Kyle Smith On PTO Singapore
Hot off the back of 5th place at the T100 Singapore, we caught up with Parcours athlete, New Zealander, Kyle Smith to find out more about the race. Kyle was a Wild Card athlete at the event, but known for his aggressive style of racing from his fast swim off the gun, he always going to add fire and excitement to a race.
Kyle has been one of the success stories of the PTO. Transitioning from short course to long course, as the pandemic hit, Kyle was able to take advantage of some of the additional support the PTO put into events and athletes during Covid. Not only did it allow him to survive, but also thrive with his impressive results earning him a spot on The Collins Cup – Team International (2021), and subsequently bringing him over to Europe. Girona, Spain then became a second home for the Kiwi, and an ‘ok’ training partner in Jan Frodeno!
Kyle gives us an insight into how he prepared for the heat and humidity and harsh conditions in Singapore, and how the race went.
Singapore was a savage yet amazing place to race. The conditions were brutal, and I definitely did everything within my power to prepare for this race—not just in training, but also in heat preparation, race strategy, and fueling. I spent the whole month before the race exclusively riding indoors without a fan, and on specific days, even adding layers and heat sources. This gave me a good understanding of what my core temperature looked like in relation to heart rate, my sweat and consumption rates, as well as the feelings in my body in the heat.
Being afforded the chance to get a wildcard in Singapore was amazing. The T100 series is really taking our sport to the next level. The broadcast is next level, but in order to have the most eyes on the screen, the best race time was 3:15 p.m., the height of the Singaporean heat. I knew I was in good shape, but the conditions would be the limiting factor.
I was off to a good start straight away into P3 on the swim, which meant I could stay super relaxed and swim easily in line. I got onto the bike, and thank God it stayed dry. That course in the wet would have been brutal. I had requested that if it started raining, I take my tire pressure down from 75 to 65 psi on my 28mm GPTT tires.
I used the chrono max and disc combo for the best aero advantage out there to save as many watts as possible, and the speeds on some of the courses exceeded 80 kph, so I needed to be as slippery as possible.
My core temperature actually came down 0.5 degrees on the bike, which I think was a testament to the heat prep I had done in the past months. I rode within myself and made sure I didn't overextend my resources on the bike. I consumed a lot of water and made sure I stayed cool.
On the run, it was about pacing and making it through. The heat and humidity were most felt here and were savage. I felt like I couldn't push hard, but I think my body knew where the limit was and to not go and find that too early. I crossed the line in P5, and I'm overall content with this result and will use it as a launchpad to the events that suit me more if I'm afforded another wildcard for Singapore and London.
Kyle is also a Precision Hydration athlete, and below is his nutrition for the race. If you are purchasing a Parcours wheel set… keep an eye out for a special extra gift…
My nutrition was really good, actually I had no problems stomaching it in the heat. I did 130g/hour carbs on the bike and around 2 litres of water. I sweat a lot and didn't want to implode myself with dehydration. The 130g was gels and carb mix with 2 x 100mg caffeine per hour. I used PH 1500 in my original bike bottles and then water from then on.
Off the back of his performance in Singapore, Kyle is hoping for a Wild Card for the next T100 San Francisco… fingers crossed and watch this space