Last weekend's Château de Chantilly Triathlon saw around 1,300 participants battle their way through heavy rain, but that seemed to suit the British entrants, who came away with the team victory in the Olympic distance race.
After a successful season, French triathlete Cyril Viennot secured his third individual victory in three consecutive years at the Château, while his teammates Tony Baheux and Victor Debil-Caux took second and fourth spots respectively.
However, as their female teammate Delphine Pelletier did not finish due to illness, victory came to the British team, led by Fraser Cartmell (who took individual second place) and his team mates Sam Wade, Joe Skipper and Catherine Jameson.
Commenting on the win, Viennot said: "The International Challenge is a terrific opportunity to meet our English adversaries and keep the competition alive. This year, the French team are headed for the first time to Hever Castle on 28/29th September where the English team must try to defend this victory on their own turf."
In the new long-distance course - dubbed Le Gantelet and involving a 1.9km swim followed by a 90km cycle and a 21km run - Laurent Martinou crossed the finish line first in a time of four hours and 32 seconds, followed by Ben Matthews (4:45:33). Carol Bridge won the women's race, finishing just under 35 minutes behind Martinou.
To sign up for the Hever Castle event on 28-29 September, please visit www.castletriathlonseries.co.uk/hever-castle