when gradient and gearing require it: approximately 175–180 W

Remain seated whenever practical. Use the gearing available to keep the effort smooth.

Standing is acceptable briefly when it provides a useful change in muscle recruitment or when the gradient requires it. Do not repeatedly stand and surge your way up the climbs.

Release pressure as the gradient eases. Do not continue pushing climbing power when those watts stop buying meaningful speed.

Cue: Seated, steady, and assertive.

15.2–26.6 km / 9.4–16.5 mi
Build toward Col de Vence

Target: approximately 148–155 W

Use this section to settle, fuel, and prepare for the major climb.

• Re-establish consistent pressure after Pugets.
• Do not drift into an extended recovery.
• Eat and drink while the course allows it.
• Confirm that your breathing, HR, and RPE match the output.
• Prepare mentally and physically for Col de Vence.

This is an important fueling opportunity. Stay ahead before the technical descent restricts what you can safely consume.

Cue: Fuel, settle, and stay engaged.

26.6–36.3 km / 16.5–22.6 mi
Col de Vence

The official course description identifies approximately 9 km of sustained climbing with roughly 620 m of vertical gain.

• Sustainable climbing range: 152–160 W
• Steeper sections: 160–168 W
• Brief ceiling: approximately 175 W

The goal is persistent, economical climbing.

• Stay seated whenever practical.
• Use your gearing early rather than waiting until cadence is already collapsing.
• Maintain pressure without repeatedly spiking the effort.
• Use brief standing periods only when purposeful.
• Let HR and RPE confirm whether the power remains appropriate.
• Take in carbohydrate and fluid where the road and breathing allow it.
• Do not allow another rider’s climbing pace to become your instruction.

If 155 W feels normal, keep climbing. If 155 W becomes abnormally expensive by both HR and RPE, forcing it because it appears in this guide would miss the point of the guide.

Cue: Persistent pressure. Your race, your cost.

36.3–44 km / 22.6–27.3 mi
Summit to Coursegoules

Release power as the climb ends. Additional watts over the crest quickly stop buying useful speed.

• Allow cadence and speed to return.
• Take in carbohydrate and fluid before the descent becomes highly technical.
• Reset your posture and attention.
• Prepare to shift from power production to bike control.

Around km 42, the Coursegoules Bridge requires a sharp right into a very narrow lane. Stay to the right and do not cross the white line.

Cue: Release, fuel, and prepare.

44–57 km / 27.3–35.4 mi
Upper technical descent

The official guide describes this descent as very dangerous and warns of deceptive corners and potentially poor road surfaces.

Your job is to descend safely and arrive at the bottom composed.

• Stay stable with your weight appropriately back.
• Look through each corner.
• Brake before the turn.
• Use controlled, progressive braking.
• Feather the rear brake when needed to manage speed.
• Do not grab or overload the front brake.
• Enter corners at a speed that allows you to hold your intended line.
• Leave additional room around unpredictable riders.
• Ignore power and average speed.

You do not need to prove anything on this descent. You need to remain composed, safe, and ready to continue racing.

Cue: Eyes up. Brake early. Hold your line.

57–75.5 km / 35.4–46.9 mi
Brief rise and continued descent

There is a slight uphill section around km 57 before the descending continues.

Use the rise to:

• Re-engage with controlled pressure.
• Reset your position.
• Fuel or drink if it is safe.
• Check that you remain mentally present.

Do not turn the rise into another major climbing effort. Once descending resumes, return your full attention to handling.

Cue: Re-engage, then refocus.

75.5–93.3 km / 46.9–58 mi
Flat return to Nice

Target: approximately 148–155 W

Once the descent ends and you are settled:

• Return to useful, steady output.
• Adjust for wind rather than forcing a fixed speed.
• Resume normal fueling and hydration.
• Do not chase the average power that disappeared during the descent.
• Respect the narrow no-overtaking section on the return.
• Ride all the way to T2.

This is an opportunity to race assertively again. Do not allow the concentration required by the descent to turn into passivity on the return.

