Podcast | Cameron Wurf - 2023 World Championships

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CAMERON WURF

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It's IM World Championship race week and in today’s episode we have the chance to talk to Cameron Wurf who will be on the startline in the pro field in Nice on Sunday.

The 40-year-old Tasmanian will also allow us a deeper insight into his unique career starting as a rower and balancing his year between racing spring classics, grand tours and triathlon events for several seasons now.

During this episode of the Castelli podcast, Cam will let us know what learnings he takes from the fact that he raced the course already in June during the regular edition of IM Nice. He shares insights into his life, training and racing with WorldTour cyclists, how he improved his swimming and whom he picks as podium contender for race day.

Furthermore some dos and don’ts for all amateurs racing the course this week.

Hope you’ll enjoy the episode!

TOPICS COVERED & TRANSCRIPT

(00:00) Welcome
(02:45) IM World Championships in Nice (not Kona) this year
(05:15) Season Preparation - Balancing the season between cycling and triathlon
(07:55) Structuring the 2023 season
(11:20) Summer vacation and switch off after IM Nice in June - Training routine combined with family life
(14:45) Deeper dive into the Nice bike course
(17:55) Learnings from doing the race in June already
(20:15) Expectations for the swim on race day - wetsuit vs non-wetsuit swim
(23:10) Enjoying the Strava community
(24:50) Race favorites for the pro race
(27:30) Dark Horses for race day - Jan Frodeno’s last race
(30:30) Bike choices: triathlon bike vs superlight road bike, race wheels, rim depth
(33:50) PR 2 Race Suit: Castelli’s R&D for race suit developments
(37:45) Advice, Tips for race day for age group athletes
(39:40) Cameron Wurf the multisport athlete: Rowing, cycling, triathlon
(49:30) Picking the best training spots: Andorra, California, Australia
(54:00) What if (not a pro cyclist / pro triathlete) …
(55:00) Dream job apart of being a cyclist/triathlete?
(58:45) What performance would you be happy about on Sunday?

SOREN JENSEN
What's up everyone, welcome back to the Castelli Podcast, provided to you by the people behind the brand and the iconic product innovations. I'm your host Søren Jensen, Castelli Marketing Manager and in this week's episode, Tri-Division Manager Bernhard Plainer is joined by one of the world's top triathletes and road cyclist, Cameron Wurf from Tasmania. Cam is a truly remarkable athlete who has been a part of the Castelli family for several seasons now. Cam's sporting career is nothing short of extraordinary. Initially starting out as a rower, he reached the pinnacle of his athletic pursuits by representing his country in the men's double scull at the 2004 Athens Olympics. However, it was during his time as a rower that Cam discovered the integral role cycling played in his training regime, leading him to venture into the world of road racing where he competed for various teams until 2017, where Cam's path took an unexpected turn as he found himself captivated by the world of triathlon. Since then, he has left an indelible mark on the sport, achieving remarkable success at the highest level. In fact, his talent and dedication caught the attention of one of the most dominating professional road cycling teams of the last decade, the British Team Ineos back in 2020. He joined the ranks, skillfully balancing his active career between road cycling and triathlon. As we speak, Cam is preparing to take on the ultimate triathlon challenge of the year, the Ironman World Championships in Nice. Despite his busy training schedule, he kindly sat down with Bernhard to chat about his amazing career and goals for this Sunday. So join us as we embark on this captivating journey with Cameron Wurf, where we'll discover his victories, hurdles and dreams that have shaped his amazing sporting career. If you have any questions you would like to have answered on the podcast, send us an email to podcast at castelli-cycling.com. You can also find a link in the show notes together with some of the other important links. Without further ado, here are Bernhard Plainer and Cameron Wurf.

BERNHARD PLAINER
Cam, hello on our Castelli podcast. Thanks a lot for taking the time to talk to me today. It's a real pleasure having you on our Castelli podcast. Since we are in Ironman Nice World Championships Race Week, I want to dive into the topic right away. So not Kona this year, it's Nice. What do you think about it?

CAMERON WURF
Well, it's amazing, isn't it? We started talking about doing this podcast in 2019, I think, or maybe early 2020, before COVID. It's taken us four years or three and a half years to make it happen.

BERNHARD PLAINER
Yeah, time is flying.

CAMERON WURF
So, it's fantastic to finally get the chance to do it with you. But yeah, we're not in Kona. That's another difference. We waited so long to go back and then we got to go once, now they've changed it. Obviously, like everyone, it's not Kona. So, you know, nothing ever replaces Kona. You can call it the World Championships, you can call it whatever you like. Kona is Kona. It's like the Tour de France. So, it's obviously different. You know, it is. It's more of a World Championship, I guess. You know, it really does feel like you're going to try and win the world championship here in Nice. Whereas in Kona, you're just trying to win Kona. The fact that it's the world championship is sort of just, oh yeah, okay, cool, you get that bit as well, but in reality you're trying to become one of those famous ones, the few that can win that race. So I think this genuinely just feels like a world championship, which, you know, more specifically than it does with Kona, which I think means that it feels very important, obviously, and has been a huge motivating factor for me in my preparation for the event, you know, to try and become the world champion. Obviously for me, on paper, the course suits me better than, say, the course in Hawaii with the very challenging bike course. I've had to go away and work harder than I ever have worked before on that aspect as well. You know, you get a bit complacent, think you're good enough and you just work on the others. Well, you know, I've really tried to up my game on the bike and also at the same time tried to up my game in everything else. So I'm just as excited. I think there's, I think genuinely I feel there's a lot of people interested to see how I go. And to be honest, I'm quite interested to see how I'll go as well. I'm really excited to see where the work puts me. So yeah, it's fantastic to finally be here. It's such a privilege to be able to fight for a world title. So I'm excited to get into that.

