Tag: Hans Vandenbuverie

Ironman Vichy (France) Hans ‘La Machine’ peaks spot on and takes the win! Ironman Denmark 10th AG place for Thibaud!

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Big Ironweekend this weekend, yesterday already we had the 70.3 races in Vichy(Fr) and the full Ironman in Kalmar, Sweden! With Raymond taking the AG win in Sweden the weekend started excellent for our athletes! Raymond added a 12th Kona qualification for 2022. Some of our athletes will not take their qualifier slot, but will choose for other challenging races.

Today Ironman started with the races in which athletes can qualify for the 2023 Ironman World champs in Kona, Hawaii! Our athletes were ready to blow the juice out their legs and turn it into speed in Vichy (France) and Kopenhagen (Denmark).

Hans solo on the bike in Ironman Vichy – leading the race untill the finishline!



In Vichy our athletes got a tough course ahead of them, which all 3 (Sander, Sven and Hans) like a lot.
In the first 1/4of the bikecourse the race was very dense, gaps between athletes were rather small. But once the first hills came up the gaps got bigger. Hans became leader in his AG. Sander and Sven started moving up at this point. Unfortunately after 3/4 into the race Sven got mechanical problems with his Di2 and could only shift between 53*12 and 39*12 starting from that point. A bummer for an athlete who had a perfect preparation.

Bad luck for Sven with mechanicals and stomach problems on the bike!


Once the athletes passed halfway the bikecourse it became clear that gaps became bigger and Hans went towards the lead of the overall race. A gap that he made bigger in the last part of the bikecourse. This by pacing well and staying consistent throughout the bike effort.

Sander with a 3h27′ marathon in Ironman Vichy – finishing 30th in his AG


After 180K bikes could go in T2 and the first steps on the marathon course were made!
42K ahead, being at the lead. It can be stressful or it can give wings. Hans remained calm and did what he had to do, focussing on his own race and see what happens 40K later.

Hans wins Ironman Vichy 2022, an exceptional performance of the Belgian ‘La Machine’



A perfect run, on the right moment at the right place made Hans run his marathon in 3h06′ and finish 26″ ahead of the fast French runner Noblet. A strong race of the French athlete but in the end the winner takes it all! Today the winner is Hans, a performance to cherish! He joins a list of Belgian Ironmanwinners that’s not too large! Great job!


Sven suffered on the bike with his mechanical problems on a demanding course, his legs surely were affected by this. But despite this he kept strong and his goal was still 42K ahead! Those 42K he still managed to run in 3h25′ and this brought him to 24th AG position!
He was closely followed by Sander who finished 3′ later in 30th AG position!


295NP for Hans to put the best bike split in France, followed by a 3h06′ marathon!
Hans celebrating the win of Ironman Vichy 2022

In Denmark Thibaud (Switzerland), Frédéric (Belgium) and Anil (Belgium) took a very good start!

Thibaud came out of the water after 54′, Frédéric in 57′ and Anil in his first Ironman effort in 80′.
All 3 athletes performed well during today’s swim!
On the bike pacing was meant to be perfect and so it went! We saw very strong bike splits of Thibaud and Frédéric without overusing and staying in the right pacing zone. Thibaud came off the bike in 20th position, Frédéric in 22nd position.

Thibaud has a good run in his legs and already showed in Cozumel 2021 what he’s capable of!
Today he moved up from 20th to 10th position in the run with a 3h21′ run. Another AG top 10 for him today. Finishing in 9h07′, while Frédéric finishes just above 10h in 10h02′!

Anil managed his first Ironman in 13h15, in the end it’s not only the fastest one who gains respect by performance in triathlon! Good job!

Train smart perform better,


Jesse




Our athletes all did a progressive race today, in Vichy all our athletes ran sub 3h30 on the marathon course

Hans and Debbie taking the AG win in Challenge Geraardsbergen – 2X top 10 in 70.3 Terheijden – 70.3 in Warsaw and Svenne taking 5th in Nationals!

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Another splendid day full of racing today!!

Challenge Geraardsbergen in Belgium with a lot of our athletes in racing modus!

Probably the biggest 70.3 race in the center of Belgium.

Strong performances on this hilly course, with in the end a very tough running course!

Hans ‘La Machine’ shows in his 2nd 70.3 of the season that hi 5th overall place in Belfort wasn’t a coincidence! Today Hans takes 21st Profield included, winner was French Anthony Costes, well known for his strong bike efforts during triathlons.

La Machine riding towards pole position in his AG!

Hans doesn’t only take 21st overall but above all wins his AG by more than 10′ and qualifies for The Challenge Championship and!

A steady good swim, strong bike effort with 317Np and fast run on this hilly course made him take home a cobblestone!

In this AG fast Wim VL was unsure before the race after 4weeks of not much running because of an injury after a running race. Wim performs very strong today and despite his lack of running he’s capable to finish this race and takes 4th AG position.

Hans wasn’t the only one taking a cobblestone home. Debbie extends her strong series of racing and after medals on Nationals, Europeans and Worlds she now takes AG win in this Challenge race.

With a couple of our athletes just outside top 10 such as Jeffrey who performs a strong swim – bike, takes off a bit too fast on the run…but survives and finishes in 4h40, soon followed by Sander in his first race in a very long time (post covid). Sven VL raced in his own town and showed his strong start of the season again with a fast 1h25′ run. Wim DK (12th) and Bart (15th) finish in front of their AG, bot closely followed by Wim T.

Jeffrey powering up ‘De Muur’

In the younger AG’s we see Toon taking his firs 70.3 finish since a while and feeling good. Fred VDH had a good test towards IM Maastricht within 7weeks and had one of his best ever races. Michael and Anil chase him and finish just behind.

Toon climbing ‘De Muur’

In Poland David manages a strong 70.3 race, finishing in 4h45′ on this faster course!

In The Netherlands our Ironmen Dimitri and Pieter are having one of the best days in their lives and fight a battle in the top 10 in 70.3 Terheijden!

Dimi taking energy towards his 8th overall position in 70.3 Terheijden, The Netherlands

Pieter moves up very strong off the bike and manages a 6th overall place, while Dimitri grabs his 8th place also after a perfect paced run! Important in a 70.3 race to pace correctly and build up towards the finishline! Good tests also for both athletes towards Thun (Switzerland) and Kalmar (Sweden).

Olympic distance triathlon also in Belgium and Switzerland!

In Zug, Switzerland Michael performs his best race so far and makes nice steps forward.

In Beernem both Klaas, Ferre, Emiel and Bert race hard and on this fast course they find a perfect way to pick up racing experience towards upcoming races.

National Championships also in cycling for the Master category.

Svenne had fever 4weeks ago, we decided to cut down the number of races leading up to today, with a good peaking towards today Svenne takes 5th but also takes the ‘fair-play’ price. If a price with that value of sportsmanship that’s not often given gets in the hands of one of your riders you can only be proud as a coach, as proud as winning a cobblestone!

At the end of the day, the winner takes it all!

Hans taking 3rd in Ironlakes and first master – Jesse Massez 14th and much more

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Our full distance athletes have had a great summer so far! With multiple Kona qualifications and several AG top 10 results in the Ironman races we were spot on in 99% of the races. Today Belgium had its only full Irondistance Ironlakes, Location: Froidchappelle! A very hilly full distance with quite some elevation on the bike and run course. A good end of summer sun, 22°C… and a light breeze excellent racing conditions! Jesse M(assez), Nesten and Hans were our athletes at the office!

In Italy, Ironman Emilia-Romagna was on. For Christophe and Roel, a faster racecourse in a nice environment.

In Ironlakes also 70.3 racing was on for our athletes!

Hans had his 2019 title to defend in Ironlakes, and knew he had to be at his best to be able to do a strong effort again on this tough racecourse!

Our athletes had good swims and could start cycling at their place, only Jesse M took some extra meters and ended up with almost 4K!

Also in Italy Christophe got out of the water in 1h06, Roel in 1h25. The beginning of a day to proove he’s capable of becoming an Ironman.

Swimming a bit longer than the planned distance, but keen on his bike and run in Ironlakes. Jesse M in search of his bike.

Ironlakes is an honest and tough race course. Athletes get in their positions they earn to be in very quickly.
Hans got himself into the top 5 of the field very quickly after the swim. Jesse M and Nesten were very close behind each other on the bike and rode a consistent similar pace throughout the bike effort.
Further on in the race it was very clear that 3man were very competitive to each other. Van de Plas, Didier and Hans.
Hans seemed to be the best man on the bike of these 3, with 1900D+ in the course Hans realized a time sub 4h30′ for the bike! During this bike effort he maintained a consistent 290-300NP, with only 10watts of difference between the first and last 90K. A very steady effort and his HR in the right zone lead him to his running shoes with enough freshness for a strong run.

Jesse M and Nesten both moved up strongly on the bike and could put down their bikes in +/- position 30!

298NP and a steadypoweroutput throughout the bike (HR is wrist measurement cfr. incorrect) – As you can see, temperatures going up throughout the Irondistance which surely will have played a rol for many athletes going to hard in the beginning.

