Kona Gear: Lucy Charles-Barclay’s Cube prototype bike

Three-time Kona runner-up Lucy Charles-Barclay arrives in Kona as one of the women expected to contend for the podium. (In fact our columnist – and Quebec pro – Antoine Jolicoeur Desroches predicts she’ll be the winner.)

Charles-Barclay’s appearance in Kona was a bit of a surprise – earlier this year she had to pull out of the Ironman World Championship St. George after sustaining a stress fracture in her hip. She made a bold return to racing in August when she took the World Triathlon Long Distance Championships in Samorin, Slovakia. Last month she took third at the PTO US Open in Dallas, too.

Charles-Barclay almost made Great Britain’s Olympic long-distance swim team in 2012 (when she was just 18), and remains the sport’s premier swimmer. In winning last year’s Ironman 70.3 World Championship in St. George, though, Charles-Barclay posted the day’s fastest swim, bike and run splits. Her ability in all three sports certainly makes her one of the women to watch here in Kona – the only question will be whether or not she’s had the run training needed to get through a tough marathon here in Kona.

Tomorrow Charles-Barclay will be riding a new, prototype C:68X Cube bike. Here are some pictures of her new ride: