Race Day at Lanzarote: Timeline, Classic Mistakes, and Plan B

A full distance race is won long before the gun goes off. At Lanzarote, with wind, heat, and a 17-hour cutoff, the difference between managing your day and surviving it comes down to decisions made in the days before. Here's the timeline and where things go wrong.

The Days Before

• 3-2 days out: rebuild your bike, test it on the road, check your shifting under load. If you can, drive or ride a section of the northern course: seeing the Haría–Mirador del Río stretch before race day changes how you approach it.
• 2 days out: briefing and bib pickup. Swim at Playa Grande in real conditions: 18-20 °C water, practice the beach entry and exit, because the format is two laps with an on-land exit in between.
• The day before: bike and bag check-in. Take a photo of your spot and your landmarks in transition. Then stop walking: Puerto del Carmen invites you to wander, your legs disagree.
• Official check-in and briefing times for 2027 aren't available yet: check the athlete guide when it's published.

Race Morning

Wake up early, eat the breakfast you've tested in training, get to transition with plenty of margin: pump your tires, load your bottles, check your gearing. If you're staying outside Puerto del Carmen, road closures are the first risk of the day: leave earlier than you think you need to.

The swim starts at Playa Grande: 3.8 km in two 1.9 km laps with an Australian exit between them. Water at 18-20 °C, wetsuit almost always legal (24.5 °C limit). Swim cutoff: 2:20. If your swim is shaky, know that number by heart.

The Day, Hour by Hour

• Early morning: cool swim, partially sheltered bay but possible swell. Visibility 5-10 meters.
• Morning and early afternoon: the bike. Tailwind at the start, the northern wall in the middle, fast return. Temperatures top 25 °C by mid-morning. The number-one mistake of the day happens here: pushing in the first 60 km.
• Afternoon: the marathon during the hottest hours, three laps along the seafront, aid stations every 2-3 km.
• Evening: sunset brings relief. Many finish as the light fades; the last finisher crosses just before midnight, within the 17-hour total cutoff.

Classic Mistakes

1. Going out hard with the tailwind. The free speed of the opening kilometers isn't fitness, it's wind. You pay for it at Mirador del Río. 2. Drinking by feel. The dry heat masks dehydration: drink on a schedule, not on thirst. 3. Wheels too deep. With 40-50 km/h crosswind gusts, the wrong wheel turns descents into survival mode. 4. Winging your cooling strategy on the marathon. Ice and water over your body get practiced in training, not invented at km 15. 5. Underestimating the Australian exit. Two entries and two exits from cold water: practice them beforehand, they cost heartbeats.

Plan B, Written in Advance

Decide at your desk, not mid-race:

• If the swim runs long (beyond 1:30-1:40 for your level): the bike stays at planned power, you don't claw it back in the saddle.
• If the wind is worse than expected: drop your target times and ride to watts. The clock lies at Lanzarote, the power meter doesn't.
• If the marathon falls apart: survival pace, walk the aid stations, ice, and one goal only: the finish line within 17 hours. Finishing here means more than elsewhere: wind, elevation, and heat push average times higher than almost any other full, and the finish line carries the weight to match.

One last thing: in 2027 the race turns 35 and joins the Pro Series. There'll be more attention, more crowds, probably more pros in the water ahead of you. Your race stays the same, though: you, the wind, and the sun.