In Italy Christophe paced himself forward in his strongest discipline and could step of his bike in 12th position in Emilia-Romagna! At that point it was clear that he was going to put down his fastest IM ever.

Hans cruising himself towards the fastest bike time in Ironlakes and giving his supporters a cold breeze.

Pacing correctly on the bike is important for being able to run fast off the bike and putting down a strong result at the finishline. No Ironman has been won in T2. But of course a strong bike effort at the right pacing brings you in chase of wins. Hans could step off the bike 2nd and immediately got in the right pace. Unfortunately for him both the winner and number 3 did a very strong run with 2h54 and 2h57 on the marathon. This put Hans in 3rd position past halfway on the run course, which he could maintain thanks to a steady and well paced run and finishing in 8h50′! What a strong time, and a well deserved 3rd place overall, besides this Hans also wins the masters race of course! Let’s not forget that. Behind him Jesse M was having another very strong off bike run and was able to move up from 28th position at the beginning of the run to 14th overall position at the finishline! Nesten +-/ maintained his position after the bike and puts down a good run and takes 40th overall! He killed his Ironman PB after a much better and consistent preparation on a very tough course!

Steady run for Hans in Ironlakes, leading him towards the podium and 3rd place!
Hans defended his title in Ironlakes in style, taking 3rd in 8h50′!

In Italy our athletes realized personal bests and mental and physical limits were put further and further!
Christophe started slightly too fast during the marathon but could get in his paces after 20K into the run course, finishing in 10h14′!

Roel from his side was keen on getting to the finishline, coming from very very far as an athlete he prooves that balls go hand in hand with glory! He can proudly claim that he’s an Ironman!

Christophe finishing IM Italy in 10h14′!

In Ironlakes also the 70.3 distance was held!
800participants in this Half Irondistance and some of our athletes were ready to kill it!
Bart had an excellent day, 4weeks after his fast Ironman in Kopenhagen and takes 5th in his AG today after running off the bike very fast!

Bart heading towards 5th place in his AG in the 70.3 race in Ironlakes

Last but not least, the way our athletes race is fast and with a lot wins in cycling and triathlon so far. But all of this is done with a smile and positive mind. This finish of Steven in Ironlakes demonstrates it all!

Onwards to next races tomorrow and next few days,

Train smart, perform better!

Jesse

Top 10 and first win in new category for hans, Wim completing this AG podium in Caveman – Anthony in 4 man breakaway in Deftinge-Lierde

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Caveman triathlon today! Strong field of athletes at the starting line for this 111 triathlon. For many athletes the season opener!

With especially in the AG40 and AG category some of our athletes keen on getting close to the podium!
Unfortunately 1week ago AG 50 athlete Raymond crashed and as his legs were still looking like a ‘sandwich martino’ DNS for him!
In GC both Tony and Hans could have ambitions for a top 10 result.
A pretty tough course also in this tritathlon, with the ‘slingerberg’ each cycling lap, but even a more demanding run course!

A good start for most of our athletes in this 1K swim with Wim VL first man out of the water in 16’39”! At that point leading the AG 40+!


Tony and Hans left the water close to eachother, Tony left T1 first, closely followed by Hans. Once ‘La Machine’ was seated on his Shiv he moved forward strongly and joined Tony.

Kan een afbeelding zijn van een of meer mensen en buitenshuis
Good start of Hans during the first climb in Kanne, ‘La Machine’ button was on.


Unfortunately for Tony he had a ‘chaindrop’ and bumped his knee hardly into his steering. Not a good thing to have in a very intense race format. So pain got him and his shifting device was problematic with sometimes kilometers on the small gear, chaindrops and sometimes able to put the chain back on. But he persisted despite these issues.
Very soon Hans closed down a 2′ gap with the guys riding for place 5-10.
A very consistent effort of Hans with 328NP at 50K and 324NP at 99K into the bikecourse. Despite that the riders on who he closed the gap had a stronger effort in their 2nd half. Or was there a tailwind? Perhaps in the eye of the tornado there’s a logical acceleration of objects? 🙂


Steady effort of Hans in Kanne with a 324NP at the end of the bike course. Passing halfway at 328NP. Steady to run off fast!

Behind those Hans, Tony and Wim VL our other athletes started to gear up. Steven DB, good swimmer, had a fearmoment during the start of the swim which all triathletes once have or had. On the bike he left this moment behind and took speed. Also Jurgen and Christophe were there, getting into top 10 in this AG40.

Kan een afbeelding zijn van 2 mensen, staande mensen, fiets en buitenshuis
Wim Van Linden was our first man out on the bike, steady bike effort followed by a good run made him finish 3rd in his AG


In the AG50 category it’s Bart who took place in top 10 very soon. His fellow Wim T chasing him down.
Also Bart T in his first race in Belgium, Christophe, Toon (back into the game!), Frederick, Thomas, Michael, Carles and Roel were keen on this bike effort. They settled their places to drop off their bike in T2.

Hans putting down his bike in T2 as the first of our athletes and ready to run towards a top10 today! With 8th place at the finishline and his first win in his new AG (H40) we can say…age is just a number 🙂 and he’s ready for a couple of race on more demanding terrain.

Tony, who thought of quitting the race with a severly swollen knee and annoying mechanicals on the bike.
Before the problems Tony was riding 300-320NP and HR 165BPM, once he bumped his knee the pain got into it. His cadence dropped, his NP dropped to 260 (small gearing) and HR dropped 15BPM. But as this is a B-race leading up to his Ironman and not so many racing opportunities this year…he persisted with a run below his capabilities…but still managing 22st in GC!

Kan een afbeelding zijn van 1 persoon
Bad luck for Tony today, but next Ironman races are key for him to once finish in Kona again! Today was a processrace, more to come!



Not so far behind Tony Wim VL was our man to run off the bike very well and taking his first podium in his AG in his first triathlon in 2years! FInally he’s at it! Good and strong job!
With Steven DB and Jurgen also starting the run with the eyes on the AG Podium this category was well filled! Steven taking 5th, Jurgen taking 6th and Christophe taking 10th place today!

Bart DB was aiming for a top10 in his AG and he managed! But also lesson’s learned! Racing in humid and warm conditions needs another drinking protocol than racing in dry and colder conditions. It’s about how much you drink, but also what you are drinking before and during the race!
Wim T his eyes were definitely aimed on Bart, but he stayed out of sight at the finishline!

Geen beschrijving beschikbaar.
Wim T in search for a good effort after a tough winter, looking forward!



Bart T had a strong bike effort and suffered on the tough hilly run course in his first race here! But a strong endurance brings you home, always!
Toon finished his first race again in 3-4years and can look back at a strong road to today during the past year!
Also Christophe, Frederick, Michael, Carles and Thomas did a good job towards the finisling.
Satisfaction is at its place, looking forward now to our guys on the Ironman and 70.3 distance in Frysman (The Netherlands) and Chtriman (France)!

Geen beschrijving beschikbaar.
Frederick during the ‘Slingerberg’ Climb in Kanne



Next to our triathletes our cyclists prooved they started the season extremely well!
Almost all of our riders got into top 10 already this season and are riding very intense in front of the race!
Today Anthony (Deftinge – Elite3) was our man in the right breakaway of 4 that could race victory!
A late attempt in the last kilometer in which Anthony chased victory didn’t work out for the win, but with a good and strong race finishing 4th can mean a lot in the head of a rider! Great job again of Anthony!

In Meux (Masters) Svenne was keen on a new day of breaking away and suffering! He got himself into that dream scenario. With a 14man lead group it seemed tough to break away, at the end Svenne sprinted towards 7th place!

Kan een afbeelding zijn van 1 persoon
Good job of Anthony today, in front of the game all race long and racing for victory in the lead group, finishing 4th.




Next few days more cyclingraces and also the first Time Trial races are back to business!

ciao

Jesse

La Machine is back – Ironlakes winner – Anthony taking climbers jersey in Germany – Bram in UCI world champs MTB

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This weekend was the start of the autumn Ironman races, with Ironlakes (Belgium) the Belgian athletes got the chance to proove their strength in this hilly racecours. 2200D+ on the bike, 285D+ on the runcourse! This full distance triathlon attrackted French and Belgian athletes. With Fouss, Gillain and Chevalier Hans knew this would be a race fought hard.

Surgery past winter and revalidation the months after costed him spring but in summer he immediately showed good performances in Oudenaarde and Jabbeke. In Jabbeke he astonished by doing a bike effort 2 levels higher than the others. Cycling and swimming were the key in revalidation.

With a good swim for Hans (1h02′ ~ 3900m) top 10 was in sight very soon. On the bike a hilly course with a lot of ‘faux plat’, perfect for a 77kg powerhorse. Very soon Hans appears in the top 3 of the race, which was sooner than expect with Fouss (Sub9h inKona 18) and Chevalier (just above 9h in Kona 19) simply left behind. A constantly paced race at 280watts with no big drops in power and no big peaks (5minute peak of 330NP).
An athlete in shape can keep his HR also very consistent with a good poweroutput during 180K and still keep enough energy for the off bike run.

290NP during this 175K bikecourse ~ 2250D+ with a HR kept constantly while air temperature raises.