BERNHARD PLAINER
Yeah, that's great. Only a few days left until the gun goes off in Nice. How has your training and preparation been lately? Everything's gone to plan I guess.

CAMERON WURF
As far as I can see I set out I guess at the start of the year that time for me It's a very rough plan because as we all know, you know the first part of the year I'm dedicated a bit more to the team and being on call and triathlon I guess is a bit of a secondary thought at that point in the year. And then I also need to qualify so I sort of just have to pull together what I can to sort of get that done and then that sort of coincides the end of the spring coming into summer when you know in the team all the guys are you know wanting to race so you know there's not much of a requirement for me to be racing and traveling on the road with the team so I can actually get knuckled down and get stuck into my training. I can honestly say, July, August, and here we are in September, it's all gone exactly how I imagined it would. I've been able to do some sessions I didn't think I would be capable of, and I've taken on some tough, I sort of wrote down, I always write down some goals at the start of the year and one thing I felt like I didn't do very well last year was I didn't embrace the sort of challenges, you know, novelties like Richie Porte doing an Everesting thing for example and some of the silly runs I've done or swims I've done or different activities. I've tried to, Roubaix was a good example earlier in the year. I thought right, if I do Roubaix then I want to go for a run afterwards you know, so that was cool. I was able to do another Everesting type challenge in Andorra recently at my home. I sort of mapped out a route where I basically did all the major climbs in Andorra. I had no real idea how far it would be or the amount of climbing it was. I knew it would be over the Everesting thing, but yeah, it ended up being nearly 10,000 meters, so quite a bit over, and nearly 300 kilometers. I feel that when I'm wanting to do stuff like that, that means not only physically am I in a good spot, but the biggest challenge with things like that is usually mentally. And it shows that I really want to train, I really want to push myself and still want to keep improving. And I'm excited to see where that puts me in the race on Sunday.

BERNHARD PLAINER
Interesting, looking forward to that. You have talked about what you have changed a little bit. So usually you've been racing bikes and also triathlons throughout the year basically, but this year you scheduled your year a little bit differently with basically a break after your last Ironman in, it was actually Nice. Ironman Nice was your last race. So from Nice to Nice. So is there a deeper thought behind it or was it just because you felt you needed a little bit more training in running and swimming or has there been different reasons for that?

CAMERON WURF
The last couple of years is, what I've learned, to respect, you know, you've got to respect the sport, you know, both sports, they're both very hard and if you want to do them properly I needed to sort of, I guess, you know, periodize things a little bit better and so the first part of the year I basically thought well, I think I can dedicate myself to being available for the team you know doing my role for the team and obviously I feel like I can still maintain the swimming and running enough you know at a level enough to qualify for you know for the World Championships. Obviously I missed out in Lanzarote. I got that a bit wrong but I was able to rectify that quite quickly at the next race in Austria. And then obviously Nice was the weekend after, and as you know I like to travel to the races with the family and driving around Europe. I enjoyed a rematch and we load up, so we'd driven to Austria, we had to drive back past Nice to get home and I thought well gosh I've already qualified for the World Championships what a great opportunity to see the course you know. I've originally planned to ride the course maybe on the Wednesday or the Thursday and then obviously once I got there I kind of felt a bit foolish not racing on the Sunday and so yeah we agreed that that was going to be you know I mean as you know when we think back to 2018 and 2019 I did something similar. I would do Nice and then normally the weekend after I do Roth and often Roth would be my better performance but on that occasion Nice was always a pretty average performance because Yeah, I do that sort of more as training and it's a very hard race. Whereas this time I kind of did it around the other way. I did my sort of good race in Austria and I was pretty exhausted and then I had to go to an even harder race and try to get through Nice. So basically the compromise with the team, with the coaching staff was that, okay if you're going to do something as crazy as this, then you've got to take a week off after that. So that was really where the forced break came into it, was just respecting that it's been a busy first part of the year with a lot of travel, managing a lot of things. To qualify has become harder, the standard of the sport is much harder, so I've had to work harder than probably expected to just achieve that off minimal preparation. I've really had to dig into the well of experience and years of conditioning to be able to get that park ticked off. And it was important just to respect that, respect how hard that had been on my body and go and have a bit of a holiday. And we chose Greece because I couldn't take my bike. It was just a really nice period to switch off. And if I'm honest, Fallon and I haven't really done that since, you know, really since, gosh, pre-COVID, you know, because sort of the way that sort of came around and every year since then has kind of rolled into another one. Is Kona gonna happen? No. Okay. Chase something else. Kona gonna happen again? No. Okay. Well, you know, chase something else. And then all of a sudden we're finally in Kona (in October 2022). That didn't go well. So of course I was desperate to sort of, you know, get back to work as quickly as possible to sort of improve. Yeah, it was nice to finally take a proper break and just switch off for a week. And yeah, I've come back all guns blazing and my body feels fantastic. I don't recommend resting too much, but obviously every now and then it's a good, it's probably a good idea. And I think after doing back-to-back Ironmans, which I think I did both of them at a reasonably high level, I think it's probably a good idea to give yourself at least a week off.

BERNHARD PLAINER
I think it's important to take those breaks once in a while and you know that you also mentally recover, you give your body the time to recover, also spend time with your family and then refocus on the next goals and keep 100% for the goals ahead.

