“I’d rather fight than sit on the sidelines,” says Lucy Charles-Barclay on her u-turn to race Ironman Worlds

Lucy-Charles Barclay will line up alongside 19 of the best non-drafting triathletes in the world as T100 racing arrives in London for the fourth stop on the Professional Triathletes Organisation’s big-money, eight-event World Tour.

The reigning Ironman world champion will be among the favourites as she looks to build on second places in Miami and Singapore that currently leave her top of the standings ahead of Australia’s Ashleigh Gentle and fellow Brit India Lee.

The 30-year-old who was at the London Olympic Park to give budding age-groupers a few tips ahead of their own races on 27-28 July, caught up with 220 to talk about her own chances, how the Brits will dominate, how she’s dealing with a recent diagnosis of coeliac disease, and her u-turn on defending her Ironman world title in France in September.

220: Thanks for joining us, Lucy. You’ve raced around the world, but have you ever raced a triathlon in London before?

Lucy Charles-Barclay: My first-ever triathlon was Hyde Park, in 2014, I think. Reece and I both did it and one of the funny things I remember was that on the morning of the race we pressed our thumbs on the tyres and said: “Yep, that’ll be fine!” I think we rode with about 40psi in the tyres that day. We’ve learnt a lot since then.

220: What are you looking forward to most about the London T100 experience?

LC-B: It’s a home race. I live 30mins from the venue. So many of my friends, family and fans have never seen me race in person, so there’s the extra motivation to push hard and show them what I’m about.

220: Is there anything about this race that makes it unique?

LC-B: A lot of T100 races are in iconic venues and the logistics to shutdown a city is huge. The London Marathon does it for running, but this event adds swimming and biking, too.

In terms of racing, it won’t be massively different to most of the T100 races that tend to be more technical than the out-and-back of an Ironman race. Support throughout the course will help us race better and I expect those crowd cheers to give the Brits an advantage.

220: It’s been a somewhat unpredictable series so far. Who are the women to watch here?

LC-B: At one point during the race in Miami the first six or seven women were all British. I expect a similar thing in London.

The GB females are incredibly strong. Sophie Coldwell is coming in having narrowly missed out on Olympic qualification and will be hungry to put down a down result. She’s not raced at this distance and there’s no pressure on her.

Likewise, Jess Learmonth is coming back from having a baby but is super strong, India [Lee] showed her form in [winning] Miami and will be competitive. Kat [Matthews] was strong in San Francisco. I’d be looking at the Brits for the strongest performances.

With Learmonth and Coldwell added to the start-list as wildcards it should bring firepower to the 2km swim that we haven’t seen so far…

It could really help me to have someone like Jess there. It probably won’t be warm enough to be a non-wetsuit swim, which probably means the field won’t break up as much, but hopefully Jess and I can work together to still get a good gap on the other girls.

220: You’ve had two solid results in T100 racing so far. What are your plans for the rest of the T100 calendar?

LC-B: London is next. Ibiza [T100] is a week after [the Ironman World Championship] in Nice, but the plan is still to race, although I’m not sure it will be my best performance.

If not Ibiza, then I’ll definitely race in Las Vegas [T100], so I’ve still got options. Then Dubai and the grand final in the Middle East [in November].

220: Changing tack, you recently revealed you have coeliac disease. How did you find out you were gluten intolerant?

LC-B: I was dealing with a lot of symptoms for years. I had joint pain if I pushed hard in training, and after swimming races, my knees and ankles were in agony and I’d have stomach cramps.

We thought it was because I was pushing myself so hard, but the symptoms became progressively worse. My stomach would be bloated and painful and I couldn’t get off the toilet at times.

Last year it was really bad and in January I did some tests and was told I had coeliac disease. If you have it you’ve probably had it your whole life, but it can get progressively worse.

I was carb loading on pasta and pizza and all the things my body doesn’t want, and it was inhibiting my recovery and damaging my insides. We think it was also linked to my injuries through not absorbing food. It will take time. I’m told it’s six months to a year to heal the damage.

220: What are the main changes you’ve made?

LC-B: The biggest one has been diet. Cutting out gluten with pasta and bread and finding substitutes such as rice and potatoes and gluten-free bread. I’ve started reading labels and being organised by bringing my own food to races and refuelling straightaway with the right things.

When we go out to eat I’ve become that really annoying person who can’t eat anything on the menu. That’s the hardest thing, but we already make sacrifices as elite triathletes and I’ve found some really good gluten-free cakes. Twenty years ago it would have been a lot more difficult, but quite a lot of brands now have gluten-free goods we can try.

220: Finally, why did you decide to switch plans and race the Ironman World Championship in Nice? [Lucy originally stated she wouldn’t defend her Ironman world title in France]

LC-B: It’s purely that the season got off to a much better start than we expected. After the calf tear last year [compounded during the marathon en route to victory in Hawaii], I didn’t know when I’d return to racing.

Second in Miami and Singapore freed up the season and I only had to validate [by completing an Ironman] to return to the World Championship. [Lucy ticked that box at Ironman France in Nice last month].

As soon as I visited Nice I loved it and I now have the opportunity to race there again and retain the title, and I’d rather fight than sit on the sidelines and watch somebody else have it.

• How to watch London T100
• Lucy Charles-Barclay on the training that won her the Ironman world title