With 15′ advantage on number 2 and 20+ minutes advantage on number 3 Hans was in a luxury situation to get on the podium and perhaps win the race!
With a good trainingcamp around Mont Ventoux, France and being able to do good running, slightly hilly running also…this racecourse should be managed IF Hans paces well and conservatively. His winterbase in running is not there. But last 4 months running was getting to a higher level. A good level, last 4 weeks were spot on it. And managing the marathon was possible. IF Hans paced well…and he did! Starting at +/-4’30km and HR XX he keeps it steady on this hilly course to finish at 4’40/km and win his 2nd Ironman distance, Ironlakes Belgium!

Constant run and overlooking things perfectly, winner winner chicken dinner!
2nd full distance triathlon won by Hans, Ironlakes, a winner always remains a winner!

What a resume Hans has on the long distance:

  • European AG champion duathlon
  • 2* World AG champion duathlon
  • Chtriman full distance winner
  • Ironlakes full distance winner
  • 3X 70.3 (Half Irondistances) races winner
  • and more which I now forget probably…

A story of not giving up after bad news, fighting back, struggling and keeping the flow going! In sport you see people with extreme character and perseverance. Well, Hans is one of those!
Well earned for him and his relatives.

Together everyone achieves more, at its place today in Froidchapelle

More athletes today racing the 70.3 distance!
Kenneth races in Ironman70.3 Italy! In Ironman 70.3 Weymouth (UK) Kris takes 2nd (AG) and qualifies for the 70.3 world championships in New – Zealand!
Kristof from his side enters his very first 70.3 race in Ironlakes, Froidchappelle.

Kristof with determination in Ironlakes, putting down a fast bike and run off the bike!

Not only in Belgium our athletes went hard today, in Germany Anthony was keen on defending his climbers jersey and 4th place in GC. Not letting go the other GC riders was key and he realized this, 4th in GC and taking home the climbers jersey from Germany!

Anthony taking home the climbers jersey from Germany

In Grächen, Switzerland Bram races the World Championships MTB marathon. Unfortunately for him the weekend began a bit stressfull by breaking a spoke 18h before the race. On raceday Bram takes 154th in the world championships. Hoping to get around top100 among the best riders in the world wasn’t there today. But then again you now what to work for!

Afbeelding kan het volgende bevatten: fietsende mensen en buiten
Bram on the MTB world champs recon in Grächen


Ciao

Jesse

Hans saves Belgium’s honour in duathlon worlds with the AG world title and 11th overall position!

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The ITU/Powerman world championships duathlon is a race that’s very close to our hearts, a race in which our athletes in the last 7 years got 6x AG silver, 5x AG gold and 4times top 15 in the Pro race (with fulltime amateurs 😉 ).

Today again it were Wim, Jan and Hans entering this race with for Wim and Hans high expectations and dying to simply confirm last year’s race. Showing that was not a 1day result. Jan, after a tough spring showed in his last 70.3 races that shape was getting there, despite some pain in the back.

The race had to change the run and bikecourses this year, so for every athletes the race was slightly unknow. But maybe also a good thing to change the racecourse of world championships from time to time…

During the first run Jan, Wim and Hans sticked close together but all on the right pace and showed already there that they belong to the better AG runners. Well paced and ready for a long day they stepped on their bikes. Jan was the first one, followed by Hans and Wim.

Jan M.jpg

Jan takes it seriously from the start and gets into T1 very fast!

Only 1lap later Hans was already spotted riding very hard and moving up between the pro riders, who started earlier. Jan and Wim kept in battle for AG podium, this during the whole bike course. During this bikecourse Wim could accelerate during the 2nd half of it and put down the bike 3rd in his AG, Jan in 4th and Hans who now was totally in front put down his bike  within the top 15 of the race and as first AG athlete. Meanwhile the Belgian Pro athletes unfortunately got DNF behind their names…so Hans also was first Belgian now. This in a discipline that was dominated by Belgians for years! (Vansteelandt brothers, Maris, Woestenborghs and Odeyn later).

Hans File

A 293NP ride for Hans during these world championships, with a 10K hilly run before and 30K hilly run after the bikecourse! This is what you need to win all AG! Try!

Once of the bike our athletes mostly are on their best, the engine heated up and loaded for a good off bike run! Today this wasn’t anything other! Hans had an excellent run and was in full control of the AG race, he dominated and wins the AG race but above all comes very close towards PRO top10 with an 11th place!

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Hans lifting the banner, a beautifull moment in Zofingen!

Behind this Wim and Jan were running very fast off their bike and it was Wim who nearly closed a 10′ gap with the leader in his AG by finishing 2nd…only 30″ behind the winner in his AG! Wim had a FANTASTIC season with the AG Belgian titles on all distances, the AG European title and becoming AG vice world champion!

Jan was in fight with 3rd position in his (and Hans) AG, places were expensive in this AG and for more than 25K Jan and number 3 in his AG were within a 1′ range of eachother! In the end Jan also finishes 4th, only a good 30″ behind number 3!
Wim gets 23rd and Jan 29th in the overall race! All together races to be proud of!!

Wim DC.jpg

Wim in search of bronze, then silver and finally finishing at 30″ of gold in his AG! Great racing!

So once again Zofingen left us with a lot of emotions, The Kona for duathletes but then colder and a totally different environment! Results to be proud of, whatever… Well done to all!

Yesterday Jens (3rd in Olympic Distance Köln – Germany) prooved already end of the season is coming and that means A-races are coming also!

Today in Balen Bregt gets 10th, moving up from 15th to 10 on the run!

Afbeelding kan het volgende bevatten: 1 persoon, buiten

Bregt with a fast sprintdistance race in Balen today – finishing 10th

Tony had his last preprace towards the Ironman World championships in Kona, Hawaii today…in Köln (Germany). His races turned out perfectly…untill a flat tyre!! His tyre was totalle ruptured but fortunately he found a piece of cardboad to put inside his tyre and fixed the bike! A bit more than 7′ he lost in this action and for sure some energy. But this ‘MacGyver’-mentality made him come back into the race, put down his bike with over 320NP ~ 72kg. But that’s not all, during his run he came back into the top 10 with the 2nd running time to finish the race 10th…only5′ after 3rd position!
Another strong race after his 2nd place in Chtriman 2018!

Next stop: Kona, Hawaii. And this athlete is more than on his place overthere!

Afbeelding kan het volgende bevatten: 1 persoon, zwemmen, buiten, water en natuur

Tony swallowing the flat tyre, and pushing through to the finishline!

September has kicked off very well…and we still have 29days left!

Ciao

Jesse

Ironman Lanzarote, our athletes strong in their entirity

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Today Ironman Lanzarote was marked in red! Already awake early in the morning, ready to follow this race for which our athletes prepared themselves for months!
All athletes were really looking forward to this race! With the tough racecourse in Lanzarote also a race we approached with the respect needed for it. Realistic towards raceconditions and what would happen they entered the race!

33583369_10204907859293831_5126220149845655552_n.jpg

A strong swim of all our athletes, coming out of the water below 1h06′.
Bert swam with the better pro athletes and entered T1 in 52′. Johan, Steven and Hans got out in 1h02 and Sem followed only 4′ later in 1h06. A good idea, of not being in the water too long :-)!

 

Bert zwem

Bert left T1 after 55’59, leading his AG and soon took 1st overall AG place on the bike!

Once on the bike our athletes could unleash their builded stamina and power, correct pacing would be necessary and so they kept an eye on powermeter/Hr monitor.
For Bert, in the flow of the race in front not easy to keep the gazzz button under control, but after 80K he understood that with the marathon coming…he better kept control.
Hans from his side was moving up like #LaMachine always does, but controlled and not overpacing. As you can see in both files Bert (277NP) and Hans (279NP) had a similar NP, with that difference that Bert took off very hard and got regular in the 2nd half of the race, Hans builded up and kept a straight line in his poweroutput.

Hans Powerfile 279NP

Hans had a regular bikeride, with a higher NP on the climbs, a bit lower in the downhills but steady all race long!

Bert powerfile 277NP

Bert took off hard, risky even, but he turned the button to cruise control after 80K to take no risks for the run!

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A lonely ride for Hans, ‘An honest bikecourse where the best get to the front in the cycling part’ he said afterwards!

But not only B&H were moving up, Steven and Johan…who left T2 with Hans were also moving up and doing a wise race! Sem, who couldn’t run for weeks because of achillesproblems paced conservatively but moved up and was heading towards T2 not sure if he would run or not!

33614900_10204904273524189_447449619882835968_n.jpg

First I thought Johan had an injured thumb, but afterwards it seemed he had a good ride in Lanzarote

Coming into T2 is the easy part in the Ironman races it seems, many Pro athletes who had a DNF after the race. But about the DNF’s there said already more than worth it. So let’s talk about the finishers…

On the run course we were quite confident that if our athletes kept their pacing correct from the start that the run would be good. Everybody was in shape, ready to run long and medium hard. Going too fast in the beginning is a killer, and that’s an awareness every athlete should have. An off bike marathon is not a regular sunday run. In the end,  thre strong and the smart racers will survive.

With Hans and Bert within the top3 of their agegroup starting the run we had 2 athletes racing for the podium. Hans started at the planned pace, Bert slightly faster…faster also than his PB. A bit tricky at that point, but afterwards we saw HR was perfectly under control.

33575141_10213175572158028_4230224396339380224_n.jpg

 

A steady run HR/pacing wise also for Bert who put his limits to a new height breaking his PR
Hans took off at 4’30/km, and finished at 4’42/km. With a planned run at 4’30-4’40/km he aimed correctly.

Both athletes had a steady run  (HR & Pace), Bert was flying and killed his PB in an Ironman run to finish after 3h08′ in this heavy race before finishing 2nd AG, 26th Pro’s included. Hans had a 3h16′ run but never really fell back and also ran steady. Finishing the line in the right position (7th AG) after an honest race. You don’t choose your agegroup in the end, finishing 30th (14Pro athletes in front) and 7th in your AG says a lot about the strength of the opponents also.

While Hans and Bert raced for the first places in their AG Steven, Johan and Hans were still at the run course. And how!!? Each of these athletes amazed in something. Johan and Steven in Consistency and patience to pace well and ‘keep the engine running’ as we say. Pacing correctly always works, both athletes took it further than we could expect even!
Steven also killed his marathon PB in this heavy race and moved up strong towards 12th place in his AG!

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Steven puts down his marathon PB in Lanzarote and finishes very strong on 12th place (AG)!

Johan, in his first Ironman…not the easiest one, was patient on the bike. He kept down the HR and cruised towards T2 to finish of with a good run. Finishing in 11h03′ in Lanzarote is fast!

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Johan had a perfect race in his first IM!

And then there was Sem, as we agreed on not running to not take risks on his achilles I switched off the tracker…but all of a sudden the eye felt on Sem again…and we noticed he was running…after several weeks of not running not easy! But after passing halfway all athlete minds know you can’t quit the race! He kept going and finishes the race in a very decent time of 12h21. For sure there was even more in it. But Sem showed us in the end where Ironman and triathlon in all disciplines is about. About perseverance, defeating yourself, having pleasure while racing and the satisfaction afterwards! Nice job Sem!

 

The ‘Houston rockets’ and medals on French and Belgian duathlon championships!

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This weekend was ‘championshipsweekend’, with the Northern American Ironman championships in Texas (USA) for Cai and Sam, the French duathlon championships on the long distance for Hans, Séb, Steven and Inge and the national sprintduathlon championships for Wim adrenaline would rush through the veins. For sure!

The good about these sports are that if you are prepared well, you are ready for racing! With dedication to the raceplan (and nutrition) the rest follows normally! If it’s hot (30-35°C in Texas) or cold (8°C in France and cold rain all race long) that doesn’t matter. Shape decides what will happen, all the rest are sidestories.

In Texas, both Sam and Cai took off well during the swimstart. Somehow Cai found herself closed in a bit during the swim but despite that both athletes got on their bikes in +/- the time that was planned. And then, the race starts for real!
On the bike Sam had to close down a 10′ gap with his opponents in the M40. With topathletes such as Dan Stubleski, Mosley and others it would a nice race to follow.
39Pro athletes also at the starting line, many points to gather for the KPR-ranking, important to get to Kona! This strong field and perfect weather conditions (as in almost no wind) would lead to a legendary race with several records broken! Matt Hanson for example ran the off bike marathon (42.1km) in 2h34′ after 3.8K swim and 180K bike. This day in Texas will be remembered. But not only by the toprange of Pro athletes racing it.

Soon it became clear that Sam was moving up in his race, of course this is a well known fact in Ironman, but you still have to do it! With the flat and straight roads it was a good race to pace very consistent.
Despite the groups Sam had to overtake, which made him push a bit harder of course, he felt great on his bike and never found himself into trouble.

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Sam’s bike effort of 278NP-4h18′ , was good for the fastest bikesplit in Texas!

In the very end of the race Sam was clearly going a bit harder than his nearest opponents, of which a few just behind him. So it would also become a tactical race, once off the bike! After 4h18′ the bike was put in T2. A quick calculation made us already dream of a very fast time. But as everyone knows, in a LD triathlon you better don’t dream. You have to do it.

Cai from her side was asked to pace at 150watts and keep her HR around 145BPM. She did what she had to do and also felt very good on the bike, enjoying her race she moved up A LOT untill she got on 8th place in her AG in the end of the bikecourse.
With 10women within 3′ in this AG all would be played during the run!

 

Excellent pacing of Cai and putting down the bike in 8th positon in T2!
One of the ‘Houston rockets’ in action! Without a beard 😉

A lot of questions about the fast bikesplits in Texas, but the answer on the real bike length is simple. 176km (as in many Ironman races), no wind…and unfortunately indeed no referees controlling the ‘bunch’ of athletes. The better cyclists of course have no benefit of this. The ‘bunch’ has. A pity! It made many athletes come off the bike close together. But as Sam said this morning. Once you start running…’the masks fall off’.

The first kilometers of the run Sam started in a good pace, despite that he was passed by a couple of athletes who were running at 2h45′ pace. Wise decision of Sam not to follow but follow his own pace. Once the athletes were approaching halfway the runcourse it became clear that race opponents of Sam were the guys that were predicted. The athletes starting too fast were left behind.  Stubleski in first place, Caron and Mosley were the guys who would be there untill the finishline. And no one to underestimate of course.
At kilometer 35 Sam had a 3′ gap behind Stubleski, at that point…it seemed that 2nd place was the highest possible thing to achieve and still ready to finish below 8h30′ with a fast marathon!

 

That marathon was fast, and in the last kilometers Sam went all out and closed down the gap to 30″ at 40.1km! 30″ behind with 2K to go…Stubleski and Sam in a nice battle, with the last 2km of Sam pushing it all the way he finished….9″ before Stubleski!

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Sam with a fantastic marathon at the end of the race, 2h53′ and with 9″ ahead just enough for the AG win!

Sam never ran in 1st position during the whole race untill the very end…how nice is that! But also a big thumb up to Stubleski, making the race hard during the marathon. Athletes can lift eachother to a higher level during a clean battle!
For the 3rd year in a row he gets sub 3h on the marathon, in Texas he even broke his fastest marathontime in an Ironman!

Sam G AG results

A result to be very proud of, this will be printed and put on my wall today!

The result of Sam is the result of a real AG athlete with a full-time job, thinking no-nonsense, enjoying it all and putting in the effort where needed. That sub8h30′ was just a matter of time.

We would almost forget to say, but Sam did qualify for Hawaii of course. Where he will race for the 9th!! time! But first, rest!
In Kona he will join Van, Bert and Tony, our other athlete who already qualified earlier!

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Sam crossing the finishline in Texas, no words needed!

In the female race it was Cai who ran a good marathon and was able to finish her race in 11h10′! Finishing 10th in her AG was a very honest result. The female AG’s don’t have the quantity of slots that the male athletes have. With only 1-3 slots divided in the Ironmans it’s not easy to get one but still chances to go!
Well done!

In France, all eyes on the national championships long distance duathlon (10-80-10). With 4of our athletes, the race was one of the maingoals of this spring for these athletes.
Hans won the race in Douai already, but now it had the championship label…and that’s what you could notice from the start! A very fast start with several athletes running the first 10K in 30-32′ here. With Hans heading towards transition in 17th position, Séb and Steven ran a bit further and Inge in 8th position in the female race they entered T1.

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Hans picking up one of the female athletes, who started 5′ earlier, during the first run!

The bikecourse in Douai is full with roundabouts, turnings, ‘faux plats’ and wind…always wind! Today there was some extra with rain all day long 🙂 Well, if you come from Flanders…that must give wings!
On the bike Hans decided not take risks on these dangerous roads, but halfway the first lap…the speaker already noticed he moved up towards 13th position. At that point it was only Jean Eudes Demaret (Former Cofidis pro cyclist and 2016 Elite national champion triathlon) who rode slightly harder. Behind that it was Hans who had to face 2 little groups. Strong as he is, the further the athletes went in the race … the more he moved forward. To finally put down his bike in 7th position! Excellent! A top 10 in this field would have been a great job!
Séb came back to Steven on the bike and both athletes moved up well during this bikecourse. Inge from her side, a bit afraid of the weather before the race, had strong legs and after the bikecourse she put down the bike 3rd! Very close to number 2 and with a good gap behind her.

Hans VDB bike

314NP for Hans his bikeride, unfortunately the last 5-6km towards the race location (each lap) athletes had to be very carefull with slippery roundabouts and cars blocking the roads.

In this type of LD duathlons the places are not divided in the first run, not on the bike…but during the 2nd run…with Hans putting down the bike 7th and a 1’30” -3′ gap  on the faster runners of Run1 it seemed impossible to still move up places. But from the first kilometers Hans had a good pace. His running style looked relaxed and with a 2′ gap behind him he only had to look in front of him! In front of the field a couple of athletes were crashing as usually on the long distance.

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Hans in 7th, only 20″ and 1’20 behind on 5 and 6. With this pace 5th pace would be possible!

After 5km Hans still was 7th, but in those last 5km a lot happened in front of the race and suddenly Hans appeared very close to number 5 and 6, which he overtook in the last kilometer. Jean Eudes Demaret crashed totally in the last 5K and his 4′ advantage melted down fast! With only 7″ left at the finishline Hans finishes 5th today in this field!

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Hans never dropped the pace during his off bike run! Which made him move up in the field and finish strong!

 

Steven had some bad luck today and got a drafting penalty, missed the turning for the 2nd loop and because of this he ran an extra 800m.

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A good looking Steven on the racecourse, but the weatherconditions made the race more chaotic than planned!

Séb from his side did an excellent race, he builded up from behind and finishes 45th after an excellent 2nd run. Ready for the LD triathlons coming now!

Hans finish

‘La Machine’ and Le Nord….rain or sunny, he eats it!

In the female race Inge never looked giving back her 3rd place at another competitor. A focussed 2nd run in which she has to learn to be confident. If there’s suffering, everyone is suffering! Finishing 3rd on these national championships is another step she made! With Ironman Zurich in July she has her first Full distance triathlon coming! If you can do this today, the Ironman will be peanuts ;-)!

Inge

A last word with Inge, clear language.

After France, back to Belgium…in which the national sprint duathlon championship was held. Normally I don’t like sending athletes to this format. Because of the lottery aspect in it. But with Wim, we have a very particular athlete. A fast and steady runner with more and more cycling experience also. In the master category this was his only medal missing in Belgium after 2years of duathlon! And once again this strong master showed his fast legs by getting into  T1 first. But with his opponents not changing shoes he missed the train towards T2. It made him chase the leaders on the bike, but with not enough cooperation it was the bronze medal that was the highest possible to get! And he did! First maingoal of the season for Wim accomplished! Now full focus on the European long distance championships, which will be followed by the nationals in May!

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Wim, bronze in the national championships sprint duathlon! Excellent performance and ready for the Europeans!

A prepweekend….with need for speed!

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Past weekend our athletes went into races, particulary to prepare the spring and summerseason coming up!

But first of all our cyclocrossmen Xtof, Klaas and Kev who went into one of their last races this season!
For Xtof another top5 in the masters race and close to podium in GC!
Kevin, one of our younger athletes who is coming back from serious back injuries, slowly refinds himself and gets 12th and 7th this weekend!

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Klaas, our man in front of the cyclocrosscup classification was defending his 3rd spot in this GC this weekend. He did this on a great way and finds himself at the end of the cyclocrosscup in 3rd spot on the podium, together with the defending national champion.
This was a maingoal for him to reach and halfway the season we really started to believe in this! He worked, he succeeded!

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In Westrozebeke (Flanders) the annual Crossduathlon was held, with some of our triathletes at the starting line to pick up some rhythm and anaerobic impulses in a period of a lot of variety in other sorts of impulses. With very good running results in first place and steady performance on the bike our athletes could look back happy towards their first multisportrace of ’18!

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Bert, in another format and another type of bike pushing away his limits! On his road to Ironman Lanzarote ’18 and of course Hawaii!

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Nice result of Björn, mountainbiker and soon racing in South Africa…but meanwhile he got himself the national duathlonjersey for the fire Department!

The last weekend of January traditionally has quite some half marathons in Belgium, the way our athletes crushed these races is quite astonishing! 4 athletes who ran 1h16 or faster in full prep towards their season. None of these athletes had anaerobic impulses on training within the last 4months! Still…some of them even broke their PR. Approach your prepraces as prepraces and use preparation as a real preparationperiod. Not by being lazy…but by working smart and hard to be ready at the beginning of the season….just like Tony did  on saturday by getting 3rd in Lier in 1h15′, on his way even to go sub 1h14’…but a little cramp in the end made him go a bit easier in the last 2K.

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First preprace of ’18 for Tony, on his way to Kona, World Championships Ironman 2018

On saturday our other athletes went into a half marathon in Genk (Belgium).
All our athletes found themselves sub 1h30′ today and it were Jens, Adrian and Jan who had top10 ambitions in this race. With Jens having the best start (what did the coach say?), Adrian and Jan following closely behind. After a few kilometers places were shaked and it was Jan who finished 2nd in the race in 1h12′, Jens 5th in 1h13′ and Adrian 8th in 1h16′! A bit further our 50+ athlete Raymond finished in a nice 1h29′.

Jens and Jan running towards 2nd and 5th today!
Adrian putting down a fast run in 1h16′

Furthermore our athletes also were present in the Houffatrail, where athletes dared to challenge themselves on this extraordinary racecourse!

A bit more to the South then, in France, the Liévin Crosstriathlon was held!
For Johan and Hans a first triathlon, both athletes are entering Ironman Lanzarote at the end of May and after already racing a few Xduathlons and Run and Bikes now it was time to see where the swimming part was…. For Hans, the North of France always means a bit of joy because of a significant part of his athletic CV is built on his French successes!

Both athletes had a very good swim, and they came out of the swimming pool with 1’24/100m splits. For both athletes, this is close to their best level at this distance. Once on the bike Hans immediately dropped his opponents…and Johan, who only swam 3″ slower had a good example in his sight to move up in the field! Halfway the race it was Hans who took the lead, Johan at that point was in battle for top 10 (and podium in the masters race).
‘France and Hans’…became a success again and Hans manages with his good running legs to run towards victory! For Johan the race also ended successfull, by getting 8th overall and 3rd in the masters race!

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Hans wins the race in Liévin (France), next race is at the Belgian coast in Sandman Inferno…beachduathlon!

https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Flievintriathlon%2Fvideos%2F1988073407871332%2F&show_text=0&width=267“>Hans winning crosstriathlon Liévin (France)

A good last weekend of January for our athletes, good and steady tests in first place…towards the real start of the season within a few months! But meanwhile, yes…we can and must enjoy very battle that’s won!

 

Ciao

Jesse

 

 

 

Recap of another “Grand-cru” year in 2017!

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A long year is almost behind us, our athletes performed like bosses, from January till the end of December the one performance after the other was made!
This year was a year that personally wasn’t my easiest, with the loss of  out mother. But as we learned to stand tall in difficult times…we kept going….and stood up again. Personally I must/will thank all the people who gave even the smallest  word of support. Without the small or bigger supports maybe 2017 wouldn’t have been like it became…at sportslevel!

In January our athletes just drunk their last glass of champagne and the first races were there already, our athletes were involved in some road running races with for example the half marathons where we had 6 of our athletes crushing the 1h20′ and even some guys below 1h15, that already was a good sign towards the season. At that point our athletes hadn’t had any hard sessions yet. Base was good, strength was good…and then  you can be already at 90% of your PB…if you approach training with a good periodisation. Laziness is never rewarded in sports, being creative and being a silent worker is!
Klaas, our cyclocrossrider even took an unexpected podium on the regional championships cyclocross!

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Klaas heading towards the podium on the regional champs!

In February

our Canadians woke up and the first road races (running) were held overthere, with the Boularderie half marathon for example where Corey, Allan and Andreas took an exceptional clean sweep!

In Belgium the tough Sandman duathlon was held, with the win of Inge and very strong Hans in the male race. Both, at this point, were far from peaking period. With the results we knew in spring there would happen something…and it did!

Meanwhile the French speaking part of Belgium had its championships duathlon. There also our athletes got podium and even won the masters race.

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La Machine has to explain how he dropped his opponents

At the end of this month our cyclists turned their engines on, immediately followed by big results! There was Svenne who already got podium and Anthony who was on for a S U P E R – Season who got 4th in his first race in Lens-Saint-Rémy.

March traditionally is the month where all sports cross eachother…road cycling, mountainbike, duathlon, triathlon, marathons,…but it’s also the month where you show what you’ve been up during winter.
March began with a duathlon win in Ashford (United Kingdom), Anthony who rode himself from the one podium to the other and wins in Tournai (Belgium). There also was the resurrection of Guillaume, who turned back into cycling and came back…stronger than he ever was before! There was also the trailrun on Ballon d’Alsace (France) where Arne got an unexpected podium and of course the duathlon in Hilversum (Netherlands) which closed the month!

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A lot of fighting spirit for Anthony, with strong racing and wins already at the beginning of the season!

In April the cycling season continued with wins in Couvin (Belgium), Mariembourg (Belgium) and Frankfurt (Germany). While our duathletes won races in the Netherlands (Ter Idzard), Germany (Eschweiler) and France (Douai). In Douai it was Hans who was able to put down an extraordinary result by beating former Pro world champion Koen Maris. Not so far behind it was Jan who, with the fastest 2nd run, could move closely to the front! In Spain it was David who did a great race in Orihuela early in the season and in Florida (USA) Allan won his race!

A bit more to the South Ironman South Africa was the first Ironman planned, with Pierre, Cai and Sam we had 3 athletes being capable of qualifying for Kona.
What happened there went just perfect! Pierre realised his best ever race and qualified for Kona for the 2nd year in a row, while Cai (5th in her AG) just missed the slot but managed to do a race perfectly as planned.

Sam from his part, once again took an IM podium by finishing 2nd AG overall (after former PRO Godart) and ran for the 4th time in his career a sub 3h marathon! Also his ticket was in his Bioracer-suit pocket!

 

 

Sam running a sub 3h marathon in Ironman South Africa
Guillaume towards his solo-win in Couvin!
3rd overall spot, but the win in his AG for Hans on Silent Saturday
Guillaume getting out of the tunnel…approaching the finisline
Jan racing towards 1st position!
David after his race in Orihuela (Spain)
Victory for Hans in Douai (france)!
Jan and Hans during the first run in France

 

Yes, April was the first peak for some of our athletes…and it was spot on it!
For the others…May became the first peaking period … and that promissed to be at least as surprising as April!

May was the month of duathlon championships,

with Jan becoming AG European champion and Wim losing his 3rd AG spot in the last kilometer we had success and learning in 1 race towards the world championships in September! Only 6 days after the EC the Belgian national championships were held in…Holland. In Almere Jan took top 10 overall and Wim managed himself to get his first medal on a national championships and got 3rd (masters).

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Jan and Wim racing the European championships Long distance duathlon

In Mallorca (Spain) Adrian raced his first main goal of the season and in the 70.3 raced he not only got 2nd (AG), but also took a nice overall ranking and qualified for the 70.3 world championships.

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Adrian running towards his AG-podium in Mallorca 70.3

Next to these races our athletes also managed to perform in Belgium and Canada in several cycling and triathlon races

 

Of course after a period like April and May, in which many outstanding performances were set by our athletes a coach silently hopes this can inspire the other athletes to perform at their verrrry best in the rest of the season. And it did!

In June this list of podium spots were reached:

  • SWIKE Harelbeke: 3rd
  • Half Irondistance Troyes (France): 2nd
  • Rev3 70.3 Quassy (Canada): 2nd
  • Half Irondistance Terheijden (Netherlands): 3rd
  • Duathlon Baddeck (Canada): 1st
  • Duathlon Baddeck (Canada): 2nd
  • Duathlon Baddeck (Canada): 3rd
  • Ironman 70.3Luxemburg: 1st AG Inge
  • Ironman70.3 Luxemburg: 3rd AG Steven
  • Cyclingrace Zomergem: 2nd Guillaume
  • Mamer Duathlon (Luxembourg): 3rd Jan
  • Cyclingrace Zottegem: 2nd Guillaume
  • Time trial Zolder: 3rd Jef

Next to these results, multiple top10 races were made by our athletes!
In the triathlonraces of Meer, L’eau d’Heure, Oud-gastel, Couvin, Alpsman…our athletes performed very well.
In Ironman Klagenfurt (Austria) we saw our athletes stepping up a level with athletes going sub 10h and sub 9h30 for the very first time!

 

 

Fast swim of Pascal, and bringing some salad home!
Inge…unbelievable month for her, with AG win in 70.3 Luxemburg and 2nd place in Troyes!
Steven 3rd AG in 70.3 Luxemburg!

Unfortunately for Bert in Challenge Poznan (Poland), he was sent the wrong direction…being in 2nd position and having to quit the race. Bert was approaching the leader at that point and ready to take a full distance win! This made him keen on performing at least as hard later on this season…

July, the first month of summer…traditionally a loaded month with Ironman races in Frankfurt (Germany), Zürich (Switzerland), Santa Rosa (USA), Lake Placid (USA), Nice (France) and Whistler (Canada), but also the full distance races of Gravelines (France) and Challenge Roth (Germany). In all of these races our athletes gave the best of themselves with some extraordinary results in the end!
Each Irondistance also is a learning process, that’s what a few of our athletes experienced. The way you enter the race is crucial!

 

 

Sam heading to the end of the race, controlling his AG victory!
Enjoying Ironman Nice!
Robbe 2nd in Leuze!
Nice race of Bart in Nice, focussed!
Bart and Wim with biggest supportcrew in France!
Cai chasing the podium!
Bronze medal on the national MTB championships

In Roth for example, Hans was our 2nd AG athlete getting SUB 8h45! With a win in his AG and a top overall ranking this was certainly his best full distance ever!

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In Lake Placid (USA) Cai came very close again to qualifying for the World champs after a strong race on this tough racecourse, while Same managed an 11th place (overall) and another AG win!
A very strong performance again, and much more to say and reflect about it then just ‘eating chicken soup’ ;-)!

In Aarschot it was Bert who took his 2nd masters victory of the season, Inge who took the AG win in Xterra France, Anthony just outsprinted for the win in Rad am Ring (Germany), Corey getting 3rd in 70.3 Saint-Andrews, Allan winning the Aylesford triathlon (Canada) and Robbe (junior-cyclist) getting his first ever podium!

Next to all of these races it was Jan who was the 2nd Belgian in 2017 winning a Long distance duathlon (only 2 will win a LD road duathlon in 2017) in Gravelines (France)!

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August is known as harvest period in Europe, the end of the road seasons approach and time for those who built a good base to finetune towards the last races!
Our athletes wer on the pdoim tri/duathlonraces and multiple cyclingraces in Belgium The Netherlands and Roumania, while in Spain David got himself on the podium in Medina de Rioseco (Spain).
In Belgium it was Bart who astonished in the tough Belman race by finishing 9th, where he found a racecourse that fitted him perfectly!

 

 

Perfect race in Kopenhagen for PJ!
Andreas and Corey 2nd and 1st in Portshood!
Wim with podium in the Flemish MTB cup
Anthony continues an excellent season
David 1st AG in Medina de Rioseco (Spain)
Jan 3rd in Borne (Netherlands)
Anil racing 70.3 Zell am See
3rd overall for Wim

But Augustus also was a month of quite some Ironman racing!

With 70.3 races like Zell-Am-See (Austria) and Vichy (France), where our athletes performed very well. On the full distance in Maastricht (The Netherlands) Tim got 21st overall, and missed his slot by 1place after a 3h00 marathon which was the 6th overall (Pro incl) running time! Later that month our athletes also raced in Ironman MT where Allan got very close to a slot, Ironman Kopenhagen(Denmark)  and then we had the Ironman in Vichy!
A magical day for one of our athletes, who flew and was in the lead of the race for a very long time!! Bert came through on the bike as 2nd very soon, with nobody around him and chasing groups behind him. With the rolling start it’s difficult to see where you are in the race, and the packs behind him of course were not easy to manage. With a fast bikesplit he put down his bike and started on the run course! Soon it was clear that former Pro and strong performing Clerbout came closer and approached him (timewise) . But nobody could avoid that it was Bert crossing the finishline 2nd!

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Bert crossing the finishline in Vichy (France)  finishing 2nd in Vichy

A magical moment for our athletes to have one of our athletes crossing the Ironmanfinish like this! In the end it was Clerbout who won (faster time by +/-5′). Bert was our 3rd amateur athlete within a year who finished in 8h45 or faster! A performance to remember, and to be very proud of!

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With his fantastic performance in Vichy, Bert already qualified for the 2018 World championships!

Only 1 week after the adrenalinerush in Vichy, our athletes registered for the World championships duathlon in Zofingen (Switzerland) were ready…to rumble!

Hans, Jan and Wim had their chances on the AG podium and were keen to get on it!

For all 3 of them the race turned into something fantastic, Hans (1st AG 35-39), Jan (2nd AG 35-39) and Wim (2nd AG 40-44) found themselves on the podium after the race!

With Hans who became first overall amateur and Jan who became 3rd overall amateur our athletes had their place between the Pro’s!

 

 

AG world champion Hans!
Jan getting ready for his ride!
Hans riding towards first overall AG position on the bike!
Podium with Hans (1st) and Jan (2nd)
Ultra trail du Mont Blanc leaves its traces for Ciprian!
Tony qualifying for Kona19 in Wales
Van qualifying for Kona 18 in Chattanooga!
Inge outstanding in Damme 70.3

Only 2weeks after his 2nd place in Ironman Vichy it was time for Bert to enter the 70.3 world championships! With our well known Dan Stubleski at place number 1, Bert his 5th place was well earned! What a season for him!

Later in September we had 2 athletes ready to qualify for Kona 18 with Tony, strong as always and approaching his first Ironman in Wales! In Wales he got the company of Stijn, also racing his first Ironman! Both athletes did great and on this tough and very cold racecourse, where pro-athletes like Romain Guillaume had to leave the race because of the cold, Tony was capable of qualifying himself for the Ironman World championships 2018 in Kona, Hawaii!

In Chattanooga (USA) it was Van, our Californian trailrunner/Ironman athlete…with a super fast run of the bike he won the AG (45-49) and got 15th (!!) overall in his Ironman! With his slot in the pocket he is flying into 2018!

With several races like Gerardmer XL, Knokke, Damme (with another OUTSTANDING win for Inge) , the national duathlon title (masters) for Wim and victory for Andreas in Canada (Fiddlers half marathon) road season was topped off!

At this point our cyclocrossriders already had don their first races again!
October approached and Kona 17 came closer!

But first there were the Ironman race in Barcelona(Spain), where Jens was on his way to go Sub9 and take a Kona-ticket also! Only in the last kilometers his race got really tough finishing 4th(AG) and just not enough for the AG podium! But a magnificent race for one of our younger athletes in the Ironman circuit! Jens did a super season with quite some races all the way in the front of the race and finally closing his season with a fast race in Barcelona!