CAMERON WURF
Yeah, absolutely, I mean that's the big thing, and I'd never really thought about it before but, with Wyatt, our little boy growing up, he's three now and wanting to do more things. Yeah, the reality is you have to use this as a job and I have to go to work and I have to train all day and sometimes when I come home I can't just drop everything and go and play, you know, I'm a bit exhausted, I need to eat or drink or have a massage, or stretch, or whatever. It was really nice to go and give that time, feel more comfortable when I am training to be able to say to him, Mr. Mate, sorry, Dad's here, I've gotta go train. And he gets it. It's also been fascinating to see how he has understood that. He understands like, okay, when Dad's not training or we're on a holiday, yeah, he's there, or days off, or whatever, but when I'm training, he never, doesn't guilt me or anything, you know. Dad please stay home or can't you just kick the ball a little longer or anything, I mean he's really an amazing sport and obviously you know, Falon, my wife, she's dealt with that for many, many years now. And then of course Olive, the dog, who's obviously very famous in the sport. She was in Greece, so she enjoyed it there. She roamed around like a stray cat for the week, no leash, just roamed around this little fishing village where we were staying and you'd find her in the water every now and then. Yeah, so everyone had a great time, but yeah, it did. It meant when we came home, it was almost like everyone knew, okay, now I've got to knuckle down and really prepare like I've never prepared before and be ready for the World Championship because as I said in the beginning, yeah, it's not Kona but it is, it's a World Championship. It's the sort of thing that gives you goosebumps thinking about it and gets you out of bed every day to give it everything you've got in your preparation.

BERNHARD PLAINER
Coming back a little bit to the race on Sunday. Do you have exact knowledge if it's exactly the same course in most parts, especially on the bike, than what you've been racing in June, or is it different in some areas?

CAMERON WURF
Yeah, no, it's identical. Well, identical, as I think people know from the Strava data, that course was about 10 kilometers short. So, they have changed it from the old Nice, the one that you know Frederic Van Lierde dominated for what do you think it felt like? Yeah. It was slightly different to that. That course was around the same distance, I think that was low, 170 kilometers, but had a couple of out and backs during that as well. So instead of those out and backs, like there was an out and back on that first long climb that we used to do, that's all of a sudden gone. There was also an out and back towards the top of the Col de Vence that was gone and another one somewhere else on the course. They're all gone. The loop, there's a loop, you know, the loop up on top of the ridge, like once you get up on the plateau, is much bigger. It's added in a couple of extra smaller climbs that are like between 3 and 5k long. Not super challenging so it's actually more up and down than it was before and then to get the distance they have added a 10 kilometer out the back yeah yes but just on the flat you know it's basically just a token to make it 180k at some point so but the 170k that we did in Nice in June I mean it's a beautiful course, it's very challenging. Even where the downhills, until really, even that last big long downhill, I mean from everyone, I guess there's not ever been a lot of coverage of the racing, the Ironman, but the 70.3 Worlds did the same descent. And you saw, I mean it's a peddling descent, you know, if you've got some fuel in the tank, you can really make a difference on that descent. If you're tired and using it as a recovery, like I was in June, because I really... Fortunately, I didn't hit the wall until the climb just before that. I really blew up for the last kilometer of the last climb. Like, I was just out of gas. So I had to use that downhill to just try and get something back together so that I could survive the run. It was really good for me to do that because although I wasn't pushing it on that descent, I was able to spot that this is an opportunity to actually really make a difference if you do manage your effort really well. You can go quite fast down there. So, yeah, that was an invaluable experience for me, getting to see the course under race conditions and the race fatigue feeling, knowing that that amount of climbing can really catch up with you if you get it wrong.

BERNHARD PLAINER
So you definitely need to respect the course. Did you learn also anything else, like maybe race dynamics or what could be a good spot or maybe some smaller hills where you can still push a big gear over a small bump or is this something what you you can't really remember?

CAMERON WURF
Memorize from June to September? The climbing part is the obvious one. It's as I just said it's knowing those other bits you just mentioned like the descent you know after the climbs there's the opportunities I guess where people are looking to recover, take a breath, take a rest. I think they're the parts that I've analyzed the most as opportunities to make the biggest difference. Of course, I'll back myself to try and be the strongest on the climb like I was in June, which surprised me. He's known as, well, what did Leon Chevalier, he told me, they say he's the Vingegaard of triathlon apparently for climbing. So, and I rode away from him pretty comfortably on the climb. He obviously went on to win the race, so he was obviously, you know, sticking to his plan, etc. But that certainly gave me some confidence, because I was certainly well within myself as well, but it gave me a lot of confidence that I'm at that, you know, a pretty high level, I think, when it comes to climbing in the sport. And Kristian Hogenhaug as well, he's a very strong guy. I raced him in Mallorca a couple of years ago and I couldn't get away from him on the climb. So it showed that I've probably improved quite a bit, especially considering the amount of fatigue I'd had from six days earlier. But yeah, as I said, it's those other bits. Early on in the race where I did have the punch, where I made the biggest difference on those guys. So yeah, it was a really good experience and I'm certainly glad I did it. And the key that day was to make sure that I rode a good consistent race so we could get some good relevant data to be able to put together a good plan to capitalize as much as possible on the course. But obviously like anything I gotta get through the swim first. I'm more worried about that than what I need to do on the bike to be honest. If I swim well everything seems to work out okay so that's the first priority.

BERNHARD PLAINER
I think we have a high chance that it will be a wetsuit legal swim. So that will definitely be...