Cue: Back to work. Bring the run to T2.

T2

Use the transition to reset.

• Finish the bike mentally before beginning the run.
• Complete each task calmly and efficiently.
• Stand tall as you leave.
• Begin running with purpose.

Run: The Big Picture

21.1 km / 13.1 mi · 123 m / 404 ft gain · mostly flat/low-amplitude rolling · two loops

The run is two loops along the Promenade des Anglais. It is fast and low-amplitude rolling rather than perfectly flat.

The bike will create most of the structural cost. Sun, wind, and accumulated fatigue may make identical paces feel different in each direction.

Your job is not to wait until the final few miles before racing. Begin with control and intent, then keep making active decisions.

You have trained this exact response: running with purpose directly after demanding bike work.

Run: Section by Section

0–5.3 km / 0–3.3 mi
First outbound

Initial guide: approximately 9:15–9:30/mi

This range is deliberately controlled, but it is not passive.

• Find posture and rhythm quickly.
• Keep cadence connected.
• Begin cooling and drinking as conditions require.
• Do not allow the opening kilometer to become a shuffle.
• Do not force cool-condition pace into a headwind or rising heat.
• Do not use ordinary opening discomfort as a reason to back away.

HR may provide useful information, but it does not control this section.

Cue: You have trained this. Start running.

5.3–10.55 km / 3.3–6.55 mi
First return

Guide: approximately 9:05–9:20/mi

Settle into sustainable racing.

• Let wind direction explain some pace variation.
• Maintain mechanics over the small rollers.
• Continue cooling before you feel overheated.
• Stay connected to the race.
• If the effort is stable, allow yourself to run toward the quicker end of the range.

If a number does not look right, interpret it. Do not make it a judgment about how the race is going.

Cue: Stay assertive. Stay in it.

10.55–15.8 km / 6.55–9.8 mi
Second outbound

If mechanics, breathing, and overall cost remain stable, allow the pace to progress toward approximately 8:55–9:10/mi.

This is a formal progression point, but it is not the first moment that you begin trying.

• Increase pressure gradually.
• Continue to account for wind, sun, and direction.
• Keep fueling, cooling, and drinking.
• Use the athletes around you competitively when the cost is appropriate.
• Do not allow being passed to decide your effort for you.

You have already completed the work that teaches you how to access this effort off the bike.

Cue: Go there. You know how.

15.8–21.1 km / 9.8–13.1 mi
Final return

Race what remains.

If mechanics are intact and the effort is stable, you have permission to move faster than the previous range.

• Make deliberate decisions rather than waiting for certainty.
• Use competition when it helps.
• Keep your eyes forward.
• Continue taking care of cooling and hydration.
• Increase effort progressively toward the finish.

Do not finish with fitness that you were afraid to use.

Cue: Finish the race you came to race.

Fueling, Hydration and Cooling

Use your established system. There is no need to reinvent it during race week.

Bike priorities

• Begin early.
• Use controlled portions of the opening and climbing sections.
• Stay ahead before the descent.
• Use the climb and summit transition to front-load some carbohydrate.
• Do not rely on taking in significant carbohydrate during the technical descent.
• Do not attempt to catch up while descending.
• Resume normal intake when handling demands decrease.

Run priorities

• Begin the run fueled rather than already trying to correct a deficit.
• Drink and cool according to conditions.
• Start cooling before heat becomes a problem.
• Continue taking in carbohydrate according to your practiced plan.

Race-Day Decision Rules

Championship Mental Execution

The World Championship field is fast. That does not make you an outsider. It confirms the level you earned the right to race among.

Your confidence cannot depend on whether every number appears exactly as expected or whether another athlete passes you.

Return to these reminders:

• I earned my place here.
• I can be controlled and assertive at the same time.
• The numbers guide me; they do not judge me.
• I make the next good decision.
• I have trained the ability to go there.

When you are racing well, you are confident, strong, and focused. Protect that state by remaining involved in the decisions of the race.

Quick-Reference Race Card

Swim

Bike

Run