Professional triathlete Will Draper produced a fantastic result at the Challenge Vieux Boucau event in southwestern France over the weekend.

Based in Leeds during training periods, 24-year-old Draper finished fourth in a very strong pro field.

Renowned for its unique landscape, Vieux-Boucau-les-Bains is a wild west-coast family resort lined with sand dunes and popular with surfers. It also has a unique, sheltered marine lake without waves or current, perfect for the 1.9km saltwater swim.

This was followed by a single lap 90km bike leg along fast, flat roads and through the forests of the Landes region.

The run course was round the marine lake, finishing in the centre of Vieux Boucau.

Delighted with his performance, Draper posted the following message on Instagram: ‘Worked hard all day for that one, one of my best final hour’s on the bike into one of my best half marathons off the bike.

‘Still managing the ankle injury but definitely felt like my old self on that run. The fire was burning!’

On Facebook he added: ‘It was a tight race among the top 10, with the British well in the mix.

‘The front of the race had a lot of motorbikes offering draft, which definitely effected my ride and meant I wasn’t able to catch guys who I have previously out rode by minutes!

‘I clocked a 25-minute swim (1min 18sec per 100 metres) into a 2hr 00m 12s bike (45kph) and a 1hr 11m 16s half marathon (3m 24s per km) for a total 70.3 mile time of 3h 40m 05s.

‘75 seconds faster in the swim will change my whole race. Probably going to do around 35-40km of swimming per week this winter and is likely to not happen until 2026 even with daily commitment.’

He ended by thanking everyone who supported or tracked him during the event in France.

Competing in the Manchester Half-Marathon this Sunday (Alan Corlett is also going over for that event), Draper’s next triathlon is the Challenge Paguera in Mallorca a week on Saturday, October 19.