CAMERON WURF
Well, yeah, you never know, do you? I mean, that was... It wasn't in June, but I swam in the front pack and it was bizarre because, as you know, like from Austria the week before with Lukasz (Wójt) there, I mean, he just... He's like a shark. But... And it was fresh water and I remember the first part of the swim, because obviously my swim’s improved, you know, I think quite a bit because I'm now consistently making that, you know, upper front, you know, the front group, you know, pack swims. And in the fresh water, because we were sort of staying attached to him all the way up to the first buoy, I mean it was obviously well stretched, but I was really on the limit and luckily at the buoy of course with his experience he got away and things sort of calmed down a bit. But I was really sort of struggling to stand that front grouper in the swim there in Austria. Or you know certainly working hard whereas in Nice without a wetsuit I actually felt more comfortable I mean, I think because the water is so much more buoyant. Yeah, it's so much salty compared to a freshwater swim. But just now having a better technique, having the ability to use my kick more effectively, I actually feel quite comfortable in the swim skin. So it's the first time ever that I really don't care what the difference will be. It was interesting speaking to Sam Laidlow in Lanzarote and he said he was hoping for a wetsuit swim because he felt like he can get a better advantage in a wetsuit whereas you know previous year he said like in Kona you know he was really shocked to see Gustav and Kristian obviously still in the front group whereas in St. George they didn't have any trouble dropping Kristian. So obviously I think that was you know I mean that might have been reading a bit too much into where Kristian's form was at at that point as far as the swim goes but it is interesting now that you know it's always in the past the top swimmers have said, oh, we want non-wetsuit. Whereas now, I think it could even be the wetsuit technology that is a bit different. So if they are able to break that elastic, and so, yeah, I don't really know what to hope for. I used to wish for a wetsuit swim, but yeah, to be honest, I just don't even really care.

BERNHARD PLAINER
I believe that confidence can really be an extra motivation for you, that you don't have to be afraid of anyone on Sunday.

CAMERON WURF
I certainly don't want it to come across as arrogance, but yeah, I mean, it's obviously a course and I guess also in my preparation. You know, I mean, as I said, I've done the training I've wanted to do and in the past when I've been able to do that in the blocks, you know, it's one thing earlier in the year before, you know, Lanzarote or Austria, I mean, I love Strava, everyone knows that. I love putting my training on there. I love that people follow that. I really love that people feel a part of what I'm doing. I mean, I know you keep an eye on my Strava. It's funny seeing comments from people who, you know, oh Cameron, are you doing this session this time? Oh, yes, great. You're doing that, that means you're in good conditions, you know. Like I seem to have all these experts that are pseudo coaches that sort of comment and keep me in check. It's actually something I really appreciate. So just being able to do those, you know, in the first part of the year, it's hard for me to do one week of training, let alone do two or three or four, you know, whereas this last few months, I've been able to do blocks of three weeks, but multiple, you know, three or four of them. And that's when you see the big improvements, when you just get week on week on week and then block on block on block. That's where you really build that. Kristian Hogenhaug said to me, and Nies, he said, far out, you just look so comfortable and you're obviously struggling at the back end of the marathons when you race. But he said, it's not that you don't have the speed or anything, because you put yourself in that position, it's just the fatigue resistance. And I really appreciated him, because I felt that. I felt that it wasn't probably so much the lack of running that was ruining the end of my Ironman, but it was the fact that I didn't have the conditioning, so the bike was taking a lot more out of me than it usually would, and then I wasn't able to execute a decent run. Whereas obviously now, I've had the time to do those weeks of training, get that conditioning, and be a lot more confident that I can finish off the race.

BERNHARD PLAINER
Whom do you have on the top of your list for race day? What do you expect from the dedicated favorites or what we've seen lately in all the YouTube videos and Instagram, social media? There's a lot of coverage and also content going around how good they are and expectations and that guy has the stamp as the favorite. So it's the usual game I guess before the World Championships?

CAMERON WURF
Yeah it honestly is so different to Kona I mean Kona is so much of a I don't know a triathlon you know it's much more predictable who's going to be up there we always know you know I mean we always know like the five-star favorites and then there's someone like myself that if things go the right way it might work out or a Lionel (Sanders) or where if things go a certain way you know he might be there it's and it really never varies too much from that I mean whereas this course we had no idea like obviously Clement Mignon you can't ignore him I mean he won in Nice he seems to be very consistent top performer you know whatever he targets he does well at. I mean he was top 10 in Kona last year, so he knows how to perform when the lights shine the brightest. Max Neumann, Magnus Ditlev, you know, but then Magnus, I guess, is a bit of an unknown just because of his size. I mean, yeah, he's got incredible power, but you know, it's still physics. You've still got to cart that up there and it's not even that he's not well and truly strong enough, same with Sam Laidlow, to get up the climbs. It's what does that do to them later on in the race, you know, in the run. So, there's just so many unknowns in this field. Braden Currie, a small guy, Bradley Weiss, you know, you look at them and you would imagine, well, okay, you guys are great climbers. Honestly, it's just so, so wide open. I really don't think anyone stands out, you know, personally. And I think that's probably what gives me so much belief, because I feel like I'm in the melting pot of one of the guys that, you know, could potentially be one of those guys. Like I think that's what we've got this year. It's just such an unknown with the bike course, you know, compared to a race like Kona. So, yeah.

BERNHARD PLAINER
Yeah, that would also be my expectations, that there's not really a dedicated favorite. It's hard to say that before the race, since this is a completely different depth of field, since it's a world championship race. So, yeah, it's really interesting to see what happens on Sunday. Do you have a dark horse, what probably nobody's talking about, or is flying a little bit under the radar at the moment?