Also in Barcelona was Sem, a big step forward for him….finishing the race just above 9h30!

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Jens in Ironman Barcelona on his way towards 4th AG place

In Ironman70.3 Turkey Adrian astonished once again by getting another Ironman top10! Another good season for him this year with some nice goals to look forward to!

But not only Ironman has races in October, Vincent and Arne went to Empuriabrava to race their half irondistance and finished 21st and 22nd in this beautifull race in the north of Spain!

Of course there’s only 1 ‘all-eyes-on’ race in October and that’s the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii! With Sam and Pierre racing this year we hoped for the very best! And all was going perfectly, with both athletes having a good swim and immediately heading forward on the bike…untill Sam got a penalty…5′ of STOP for him!
Despite this penalty he went as hard as before the penalty for the rest of the racecourse and managed to STILL have the fastest AG 40-44 bikesplit and the 4th overall time….how fast were his legs! On the runcourse Sam couldn’t make the difference anymore and after being in the battle for the podium untill almost the end he finally got 7th! Pierre finished a bit later and completed his 2nd Kona-race!

 

 

The week after Kona our athletes already came together to have our first groupsession, a relaxed fartlek run and groupride were on the menu :-). The begin of a good season is where the past season ends!

In November it was clear that our cyclocrossriders got stronger and stronger, with Klaas getting several podiumplaces and move up towards 3rd overall in the Cyclocrosscup!

Kevin from his side amazed by getting the 2nd place in the regional championships, a nice step up in his comeback year!

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December, the last month of the year and also a month in which many athletes enter their first prepraces towards ’18 with nice results in Run and Bikes, Offroadduathlons, trailruns and the continuation of our cyclocrossmen in a season full of suspense! Also a crucial month for training towards spring season!

But above all…there’s Kasterlee. A LD duathlon only known in Flanders, BUT with a great atmosphere and something special about it! A main goal for a couple of our athletes!
A main goal that was more exciting even than predicted, and finally one of our athletes won the race. Inge dreamt about winning it and she did! After mechanical problems she fought herself back into the race and won! That’s the mentality you need as an athlete, never give up!
In the masters race it was Wim who won, with his 11th overall place and super fast run off the bike! Marvellous season they both had!

 

 

 

In Thailand the riders of the WTT/W2W are also keen on starting their season and already in December the first races ar on there! With 4podiumplaces and 1 victory they immediately show what’s possible if you work smart!

 

Extra goalsets for the next  year are simple – evaluation within 12months:

  • getting our 10th world championships medal
  • win a continental championship
  • win a pro cycling race (UCI)
  • At least 5 selections for the Ironman World Championships 2018, Hawaii
  • win our 5th Irondistance race
  • selection for UCI Gran Fondo world championships Varese (Italy)
  • selection for the European championships cycling (UCI-PRO)
  • Selection for the 70.3 World champs in Nice 2019
  • Get a 100% ratio start/finish in all Ironmans
  • Race with a lot of determination and beat yourselves physically and/or mentally during each race.
  • Train smart, perform better (in real-life races, not on Strava, Zwift or on other Instagrams ;-))!

The page of the book of 2017 will be turned on December 31st, then we only look forward again! First date to meet…January 21st, group session ‘Jessevnsportscoaching-classic’. Be there, or be square!
Have a good party!

*The full list of podium places in ’17 , but with 3days to go and knowing our athletes this can still change!

Ciao,

Jesse

World Championships Duathlon ITU/Powerman: Silence is golden!

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Today the first of several world championships in multisportsracing was coming up!
With the ITU world championships duathlon in Zofingen (Switzerland) this day was marked in red already months ago! With Jan (defending and multiple) AG world champion, always keen on performing in Zofingen. But this year our newborn duathlete Wim and du/tri/cyclatlete Hans we also had some other wolves in the battle!

Goals were set, both Jan and Hans their focus was on trying to get on the AG podium and take a medal. Easy said, not easy done. Wim from his side was convinced by his coach with the words ‘You will be capable of getting close to the podium, don’t let your chances get wasted’ and he registered. No way back!

10K run – 150K bike and 30K run, that are the distances on the menu, hilly…. together these distances reached the running distance of what our Roumanian athlete Ciprian did in Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc :-), and he had no bike!

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Survival of the fittest in Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc for Ciprian, and he survived !

Confidence was there for our athletes, Hans had a super Challenge Roth (Germany-8h44), Jan got the win in LD duathlon Gravelines (France) and got 3rd last week while Wim won the SD in Gravelines (France) and got 3rd in La Gileppe duathlon (Belgium).

The first run was directly clear, our athletes ran for what they were worth and held some fuel in the tank. After the run all 3 were close to the podium in their AG and Jan was already among the Pro athletes mounting his bike 1st in his AG.

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Fastest running split in 1st and 2nd run in his AG for Jan!

On the 150K hilly bikecourse it was Hans ‘La Machine’ that immediately took the AG lead (35-39) before Jan. In AG 40-44 Wim kept contact with the podium and was spotted 4th for a long time. During this bikecourse it became more and more clear that Hans was taking the overall AG lead. Slowly but surely he moved up in the profield also and got close to the top10. Jan from his side kept the podium in his sight putting down the bike, as well as Wim did. In the final end of the cycling course Wim joined Jan and they could start running close to eachother.

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Hans rode 298NP during the world champs, with a very fast first lap to immediately get rid of possible wheelsuckers. The watts are the NP watts on Bodenberg

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Opening the day with a paced first 10k

And than that run…Zofingen is also about running fast of the bike. If you can’t run fast off the bike you can’t win…and so they ran fast! Hans did what some sideliners (and they are called ‘sideliners’ because they belong there of course) didn’t expect him to do and that’s surviving and winning the overall AG race in Zofingen on the running course!

 

Jan getting ready for his ride!
Hans riding towards first overall AG position on the bike!

The overall 2nd AG athlete after the cycling part took the lead on the run, but Hans…took him back in the end! With a 13th (pro included) place and 1st (AG 35-39) he can call himself the AG world champion. Tot spijt van wie het benijdt!

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Jan from his side is a fighter as we described him a few days ago and he fought himself from 4th to 3rd…and from 3rd to 2nd! With a 6th (!) overall running split he takes silver in his AG (35-39) and joins Hans on the podium! His words after the race ‘I get my results because I never give up, they can knock me down…but I will never give up, I wanted that 2nd place and that was the highest possible goal. Hans was outstanding.’ Great words of Jan!

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Jan 2nd – Hans 1st and company of another Belgian on 3

 

In the AG 40-44 Wim was on his way to 4th place for a very long time, but then again. Winning is something you always do on the run…Wim moved up to 3rd place and even to 2nd place!  Before the race I told him:’ focus on the podium, Laurent Martinou (France) is too strong, he is an overall top 15 athlete. Don’t focus on him!’ But then…Martinou collapses and Wim came close in the end finishes only 1′ behind Martinou…getting 2nd in his AG (40-44)! Or how things can evolve sometimes!
After losing his 3rd place in the European championships in the last kilometer, Wim learned a lot when it comes to racing strategy and nutrition 😉 Well earned silver for him!

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AG silver for Wim – only 1′ behind the AG world title (40-44)!

With 3 athletes in this World championship and taking 1*Gold and 2*Silver home, all athletes within the top 28 (Profield included) we can’t say anything else than we’re proud! Zofingen and our athletes have a commitment since years, with several top 15 and even top 8 places overall, 4*AG gold and 3*AG silver we are keen on performing in this ‘mother of all duathlons’ every year! CU next year ;-)!

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Wim made huge steps forward as a duathlete which brings him to silver in AG 40-44

Next few days these athletes can, may and must relax and have a bit of rest!

But this is not all what happened this weekend, our athletes inspire eachother. That’s clear!
After Bert’s 2nd place in Ironman Vichy last week I thought: ” well THIS was a great summer”… but the summer lasts untill September 21st it seems!

Today Wim and Bjorn raced Flanders Cup in Langdorp,

Wim, currently leading this classification got 3rd, only 5″ away from first place…and will need to finish at least top 3 in the next race to keep the lead in this GC! Winning this GC makes him Flemish champion XC 2017! Björn took 8th, and is ready for the World championships Firemen next week!

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Another podium for Wim in Flanders Cup Langdorp

Belman triathlon, probably the toughest racecourse in a triathlon in Belgium (1,9K swim – 90K Bike – 21K run) was Bart’s last goal of the season, after Ironman Nice he put all effort on this race and with success! An astonishing result even, finishing 9th overall !
A nice way to end your season and start looking forward!

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Bart finishing 9th in Half Belman!

 

In La Charly Gaulle (Luxemburg) Niels and Anthony were both in the race to perform at their very best. In preparation of the Rothaus Ridermann (Germany) for both.
Anthony, who got hit by a car yesterday, was a bit sore at the beginning but still managed to be in the right breakaway in Luxemburg. 4th place in the end in La Charly Gaulle, but still feeling super well and in shape. Anthony is on a very high level since March (winning already at the beginning of the season) and feels ready for the upcoming races!

