Promising teenage triathlete Ben Devries is hoping to cap off a stellar campaign in the Riverina Tri Series with a strong result in the West Wyalong Triathlon.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Devries currently holds a one-point lead over reigning champion Ed Langdon heading into the final race on Saturday.
Despite starring throughout the series, he was downplaying his chances of claiming the overall series crown.
"A lot of good people usually come down to West Wyalong, especially over Easter," Devries said.
"People from boarding schools will be back home, so I think a lot of guns will show up.
"I just want to do as best as I can, just race the best I can and try and put what I've been doing in training into the race."
After starting the season at The Rock with a fourth-place finish, Devries then made headlines when he claimed the overall win at Ganmain.
Devries said it felt amazing to take the victory, but admitted that some of his key rivals weren't competing.
"Yeah it did," he said.
"But I feel I only came out on top because Ed Langdon wasn't there.
"He's really good, but when he wasn't there though I was really happy."
The teenager has been racing alongside much older and experienced triathletes during the series and he believed that experience had been extremely beneficial for him.
"Yeah definitely," he said.
"Just racing them motivates me to train harder to get fitter to try and beat them."
Devries has only taken up triathlon racing relatively recently and said that some family ties were what got him interested in the sport.
"My parents both did it," he said.
"I went and watched mum do Noosa Tri two years ago and I just wanted to do it after that as it looked pretty fun."
A talented runner and swimmer as a junior, Devries revealed those two legs were definitely his strengths.
However he also said that he is putting in the work to get his cycling up to the level it should be.
"My strongest legs are my swimming and running because I used to do cross country and swim club," he said.
"I'm really just learning how to ride now but I've definitely upped the intensity on my riding and it's getting better slowly.
"I definitely focus a lot more on riding, just trying to get the mileage in my legs and a bit of strength but I still try to swim and run a good amount."
Devries is being guided in his development by Brad and Radka Kahlefeldt who are training with the talented teenager on a regular basis.
He said it's been great to train alongside the duo, and he feels they've been able to help him reach new heights in his training.
"Yeah it is," he said.
"Swimming with Rads on a Monday and Friday is really good because she always comes over with a really hard set.
"It makes me super happy and on Tuesday I do a fartlek with Brad so that's always good, it's probably the hardest run I do all week.
"They are very knowledgeable and they give very good advice."
Following Saturday's race in West Wyalong, Devries will also compete at the Academy Games being held in Wagga in a couple of weeks time across April 12-14.
He said he also has a couple of other races lined up in the coming months before competing in the Noosa Triathlon in early November.