CAMERON WURF
Yeah, no, I mean, in this field, everyone. I mean, obviously, the guys that beat me in Lanzarote, Arthur Horseau, I'm not sure exactly how to pronounce his name, but he can obviously handle a pretty high intensity on the bike. I mean, he obviously gave me a big lead, but he finished with a 2:38 marathon. But when I say a big lead, he only lost 10-12 minutes. Even if I've got that and then I falter in the run, running 2:48, he's still in the race. And same with Nick, I'm not sure what Nick's last name is, lovely young guy, his dad was a pro, he was second, also ran low 2:40s, and I only took 6 or 8 minutes out of him on the bike. So I'm sure they've improved, of course they have. They've trained since then and improved. I'd have to say those two. But you cannot ignore anyone in this field. Look how hard it was for me to qualify. Granted that qualifying I think was probably a bigger hurdle because of my circumstances, but still it just shows the level of the sport where it's at. And everyone now, I don't think the highest level, the top end, the level has changed so much. You obviously get Jan (Frodeno) doing his last race, etc. Not that I'm ignoring him at all. He's obviously, any race he starts, he has a chance of winning. But the top, and I reference him because I'm talking about the top, top end, I don't think it has changed. I think on his best day, Kristian's best day, I guess of course Magnus, you can't ignore him, take him out of that conversation. Now Gustav, they are still the benchmark, which I don't think has really changed a huge amount. I know we've had difference in times, but there's so many dynamics with that, it's a bit hard to say the actual because I think those same people are still at the top. But the depth now, you know from five back to fifty, it's almost like everyone could beat each other on their right day. You know, you've got those sort of five-star guys that stand out that if they get it perfectly right, you know, it's almost I don't think anyone can beat them. Max Neumann, you know, is obviously in that borderline category as well. But then you've got another 50 guys that could beat each other on any different day. If they race 50 times, there'd be 50 different results. And I think that's the exciting part of the sport, is the depth of that next level, which obviously is continually pushing the top end. So I wouldn't say have any specific dark horses, I just think you can't ride off anyone in the field. And obviously, until it looks like it's mathematically impossible for them to cut back from a deficit or whatever they're at in the race.

BERNHARD PLAINER
Coming back to your explanation of the race characteristics, especially on the bike course, I guess there's no doubt that I would say all the pros are racing on their tri-bike and no one is opting for a road bike like some of them did for the 2019 70.3 Worlds? But this was a different course. Did you hear something, or what's your expectations on bike choices?

CAMERON WURF
Yeah, I mean, Gustav obviously raced on a road bike and won that race. That was different in that, as you know, it was basic, there was very little flat. I mean, that was obviously something I looked at and why I wanted to race The way I did with pretty much the setup. I mean like the disc wheel for example. That was you know, I think maybe even you were there in 2018. Obviously Frederick had won that that day I broke but set the bike course record that day I was on the old time trial bike the Bolide the rim brake one still and I used low profile front and back wheel so that would have been what I would have thought but obviously Princeton, you know with technology, they've now developed a disc wheel that is as in a full disc which is light as light as a normal road wheel and I use that and that I mean that felt I used it in Lanzarote as well so I've tested that on a climbing course and it was, it was really really good and then the benefits you get elsewhere obviously it was also quite windy that day so you get the benefits from the disc with the breeze when you get it at the right yaw angles etc. That was really good. And then obviously, yeah, rode the triathlon bike. Now we did look at using the team time trial bike which is UCI legal. But the Pinarello guys did an incredible job with my bike. It's almost ahead of its time. It's the same weight as the UCI legal bike, even though there's, you know, it's a little bit more aerodynamic, etc. I've got the storage, you know, the food and everything. So, in the end, the difference was what am I most comfortable on? And of course I've spent now, you know, four years on that bike, so I'm very, very comfortable on that bike, climbing and descending. Living here in Andorra, you've got no choice. I mean, if I want to train on the bike, unless I want to put it in my truck and drive it down to Spain every time I want to ride it, I've got no choice but to do some descending and some climbing. So for me the choice was pretty simple, a pretty close to standard time trial, you know, standard Ironman sort of setup. The only difference being is the front wheel and I still haven't decided on that. It won't be super deep, it's sort of a 60mm or a 40mm and it was very windy in June, so just obviously watching the forecast, and I had a 70mm that day which was way too big, but that was very windy and so even a 60mm isn't a lot different to a 70mm, so it will be a call I have to make obviously Saturday afternoon when I've got to put the bike in (transition). But yeah, that's the only little piece that is a bit dubious for me to decide at the moment. And I'd be very surprised if everyone didn't have a similar setup.

BERNHARD PLAINER
Race kit wise, I guess you will be wearing the PR 2 Speed Suit. So that's a suit we've been developing together with you for the last almost two years. So this was kind of a longer term project together with you. You've been testing some iterations in some races in the past. So can you say something about that? How are you feeling about that? How do you feel about having basically a set-up from top to toe dialed in for race day.

CAMERON WURF
Yeah, I mean, well in reality we've worked on it since 2018 and just evolved it. I think that year we probably proved the package was pretty exceptional when we went to Kona. And obviously it's just been a case of you know, continuing to upgrade it because obviously others, you know, others have tried to catch up. And so, yeah, it's always, I always say to you guys when we talk about testing and data and different things, I just trust you. You know, I know that for always, you know, Castelli is been at the forefront of this stuff and obviously we've been at the wind tunnel and done the, you know, occasionally with me personally to run through some different things. Yeah, that's really nice and not wanting to, I don't know, suck up or anything, but it is certainly nice working with partners where I just don't have to worry. I just put the suit on and I know I'm at worst case definitely not disadvantaged in any way, shape or form, but to be honest, I always feel like I've got a bit of an advantage on everyone with the package that I've got on my body and obviously the suit is the biggest one, you know, I mean that's the biggest performance gain you can really make as far as having one that fits properly and the right materials and everything. So having the peace of mind, you know, with the suit and the fact that we have made those changes over the years only reinforces that to me because obviously we've always felt like we've had great performances and the suits never let me down. The speed's been great for the amount of power and effort I've put in, etc. So the fact that we've continued to evolve it, yeah, just gives me great confidence that I've got the best suit out there for Sunday.

BERNHARD PLAINER
Now this is also exciting and good to hear from our end, that you are passionate about being involved in the process and also I stopped counting all the bike course records you set in the last couple of years in all the different races you did. I think this is the suit that, thanks to you, holds, not still, but some got broken, like in Hawaii, but I think you still own quite some records all around the world.

