The weekend of the 19th of February was marked as a big racing weekend with a very wide range of races planned!
Our Canadian athletes finally got the chance to unleash the legs after a good winter of training, race conditions were uncertain because of a snowstorm that passed by in the region and very windy weather! On the day of the race roads were slippery and conditions to run hard were not easy…it seemed! But when the tough gets going, the going gets tough for everybody. The men get separated from the boys when the weather conditions are hard, so it was up to them to show what they are made of. They solved this very nice with Corey running alone in the front towards the win and Allan and Andreas running on 2nd and 3rd.

Corey ‘skating’ his way to the finishline and win his first race of 2017!

It was Andreas who was in 2nd till km 19 in the race and could push Allan to his limits. In the end Andreas suffered a bit from stitches in the side and Allan took 2nd, Andreas completed the podium on the 3rd spot! Starting the weekend with a clean sweep…that couldn’t be better!

Clean sweep in tough conditions!

You never know how races will evolve, so it’s very important to go into a race with a clear, open mind. That’s what our athletes did today. What followed was a cascade of podium spots.
This morning it was the Crossduathlon of Jurbise (Wallonia, Belgium).
‘Deamon on the bike’ Tom was keen on this race, being the 2014 winner he loves this race. With the sunny weather of the last days, no mudrace but dry and fast. Not directly in his advantage. But like we said in advance ‘whether it’s dry or muddy, you need to be capable of influencing the race’, and that’s exactly what happened.

The hilly race course was excellent for Tom his powerfull legs

Riding himself towards his 2nd 2017 duathlon podium!

A very ‘honest’ race course in Jurbise, if you’re not good enough…you’re done!

After a good run and a fast transition Tom quickly moved up towards Denis (Bel – finally 3rd), while at the end of the cyclingpart he got the leader (Tournant – Fra) in his sight. Tournant got first off the bike and first at the finishline, with a good 2nd run Tom got the result he earned and finished 2nd! This wasn’t the only podium in Jurbise, Wim who finished 4th overall could make a big gap with his concurrents in the masters race and wins in the masters race!

Tom (spot 1) gets 2nd in Jurbise after a strong race, topping off his prep towards his spring main goal!

Wesley with a strong race, finishing 23rd!

Wim, quite new in multisport was able to get 1st in the masters race and above all 4th overall…someone to keep in mind!

At noon it was time for a special event, the new Sandman Inferno Duathlon, 5k run -40K beachrace – 10K run. A tough and entertaining raceformat that would attract many athletes, our ‘beachboys and girls’ were keen on racing at their beach. With only 5K in the beginning, the start of the race would be quite explosive, and the legs got warm…

Hans running towards 2nd place, one of the better Long distance AG runners off the bike!

Once on the bike it was Hans who turned on his engine and ‘ La Machine’ was on his way to get back Xterra Pro athlete Coddens (Bel). Easy said, not easy done. Of course this also is a good MTB-rider with Pro Xterra wins on his resume. La Machine succeeded and felt he was the strongest on the bike. With a few kilometers to go he dropped Coddens and tried (the impossible?). Hans was capable of doing a good 2nd run, but it was Coddens who was the fastest, so 2nd spot for Hans!

La Machine with human power, no engines!

Hans and Coddens at the finishline after a man-to-man battle!

Hans is getting experienced in front of the camera

Not so much further it was Steven and Johan who were in battle for the podium in the masters race. Steven, who turns out to be a good duathlete and MTB’er, is discovering himself in these races and was able to beat some strong crossspecialists. 3rd Place for him, Johan 7th.

Johan is moving up and is getting ready for the first triathlons within a month!

Steven is feeling great on his bike, in his ‘garden’ he could get 3rd today!

Stijn could get close to the front in the masters race!

But with a 2nd and 3rd spot, something was still missing in Sandman…victory! So Inge pushed the pedals and seemed to be ‘hors category’ in the female race!

She’s getting stronger towards tri season and definitely already in a good shape, winning the Sand(Wo)man! Finishing top 20 overall says a lot about her skills, let’s hope the switch to the road and TTbike goes as planned!

Inge leading the female race from start till finishline!

In Hofstade another offroad duathlon took place, short runs and a longer bikecourse definitely plays in the advantages of the more technical MTb’ers,  a few of our roadtri/duathletes got the honour to test those legs in Hofstade. And shape was found well, some athletes suffered with the difficulty of the bike course but as it’s good to boost your weaknesses they get the right impulses out of it! Congratulations to our athletes racing there today!

Adrian liked the parts where he could push the pedals!

Today some of our cyclists already got the opportunity to race, next week season will be on for all! As it was the first race of the season we were not expecting any wins this weekend…but it was Svenne who almost decided differently. Going in an early breakaway he found himself in the position to win and was able to sprint for victory! Only a few cm could keep him away from this, he lost the win he won the 2nd place today!

Svenne (Blue/Yellow) found himself in the breakaway in Haneffe – 2nd place today and a good entrance into the new season!

2017 started with a bomb, let’s have fun!

Train smart, perform better!

Jesse