GREAT BRITAIN’S triathletes found themselves facing beauty and the beast when they arrived in Athens for the Olympic test event taking place tomorrow. The beauty is the setting, the beast the course.

In the eyes of Graeme Maw, Britain’s performance director, it is among the toughest in the sport. “The course will provide the surest test of endurance we have seen for years on the world circuit,” Maw said.

It is hard to imagine how triathlon can get any better than the spectacle witnessed on its debut at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Clear blue skies, the Sydney Opera House as a backdrop and two absorbing races. Athens, true to its general approach to these Games — never suggesting they will be better than Sydney, only saying they will be different — can expect a demonstration more of grit than spectacle from the event.

“The biggest impression people will get from the course is how hard the sport is,” Maw said. Rather than the swim, in the Saronic Gulf, or the seaside run, it is the ride that should take the breath away. On each of the five laps of eight kilometres, according to local organisers, there is a 200-metre stretch with a 15 per cent climb.

Maw sees it as harder than that. “We have a 700 to 800 metres climb at about a 20 per cent gradient and it is going to be really noticeable how hard it is,” he said. “In 35 to 40-degree heat next August, it is going to be a real test of physical condition. Rather than looking at the scenery, people are going to get an impression of how demanding the sport is and how well conditioned the athletes are.”

Maw is not only in favour of a cycling circuit more testing than usual but also the move from a three-lap swim to one lap, allowing for longer distances between turns. “It is a great open swim,” he said. “The longer the distance between turns, the more it favours good swimmers and the challenging bike ride will help to make the run less of a 10k sprint.”

Triathlon has long had to live with the accusation that the way races are constructed — swim followed by ride and run — favours the runners. “I think this course helps us get towards pure triathlon that measures swimming, cycling and running more equally. When you get the short distance between buoys, there is more opportunity for a weaker swimmer to cling to people’s feet.

“The general feeling between the athletes, staff and coaches is that the whole course is a move for the better.” The setting, though, is not without its aesthetic appeal. Oceanida Beach, where the swim takes place, is among the area’s most popular resorts.

“They don’t have Sydney Opera House or the Harbour Bridge but the beach here is quite beautiful — the water is so clear — and it is going to look special,” Maw said.

The two Olympic champions, Simon Whitfield, of Canada, and Brigitte McMahon, of Switzerland, are expected to compete tomorrow, and just about every Briton in contention for the six Games places is here. Jodie Swallow is the Briton in form after her fifth place in the World Cup race in Funchal, Madeira, last weekend.

The greatest value of the event, though, may be to familiarise the athletes with the course. “Visualisation is important and the triathletes will be picturing themselves on a certain part of the course or working out when to speed up and slow down,” Maw said. “Often, if you focus on winning the race, you don’t learn as you go.”