CAMERON WURF
Yeah, it's pretty uncommon that I don't have one when I've been to a race. The current one is still a bit of a head scratcher. It's just disappointing, you know, I didn't have the day that I would have liked. But yeah, we'll get to go back next year and who knows. Obviously with that, I'm a bit torn on that because obviously I'd prefer to win the race I probably need a traditional, well tradition's been what we've had, incredibly quiet conditions really every time I've gone. You know, 2017 there was obviously a bit of wind, but since then it's just been incredibly quiet and I guess if we do get wind then there's a chance that that record that Sam (Laidlow) set probably won't be performing for a very, very long time. But that's alright, you know. If I don't get that and I get my name on the winner's roll there, then that would be stay within yourself on the bike in that first, at least the first big climb. Get through that feeling good and if you feel really good there then maybe push a little bit more than you were planning but this course will creep up on you. As I said, it caught me out in June. I really completely went lights out on that last main climb before you started the big descent and that was still with 50k almost to go. Okay, it's downhill but you've got to pedal down that hill. It's not like you get a free ride to the finish. So, just manage your effort. Stick to your plan. That first climb is not the time to empty the tank. Get over the climb, eat and drink, get in a really comfortable position. You're going to be a couple, well, maybe a few hours in at that point. And then, if you're feeling really good, think about pushing a bit more. But yeah, respect the course because it's not only a long bike ride, but you still got to then run a marathon. So that would be my best bit of advice.

BERNHARD PLAINER
No, thanks. I think that will help a lot of them to pace themselves right and maybe not walk too much on the run later on.

CAMERON WURF
Yeah, for sure. For sure.

BERNHARD PLAINER
I want to touch on the topic of being a multi-sport athlete. So you have a background, your pro career started as a rower, then you became a pro cyclist, then a triathlete, and now you are balancing basically two sports, like cycling and triathlon. How did you manage all that? How did you find a way to be always motivated also with all the respect with the higher age. Some of your competitors, they long retired, some road racers, also triathletes, when they enter their early 30s they're already thinking about retirement or what they do after their pro career. How do you manage all that? You said before private life, family, everything. So it's the whole life balance I think. You really have to be good at that.

CAMERON WURF
Yeah, I think the big thing is, and with Nike particularly, we talked a lot about this, because they're probably one of my, you know, obviously the team as well. No one allows me to think about my age, you know, being 40 all of a sudden. And then, you know, we're still trying to figure out how I can improve. I think I have never until recently done things as well as I could have. You know, I've often just put things together. I'll do that later, I'll do that later, I'll do it. And then as I've got older, I'm like, okay, I better start doing that. That has helped me. Okay, I think if I'm blatantly honest, maybe I'll never ever reach the absolute pinnacle of what I was capable of, maybe my age will prevent me from that. But I still believe from the level I'm at now, I can continue to improve because there's so many things. I mean, I was with Nike in London recently and we were just doing some basic walking drills and different mobility, I mean, and I was completely useless. So all of a sudden, once I started to learn how to just move and some hip mobility and how my foot strikes the ground. All of a sudden, at the track I'm going over a kilometer doing the efforts, five, six, seven seconds quicker at the same cadence and the same heart rate. Like it was insane. And swimming obviously is another one. I mean, that's another discipline that I'll just get better at from doing more of it because I didn't do it for the last 30 years. I've done it for the last four or five, six years. And so, yeah, I think that's important for me to distinguish. I'm not saying I think I'm going to hit my athletic peak, you know, the best I could ever be, you know, somewhere in my mid-forties. I think maybe, yeah, that was the opportunity to do that back in your late 20s to early 30s like everyone else. But because I probably didn't take the capital lives in that period and do everything properly and make all the sacrifices required, I've got all those things up my sleeve to still continue to improve into my 40s. And Nike, they've been probably the biggest ones that have done some research and sort of discussed it with me. It's mentally the biggest thing. As long as you want to do it, your body is capable. It's just that if you've done something for so many years, of course by the time you get to 30 you're over it. You've done it for probably 20 years at the highest level and you're just sick of it. I change sports all the time, I change the way I'm doing the sport all the time. So mentally, I'm always excited about improving in some way, shape or form. and that sort of is what has meant age so far, doesn't seem to hinder my progress. And obviously, you know, Tom Brady, the American footballer, we share the same birthday, so, you know, he always talked about 45. I've sort of put that number. I know that 100% it's not going past 45, but whether it's another year or another two years or it is up in that fact another six years five six years well we'll see and I'm excited to see that and it's it's yeah I guess I prefer to have five extra years now of absolutely reaming myself and being the best athlete I can possibly be if I can stay at the highest level doing everything absolutely perfectly and then maybe lose five years at the end of my life because I've done that you know when you're pretty incapable and incompetent and a burden on everyone else you know for me is I die at 90 instead of 95 I don't really mind. I prefer to have five more years of traveling the world racing the best athletes in the world trying to beat them trying to set records trying to set new standard in the sport trying to do all that and as far as through every sport yeah I think it comes from such a young age you know. I grew up in small places. I grew up on a small island with Tim Reed, who people know about that, Lord Howe Island. 30 school kids. In sport, you're obviously one of the best in the class. If you're not, it's pretty hard not to be when there's only a few of you to beat. Then you move to Tasmania where it's slightly bigger, but it's still a pretty small place in reality. You do quite well.You're always at the top end of everything and then you take that mentality onto a national stage and of course you from Tassie. So we've always got a bit of a chip on our shoulder about beating the biggest states You know, New South Wales and Queensland Victoria. So, you know, you're all of a sudden the best in the country and then of course you take that overseas. You know quite a good take on the Germans, Italians in rowing and everything else and you just want to beat them, you know, and the Brits. I think that mentality is, as stupid as it sounds, it's instilled in me from such a young age of success that I don't really care who I'm racing. I just want to beat them and I believe I can. And that sort of, I think having that mindset, especially when I've changed sports, it's just where I want to be. I say that's the standard I set for myself that I want to achieve. I really think that's what it comes from. It's just in my youth, I just grew up just knowing that level. I just took it as you went through the ranks, just to a bigger scale. People say to me, I just want my age group, but it's nothing like what you're doing. I say, hey, it is, it's actually identical, you know, it's all relative and I know exactly the feeling, it's the same feeling, it's all relative to the environment that you're in.

