JUNIOR triathlete Luke Holmes got 2025 off to a perfect start with victory in the Edinburgh New Year’s Day Triathlon.
Freezing conditions and heavy snow were not enough to stop the Jerseyman taking victory with a margin of over a minute to second-placed Sam Beattie, a junior in the Scottish national squad.
The Holmes family were visiting Scotland for the Hogmanay celebrations in Edinburgh and took the opportunity to race in an event with family connections, as Luke’s father Dave had won the event exactly 25 years earlier.
Unfortunately, the New Years street party and fireworks in Edinburgh were cancelled due to an amber rain warning and plummeting temperatures, leaving the triathlon also under threat.
Athletes racked their bikes in transition as temperatures hovered around freezing with high winds resulting in a “wind chill” temperature of -6C.
After a delay to allow the worst of the heavy snowfall to pass, the race organisers announced that the event would go ahead but with a reduced cycle distance due to the low temperatures.
Athletes would swim 400m in the warmth of Edinburgh’s Commonwealth Pool before heading out into the cold for a 12km cycle and 6km run.
The rolling start format saw the fastest athletes starting last, with swimmers snaking up and down the eight lanes of the 50m pool.
Luke was last of the 440 athletes into the pool and was soon making up time and places, as he clocked the fastest swim of the day with a margin of 25 seconds to the next athlete.
That advantage was more than wiped out in transition, however, as he elected to take his time to dress for the conditions, costing him almost a minute.
The young Holmes commented: “I’ve never had to stop and put on a warm cycling jacket and socks in transition before, but I knew that losing time wasn’t going to be a big problem for me and I wanted to make sure I was comfortable in the conditions.
“I also brought my gravel bike on the trip so I didn’t have a race bike, but again that was more comfortable to ride.”
Despite the equipment disadvantage, Holmes still clocked the second fastest bike split of the day.
He lost just 12 seconds to his closest competitor on a time trial bike, which was enough to propel him back into a lead he would capitalise on further with the fastest run split of the day to claim the win.
It was a real family day out as Luke’s girlfriend, Lauren Mitchell, took victory in the women’s race and father Dave took victory in the veterans category (40+), finishing in fourth overall.
Older brothers Peter and Joe finished in 13th and 77th respectively and mum Nicola completed only her second triathlon ever.
Holmes extended his thanks to his sponsors and supporters through the 2024 season and into 2025, in particular Jersey Sport, LouLou Race foundation, Sports Aid and Big Maggy’s.
