Race Day at Vichy: Timeline, Common Mistakes, and Backup Plans

The Days Before: Friday and Saturday

Friday is the logistics day: registration, bike check-in, briefing. Get it all done early and get it off your mind. Saturday is the saving-energy day: a short activation session (20-30 minutes of easy running or swimming), familiar meals, feet up. With the full-distance race on the same weekend and at the same venue, expect crowds at the expo: it's not the place to spend three hours on your feet the day before.

Saturday night, prep everything: breakfast ready, bags packed, nutrition portioned out, two swim scenarios (more on that below). Check the forecast: official highs of 25 °C but possible peaks toward 28 °C, lows around 11 °C.

The Morning: Dawn Wake-Up

Start time is roughly between 6:00 and 6:30: that means a very early alarm, roughly 2.5-3 hours before the gun to digest your breakfast. In transition: pump your tires, mount your bottles (don't leave them on the bike overnight in the heat), check your gearing and the landmarks for your spot.

Bring warm throwaway layers: mornings can be cold and you'll be standing still near the water.

The Wetsuit Decision: Vichy's Key Fork in the Road

This is the race's most concrete unknown. Wetsuits are legal up to and including 24.5 °C. The official page lists an average water temperature of 22 °C, but other sources mention around 25 °C, and in one past edition wetsuits were banned due to the heat. The call comes at the last minute.

A mandatory plan B: bring both a wetsuit and a swimskin, and above all train in both scenarios. If you only ever swim in a wetsuit and it's banned on race day, you lose much more than buoyancy: you lose confidence. The swim is a single 1,901 m loop in the calm water of the Allier, with a self-seeded start: seed yourself honestly, the format rewards those who start in the right group.

Cutoff Times: Sources Disagree

The official course page lists an overall cutoff of 8 hours; another source cites 7:30 total and 1 hour for the swim. If you're playing close to the limits, this difference matters: check the official Athlete Guide and build your plan around the stricter number (7:30) until you have confirmation.

The Typical Mistakes, Ranked by Severity

1. Pushing hard in the first 2.5 km of the bike: a stretch along the lake, slippery when wet. It's where people crash, not where you gain time. 2. Attacking the La Guillermie climb in surges: 9.5 km at 3.7% demands steady pacing, not criterium watts. 3. Bombing the final descent on Route de Creuzier: after the last aid station there's a short kick and then a tricky descent before the change zone. Get to T2 in one piece. 4. Ignoring the heat in the first km of the run: the heat builds during the race. Water over your head and walking the aid stations from the first lap, not the second. 5. Trying new products on race day: you'll find Maurten and PH 1000; either you've tested them, or you bring your own.

Backup Plans Ready to Go

• Wetsuit banned: swimskin, more conservative start to the swim, no drama: calm water and a single loop.
• A 28 °C day: back off your run pace by 10-15 seconds per km from the gun, double your focus at aid stations, use every cooling opportunity.
• Flat or mechanical: with a cutoff between 7:30 and 8 hours, there's margin to fix it and finish. Carry the kit and know how to use it.
• Blowing up on the run: the two-lap format brings you past aid stations often. Walk an entire aid station, drink, get going again. People finish that way too.

The Test to Do Beforehand

A full simulation: dawn wake-up, race breakfast, a ride including the long climb at target pace, a run straight after in the hot hours with your aid-station protocol. A 70.3 can be planned on paper, but it's only verified in the field.