BERNHARD PLAINER
Yeah, no, it's fascinating how passionate you still are and how much energy you have and fun, obviously, what you do and then the age is probably not the most important, it's just a number and if you're still healthy and fit and if your family is okay with everything and you feel that you are still competitive, I think this, why not?

CAMERON WURF
Yeah, I mean obviously when I stopped cycling the first time, moved to the US and went to work in finance and do all that, but I didn't, I ended up back in sport. And so, if you come back at that point, then you kind of got to, like what Tony Hawk's documentary is, Till the Wheels Fall Off. It's a bit like that, you know. Not that you want to go until you start going like this, but I'm just going to give it everything I've got, you know, until I feel like I can't get any better, you know, maybe that'll be a bit of a plateau at some level and I'll be doing everything I can to stay there. Ideally, that's if I get to the top top and I can hang on to that for a couple more years. But I'm not going to just hang around for the sake of it. But I came back and I made a commitment now to be sort of silly not to see it through. I feel like I've still got things I want to do. The people that support me still believe there's, especially the team obviously and the guys at Nike on the running side, they're incredibly motivated and supportive always to try and find ways to help me improve. And obviously, I don't have time to worry about my age, because it doesn't help anyway. It's not like I can turn up to the start line on Sunday and say, guys, by the way, I'm almost double the age of a few of you, so can I just maybe, can I just swim out to the first buoy or maybe the second buoy, maybe give me two buoys head start and then we'll start the race, you know. No one asks for your passport on the start line. I remember someone told me that, you know, when I went to the Olympics and I was the youngest and everyone was saying, oh, you're so young, you know, so it's great for the experience, don't worry, you know, blah, blah, blah, you've got so many ahead of you. I've never been again. A friend of mine who had won an Olympic gold medal said. “Don't listen to them. No one asks for your passport and start line. Go out there and try and win. It doesn't matter if you're the youngest or the oldest, no one cares. You're there to try and win the world titles.” That's the mindset I've taken through my whole career. Same with experience. I've come into sport, you know, it's, oh gosh, he came from rowing, you know, and cycling. It's like, well, yeah, okay, that's great, and it's something to talk about, but at the end of the day, none of my rivals are going to give me a head start because I haven't done as many bike races as them. And the same went for triathlon, you know, I mean, it's, yeah, you're new to the sport, etc, but who cares? You're front up to Kona in your first year, and you're leading the race. I mean, everyone wanted to just get past me. No one thought, oh gosh, it's his first time and it’s only his first year. Let's let him have it. I mean, it's the same with age. If you put yourself on the start line, it just doesn't matter. You're just there as another competitor.

BERNHARD PLAINER
Do you think that the way you structured your year or your past few years, that you're picking good destinations for training, different destinations, that this helps you to keep that motivation and also that spirit within you? Like you're living and moving to Andorra, then during wintertime, you are spending quite some weeks in California in the LA area. So I think this is, I could imagine, that this is also the key to success for you to be motivated and don't really see it as a job but just as a passion and you like what you do.

CAMERON WURF
There's no doubt and I think everyone knows I'm not just saying this, I love doing what I do, I love training and I love being in stimulating environments. I mean Andorra for one, living here, you know I can't for a second get complacent, I mean there's just phenomenal athletes. Obviously now living up there, Hayden Wild trains with me almost every day. Obviously I've got the guys from the team. Lucy Charles, she's talking about moving up there. Hayden's girlfriend Hannah's there as well. He's had a buddy of his, a top runner. He's running 3:30s for the 1.500m top five in the world. Sammy Tanner, he's been there with us too. And that's just my little group and then obviously the team and then you've got all the MotoGP guys you've got it's just a very stimulating environment you know it's just an environment that is successful a very successful environment and when you go to races and you don't want to suck you just don't want to have to come back to Andorra and not having done you know a good job you know, it's a town of... I've got some great friends there, I mean I've just recently become friends with a few of the Rams footballers, you know, just after they've won the Super Bowl. It's just a... and when you're training there, you're out in Malibu, you know, you've seen all these things on TV, you know, the movies, you can look out over the city, I mean it's one of the most densely populated cities in the world and yet you know Geraint Thomas and I can be out in the mountains and in five, six hours you don't even see a car. We do a five or six hour loop all through the Hollywood Hills up to the sign. I mean it's just every day is exciting, you know, it's stimulating and you can almost bank on you're going to see something exciting out there. Something interesting is going to happen. You're going to run into someone at the coffee shop, you know, we see Jolly Miley Cyrus at their coffee shop or something. I mean, it's just a very stimulating place. And I think you've hit the nail on the head. I mean, obviously I choose to sort of move around the world at different times of the year to make sure that I can train properly. I mean, I love being here in winter too, because it's quite unique to be able to get up at sunrise, ski my way up the mountain just across from where I live and watch the sun sort of pop up and then ski down and then go to the pool and then go for a ride. You know, you get to the end of a day like that and you go, wow, like, God, what a day, you know, how lucky am I? Yeah, and then of course, Australia, I mean, because of COVID and having, you know, white at that time and all the restrictions with quarantine, etc. We haven't been able to get back there at all. Well, just haven't made the time. But this summer we will. And I'm really excited about that too, because summer in Australia is incredible. You know, I mean, everyone knows about the summer of sport. We've got the Tour Down Under, we've got the Cadel Evans race, obviously, but there's also the crickets on the Australian Open tennis at the same time. You know, summer in Australia is like summer in Europe. You know, place really comes alive, you know, and particularly in that area of Melbourne, Adelaide. And Tassie is just an awesome place to train. You just feel like you're a bit of a tough guy down there. I'm never having to force myself to go out training and nor do I ever feel like I'm missing out on anything because I am training. I think that's the other key. Especially as you get older and family and different things, your environment is such that you just feel like you're sacrificing all the time and you're missing out on this and you're missing out on that. I feel like in all those places, I mean, okay, White's only three, when he goes to school things might be different, but that's probably a couple of years away. It's all a part of what I do, you know, and I have a very balanced life doing it. And I think that's also important, you know, you don't have people around you guilting you because, you know, I decided to do the Everesting challenge on a random Sunday. You know, and I'm gone all day.

BERNHARD PLAINER
Wait, is there something, if you just could think of, or was it ever in your mind that you think, what if I would not be a professional athlete, what profession would it be in the year 2023? You mentioned before you've been into the finance business for a couple of years. Yeah. What, do you dream of something or think, okay I don't miss that at all or do you have thoughts like that or not at all?

CAMERON WURF
To be honest, I mean, I honestly love what I do. I mean this is what I've always wanted to do and especially doing two sports. And I wouldn't trade that for anything. I think, well, anything, I say that. One thing I've thought of recently and just following it more, with things like Drive to Survive, these documentaries on NFL, even the all or nothing like on Manchester City with Pep Guardiola, reading some books, different things. I would love to be in charge of a big sporting organization, you know, like a big team. And I don't even care what sport, whether it's baseball or an owner. I mean, that would obviously mean you're very successful financially too, so I guess that would be the dream. But you owned Manchester United or Liverpool or Barcelona Football Club or Real Madrid or the LA Rams football team or the LA Lakers, like a big sporting organization, the Yankees. you know, decision-making role, you know, very much responsible for the success of that club. I would love to be in a position like that. I would like that, watching that, like Toto Wolff, you know, with the F1 or Christian Horner. I admire those guys. Dave Brailsford won, obviously. You know, I mean, he's like a legendary operator. I mean, even, oh, Pat, Pat Lefevre, I mean he's amazing, the way he keeps his team in the headlines. But what I love about him is often it's been critical of these guys. There's so little of it in the sport that the media eats that up. But all the time he's keeping his team prominent. You can never not talk about Quickstep because of the way he conveys to the media and it's fantastic. I admire that. I mean we've got Rod Ellingworth running the team now and he's certainly a bit more low-key. He's incredible at recruiting, he's an incredible operator and just likes to sit there and not be out in front of people and do his thing and I admire that approach too. There was a guy, Rod kind of reminds me of Al Haymon in boxing. I mean he was the guy behind Floyd Mayweather. He sort of orchestrated Mayweather's career, picked and choosed his opponents at the right time. But no one ever heard of Al Haymon. Yet he was one of the most influential people in boxing. So I guess Rod's sort of more, as far as this team's success over so many years, he's sort of kept quite a role but had an incredible amount obviously of influence and responsibility for the success and the dynasty of the team. But yeah, so that would be the one thing I guess. I would love to be in charge of a big sporting organisation. I really admire those guys at the top of that. It's really cool. That's really interesting.

BERNHARD PLAINER
I wouldn't have thought about that, but that's really interesting that you have this kind of thoughts and dreams still.

CAMERON WURF
Yeah, I mean I think the financing is obviously the easy one. I mean now I get more and more people approaching me wanting me to do stuff and now even more so, you know, people are really getting, you know, I guess as you do even if it is five years away from when I'm dedicated full-time to maybe a professional career outside of sport. But that type of finance world is pretty keen on athletes. But yeah, if I could say that there was one thing that someone came and offered me that would sort of stop me in my tracks and sort of change my life, uproot the family, potentially move to America, for example, if it was the LA Rams, running a team like that on the Lakers, I'd be like, Pierre owning it, that'd be pretty amazing.

BERNHARD PLAINER
Awesome. Towards the end of our conversation, I want to ask you one question about Sunday again. So, at the finish,what result or performance would you be happy about achieving on Sunday? What would satisfy you?

CAMERON WURF
It's so cliche, isn't it? But you just say you do your best, but it's the truth. I mean, I have obviously have a visualization and dream that my best will be the guy that crossed the line first So the combination of those two would be the ideal outcome. But you know if I've hit every marker that I wanted to and had the race I prepared for and I'm beaten, it is what it is, there's better people. You can only control what you can control. Obviously, you can try and influence what they do a bit with your own actions and throw them off their guard, but yeah, the reality is, at this level, you give everything you've got and get it right. We'll see where that lands, but a combination of both would obviously be the best. But as long as I finish that race knowing that I gave it everything I had and got out all the work that I'd put in, and you know, Castelli had put in, and you know, Pinarello had put in, the team had put in, Nike, all these people around me, you know, support me on this journey, obviously my family etc. That's to me the most important thing, is being able to look them in the eye and know that between us, that I've given it everything I had and nothing more can be asked of you. It is just about me when I'm out there without a doubt. All the lights are on you. You're on your own. No one can help you once you're out there. To me, the most important thing is later on, being able to look at the people in the eye that have been there for you over so many years. We've been working together for what, six years now? Five years, it's a long time. Six years I think and everyone I work with has been there that time. I have not changed partners in anything that I've given it everything in return for all the efforts you guys have put in.

BERNHARD PLAINER
I will definitely watch the race closely and I'm keen to see what you will be capable of doing and then I wish you all the best for Sunday, for race day and then hopefully you will be a happy man at the finish.

CAMERON WURF
Well, hopefully a lot of us will be happy.

BERNHARD PLAINER
Yeah. Cam, thanks a lot for talking to us and then all the best again for Sunday.

CAMERON WURF
Pleasure. Thanks very much. Appreciate it.

BERNHARD PLAINER
Thank you. Thank you.

CAMERON WURF
Anytime.

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