Week in triathlon: records and Garmin buys TrainingPeaks

Triathlon did not let anyone rest last week. Records over full distance, European medals for Poland, heat that shortened the course in Banyoles, WTCS returning to London after 11 years, and a piece of industry news with weight: Garmin has bought TrainingPeaks and TrainHeroic. Plus domestic racing in Rawa Mazowiecka and Starachowice.

1. Van Riel and Findlay took Lake Placid apart

IRONMAN Lake Placid was meant to be hard, classic and unrewarding. It was. Marten Van Riel and Paula Findlay apparently did not get the memo.

The Belgian won in 7:41:57, taking more than eight minutes off the course record and adding the fastest marathon in the event’s history. It is his first full-distance IRONMAN win, and a firm signal ahead of the season’s main targets.

Findlay had the debut you dream about: a first race over full distance, victory in 8:47:43, and a new bike course record of 4:50:26. It was not an outright women’s course record, but for a debut on a hard Lake Placid it belongs in the watch-it-twice category.

2. Banyoles cooked the field. Run cut to 14 km

The Multisport European Championships in Banyoles, in Catalonia, ended in conditions that had more to do with fighting the weather than racing middle distance.

Organisers cut the run from 21 km to 14 km on grounds of heat and athlete safety. The final course was 1.9 km swimming, 83 km of non-drafting cycling and 14 km running.

The elite races went to Mikel Arrasate Larrea and Marta Bernardi. The shortening was announced before the start, so there is nothing to speculate about here: athlete health beat the distance table.

3. Garmin buys TrainingPeaks and TrainHeroic

This is the week’s biggest technology story in endurance sport.

On 22 July 2026 Garmin officially announced the acquisition of TrainingPeaks and TrainHeroic from Peaksware Holdings. Financial terms were not disclosed, but around 120 employees in Louisville, Colorado, move across to Garmin.

What does it mean for a triathlete? Today, nothing to click in settings. Strategically it is a heavy move. Garmin takes in the platform coaches and endurance athletes actually use, plus a tool with deep roots in strength training.

The question is no longer whether Garmin will build out coaching. It is how deeply it will fold training, data analysis and plans into its own ecosystem.

4. WTCS returned to London after 11 years

London got a top-tier race again. The World Triathlon Championship Series came back to the British capital after 11 years, as part of the London T100 weekend.

It was raced over sprint distance: 750 m swim, 20 km bike, 5 km run.

In the men’s race Matthew Hauser beat Vasco Vilaça to win in 50:28, with Csongor Lehmann completing the podium. In the women’s, Cassandre Beaugrand showed her running class and won in 56:06, ahead of Lisa Tertsch and Tilda Månsson.

Alex Yee was only 14th, though with racing like that there was plenty to watch anyway.

5. Hayden Wilde out of London

The field lost one of its hottest names before London even started.

Hayden Wilde withdrew from WTCS London after an MRI showed inflammation around his lungs. The New Zealander said it might explain his uneven form in training.

A loss for the spectacle, a good decision by the athlete. With a season and targets like his, there is no sense pretending lungs are a detail.

6. Laidlow’s Canyon Speedmax goes on sale

Sam Laidlow won Challenge Roth in 7:21:04 on the new Canyon Speedmax CFR, beating the best mark over iron distance. A few days later Canyon officially put the new Speedmax on sale.

The new frame is built around the AeroID system, meant to bring some of the pro-level aerodynamic fitting to bikes customers can actually buy.

With the usual footnote: the wallet may give out sooner than the legs do on the second climb.

7. RaceRanger shows data can change racing

Challenge Roth published its RaceRanger data, and the numbers are concrete.

Average time spent illegally inside the drafting zone fell from 2:40 in 2025 to 1:15 in 2026. That is a drop of 53%, even though the zone for pro athletes was widened from 12 to 20 metres.

This may be one of the more important directions for long distance: fewer arguments after the race, more hard data. Officials are still needed, but telemetry is starting to do what an eye from a motorbike cannot always catch.

The week in summary

This week had everything: records, heat, an acquisition and London’s return to WTCS. The best part is that the season shows no sign of easing off.