In this episode

Christos Volikakis, from a cycling family in Volos, describes the track—keirin, sprinting and moving into endurance—and his experiences across four Olympic appearances.

In triathlon, he recalls a Katerini 70.3 without full preparation and targets Ironman distance in 2027 alongside track racing and an age-group hour record. He closes with Survivor as a project while the velodrome was closed.

Detailed show notes

Family and track cycling

He is from Volos. He started young alongside his brother, with a father and aunt involved in cycling. From local seafront races, he progressed through the categories to Europe and the track. His favourite event is keirin: explosive efforts, speeds above 60 km/h as discussed, bikes without brakes, crashes and a fracture he describes as part of the sport’s cost. Until 2016, he focused purely on sprinting; he then moved into track endurance events.

Olympic Games and international competition

He says he has competed at four Olympic Games. His first was Beijing at 18, having secured individual qualification through international competition. His brother also qualified for London; he reached a final, a Spanish rider crashed, and he did not contend for a medal that day. He distinguishes the World Championships, where he says he won medals, from the Olympics, which “did not go as well as I would have liked”. He contrasts his World Championship successes with an Olympic experience in which he feels he did not perform as he had hoped.

Track training and the power meter

For sprinting, he describes explosive efforts, intervals, heavy weights and relatively few hours on the bike; endurance brings more hours, threshold work and team time trials. On the track, gearing changes the pedalling demands rather than road speed alone. He uses a power meter but does not want to fixate on watts if calibration goes wrong during a race.

70.3, Ironman 2027, Survivor

He swam in the pool, particularly after a lower-back problem. He calls running his weak point. He entered a 70.3 in Katerini without being ready: his first wetsuit, his first 21 km run after swimming and cycling, panic in the suit, then finding his rhythm. He has not raced Ironman distance. His plans for 2027 include track racing—the 35–39 Worlds in London—an age-group hour record, and half/Ironman distance; he says he is not racing in 2026. He joined Survivor during a year when the velodrome was closed and preparation for Paris was lost, describing it as a challenge experience rather than a sporting result.

Key takeaways

  • Track cycling and triathlon share tactics, but not the same demands in hours and intensity.
  • Four Olympics means appearances as he recounts them, not automatically medals.
  • A casual 70.3 is not an Ironman-distance plan; 2027 remains a goal, not a result.
  • Survivor is discussed in the context of a closed velodrome and a new challenge alongside track cycling, rather than replacing it.