Boulder, CO based amateur Doug MacLean was the top age grouper at Ironman Coeur D’Alene and managed to break into the top 10 overall. Moving forward though he’ll be starting with a Pro card and much tougher competition.

Philip Skiba is a cancer survivor, ex-volleyball player, enthusiastic runner and Clydesdale triathlete, osteopathic physician, author of triathlon training books and software who’s coached world champs Joanna Zeiger and Catriona Morrison.

Liz Blatchford took a convincing win at the recent 5i50 Liverpool Triathlon and was quite happy with her performance there. She also raced the Rev3 Quassy but still has aspirations to make the British Olympic team.

Even on his next-to-last day, none of us would have been surprised to see him swing his feet out over the side of his hospital bed, stand up, shake out the kinks and stride off down the hall, with his bare ass hanging out of his gown, trailing tubes and wires and shedding cancer cells like fleas.

We stumbled upon the new Cervelo S5 aero road bike, the Zerod Vanguard wetsuit, the Leg Lube shaving gel, the Headsweats visibility hat, the Butterfinger Buzz bar and funky cufflinks from Gotham Smith.

ITU racing is compelling, the athletes are superb, it’s good, hard, clinical, scrubbed, white bread, racing. Until this past weekend, when it finally, happily, developed an edge.

In timed racing, SRAM’s Force has been the forgotten gruppo. Sandwiched between Shimano’s Ultegra and SRAM’s own well received Red group, Force is the homecoming queen that nobody thought to ask to the prom.

Andy Potts and Rebeccah Wassner won the 7th running of the Philadelphia Insurance Triathlon and here is a gallery from that day in the City of Brotherly Love in 2011.

Craig Alexander came, saw and conquered the 2011 Ironman Coeur D’Alene in course record time but had a tough battle with Maik Twelsiek all day. Julie Dibens took the women’s title in record time despite a bit of a struggle at the end.

Raynard Tissink of South Africa holds off USA’s Michael Lovato by 55 seconds; Kelly Williamson’s sizzling run dominates Ironman 70.3 Buffalo Springs Lake

Stuart Hayes overtook Fraser Cartmell on the run and Liz Blatchford took over the lead on the bike and held off Anna Cleaver on the run at Liverpool UK 5150

Andy Potts continues to win, Rebeccah Wassner ascends to the podium’s top step, each against strong fields at the Philadelphia Insurance Triathlon. Potts and Alicia Kaye will sit atop the Toyota Cup standings.

2011 Abu Dhabi Triathlon champion Frederik Van Lierde added an Ironman title to his resume with a superb performance at Ironman France. German Pro Silvia Felt also won her first Ironman title in Nice.

Alistair Brownlee battled back from a flat to take his second consecutive European Championships, just ahead of his brother Jonathan; Emmie Charayron of France runs away from the women’s field

The USA’s Hunter Kemper and Chantell Widney of Canada won the men’s and women’s titles in the second round of the 2011 USA Triathlon Elite Race Series in Monroe, Washington

Sarah Groff has had a long road to her first ITU World Championship Series podium last weekend at Kitzbuhel. Nobody had a brighter smile than the 29-year-old known as Saucy and Groffy to her coach Darren Smith and her squad mates

Leading sports nutritionist and top AG triathlete Asker Jeukendrup was just named Global Senior Director of the Gatorade Sports Science Institute. We slowed him up a little, to ask him a few questions.

For this early summer edition we have noticed Nuun Strawberry Lemonade, The Fit Shall Inherit the Earth, Profile Design UCM, Panache Arm Screens, Road ID Slim and Smith Optics Tenet.

After 5 years as the Bicycle Expert at the A2 Wind Tunnel working with tons of different brands and athletes Mike Giraud is going to work for Blue Competition Cycles as as the Product Development Specialist.

Mikel Elgazabel of Spain and Emma-Kate Lidbury of Great Britain win at the toughest Ironman 70.3 course in the world at Wimbleball Lake

Paul Matthews tops fellow Aussie Tim Reed for the men’s pro title and Alicia Kaye edges Nicole Kelleher by 30 seconds for the women’s crown at the Washington DC round of the 5150 series

Paula Findlay outsprinted Helen Jenkins for a third straight WCS win and a record 5th career WCS title. USA’s Sarah Groff took 3rd place for her best-ever WCS finish.

Alistair Brownlee crushes the field, Macca DNFs at Lap 6 of the bike at ITU Dextro Energy World Championship Series event at Kitzbuhel Austria

Brian Fleischmann has been racing as a professional for over a decade and raced the ITU WC Series, 70.3 Worlds, Rev3 events and the new 5150 series. Here he discusses his past, present and future.