Anthony

 

 

Ciao

Train smart, perform better!
Jesse

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

World Championships Duathlon and Swimrun – Roundup!

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Our athletes approach the World Championships, upcoming weekend the first of 4weekends of world championships is planned!

Here’s a roundup of our athletes having the honour to participate in Switzerland and Sweden!

World Championships ITU / Powerman Long Distance Duathlon Zofingen (Switzerland):

  • Jan Meysmans(AG 35-39):
    • Multiple AG world champion, current AG World champion and AG European champion
    • Strength: Fast run off the bike – determined racer who always goes full gazz – massive experience
    • Weakness: Had some sugarlevel problems in the past – can’t stand cold weather
    • Remarkable facts: In 2017 only 2Belgians won the overall classification of a LD Duathlon, Jan is one of them.

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  • Wim Decoene (AG 40-44):
    • First timer in Zofingen – First Powermanseason – 4th European championships  Long Distance Duathlon (AG)
    • Strength: Steady runner – Proved in his last races to have put a big step forward on the bike and closed the gap on ‘shorter’ distance with the Amateur topfield.
    • Strength: Strong runner – has a final in his legs – Aerobic talent
    • Weakness: First race with a +80K bikecourse – forgot to eat enough in past LD races.
    • Remarkable facts: Wim as a master won the overall classification in the sprint distance in Zofingen and shared the podium with current PRO world champion Odeyn in his last race leading up to Zofingen.Wimdc

 

  • Hans Vandenbuverie (AG 35-39):
    • 2015 AG European champion – Kona Qualifier – 8h44′ Irondistance PB – Irondistance winner
    • Strength: Cycling and paced run off the bike – experienced on long bikecourses –  can stand all weather conditions
    • Weakness: First timer in Zofingen – too much choice in wheelsets
    • Remarkable facts: In 2017 only 2Belgians won the overall classification of a LD Duathlon, Hans is one of them.

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World Championships Swimrun (Ötillö-Sweden)

  • Raphaël Amato (mixed teams):
    • Multiple World championships 70.3 qualifier – got 2nd place in his last triathlon – won his last Swimrun with Sophie
    • Strength: Will be the motor of the team on the run – prooved he can dig deep when it goes tough in a race during his last IM
    • Weakness: Cold water might affect his muscles
    • Remarkable facts: In 2017 he won Amphiman with Sophie in cold water which can give a mental advantage.
  • Sophie Drofiak (mixed teams):
    • IM70.3 2016 qualifier – won her last Swimrun with Raphaël
    • Strength: Topswimmer – got in La descente de la Lesse last weekend which may reassure her for the run
    • Weakness: First time racing such a long race
    • Remarkable facts: In 2017 she won Amphiman with Raph in cold water and with limited running kilometers in the legs. Last 8weeks put her 2 steps forward!
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La Machine controls the button…. during 8h44′!

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Today was a day marked in RED in our agenda ,

3Full Ironraces, 3 races that are totally sold out from the moment you can register! Next to these 3races we had David (Spain) and Corey (Canada) in Half Irondistances.
Our athletes went in this very motivated and ambitious!

Hans had a silent ambition to go sub9 in Challenge Roth (Germany), but kept silence till raceday. Doing a good race was the most important thing. When you are ready to race…stay cool, follow the raceplan and push the pedals when and where you have to! In Frankfurt next to Hans also Kurt started his first full distance of the season. After exactly 1h00′ Hans came to shore, a swim between 58-1h03 was what was in our thoughts. From there on, the real race starts.

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Last month it was clear the load was correct, and would be paying off!

On the bike Hans smashed the race, he moved up towards leading position with a marvellous 4h32′ bikesplit. To get there he needed to push 279NP, which is quite a lot during Ironmanraces. We can say this the level only the AG TOPcyclists can manage.

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Image of the weekend, saying it all!

After his victory past April in Douai (LD duathlon) the confidence for the run definitely could be present. Hans went out quite fast to finally run a 3h08′ marathon following on the fast bikesplit! But what a racetotal he managed, 8h44′!! A good question could be, is this still an AG result? I say yes! Why? Because of his 5.30am interval runs on cold winterdays, because of his afterwork cycling rides. This is hard,efficient and smart effort falling together during 8h44′.

These kind of results as a coach really can give goosebumps! For sure triathlon is NOT about times, so let’s come to the classification: Hans realised 20th overall (PRO included) and 1st AG! Winning the AG in one of the biggest triathlonclassics in Europe is a 2nd cherry on his big cake already this year! A bit later Kurt finished Challenge Roth to close the day overthere!

Hans flying towards the finishline in 8h42′ in Challenge Roth!

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In Frankfurt (Germany) Adrian, Raph and Pierre got out for their European Ironman Championships ! Good swims they had, Raph (57′), Ad (58′) and Pierre (1h05) swam for what they were worth. Raph and Adrian got on the bike together and would be riding in eachothers neighbourhood till just before T2! Pierre a bit further was pacing correctly from the beginning! Adrian and Raphael found themselves around athletes riding very fast and finishing sub9 later on in this race. It soon became clear that they would be entering T2 a lot faster than predicted…So 2possibilities were there: Perfect weatherconditions or overpowering a bit. Pierre from his side followed his powermeter and was riding to enter T2 after a 5h00 bikesplit. Untill he got sick quite early in the bikecourse, Pierre vomited several times on the bike. Every athlete knows that at such a moment your race is done…but Pierre wasn’t there to qualify, he already has his ticket! Pure luxury! Quitting was never an option, without eating he continued and put down his bike after 6h02′ of racing without food in the stomach.

Raph and Adrian raced hard more upfront in the race, after 5h48′ they could start running (already!) But soon came clear that the powerfull bikeride weighted on the body. Raph was slowing down after 10K and had to go on survivalmode to finish his first Ironman! Adrian could go fast longer on, but at the end he also felt the lost energy on the bike! Adrian could finish the race just above 10h in 10h02, while Raphael made it a case of honour to finish and did!

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120K at 3,7watts/kg blew up the legs of Raphael during the marathon, simply too fast and a lesson learned! Adrian even rode slightly faster but also payed his efforts.

Pierre from his side could keep moving up despite the hunger he felt. The lack of sugars became heavy at the end but he finished his race in 9h34′ after a still decent marathon.

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Pierre had a sick stomach on the bike and wasn’t capable of taking gels, he still tried to finish the race as good as possible and did well with a 3h29′ marathon.

 

In Vitoria-Gastéiz our athletes on the Full iron realised their goals to finish this beautifull Irondistance race! On the Half Iron, an elite level of athletes at the starting line. Next to the pro athletes the AG athletes tried to give their best! David was one of them!

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David pushing hard on his pedals to move up and finish 21st overall in Vitoria’s Half Iron!

After  a good swim he felt the power in his legs and rode himself to the front! Coming into T2 23rd overall he knew he could came close to the AG podium! With a good run in Basque country he even moved up a few spots and crossed the finishline 21st overall…and 4th AG! But what a bummer to miss the podium with only 8seconds behind nr.3!! Transitions? Socks? Details! But details sometimes result in that little extra!

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The 275NP bikesplit of David made him come in touch with the AG podium, a fast run got him to 8seconds of it!

 

1more race to go, the 70.3 Saint-Andrews in Canada! Thé A-race for Corey in the first half of his season. Corey prooved in Quassy  and Baddeck already he was in shape, question was if it would be enough to get on the podium today in Saint-Andrews!
With a good swim the gap with the leaders wasn’t too big to get in the battle for the podium! Corey is strong at the moment, with a magnificent 290NP during this Half Irondistance he gets himself totally in the race behind Cedric Boilly and Robert Hollinger. Boilly and Hollinger got a bit out of sight and would end up 1 and 2 in the end. For Corey it was important to run fast off the bike! He did, with a 1h22′ half marathon following after his cyclingpart and ends up overall 3rd!

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A 3’50/km run for Corey on a racecourse that’s not flat at all…coming off of the bike strong is important to be in the game for the medals!

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Corey 3rd in 70.3 Saint Andrews!

 

Quite a busy weekend past weekend with also very good results of our cyclists on our FBpage!

This weekend was on it, our athletes raced hard and learned a lot. Recovery now for the athletes performing this weekend…but not for the others, because many big races are coming next weeks!!

Ciao

Jesse

 

 

Magic May was a good appetizer…half Iron fest in Canada and France!

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Excited! That was how our athletes went into the Half Iron races Ventouxman (France), Troyes (France) and Quassy (USA)!

Ambitions for these races were high, but realistic. They were ready to race hard!

In Ventouxman, Alex got the heaviest race course he ever did in front of him, he managed well and can consider this as a perfect lead-up towards Ironman Klagenfurt (Austria)!

In Troyes, a bit closer to Belgium Cai and Inge were the female athletes. Johan, Steven, Hans and Sam the male competitors. With Cyril Viennot (France – 2015 ITU world champion ELITE) and Antoine Perche (France) the level would be high, and getting into the front of the race difficult! In the female race Julie Le Colleter (France – Multiple medal winner on French national championships and GP duathlon winner) would be the top of the race.

Hans and Sam sure are well known in France so not capable of racing in the shadow. This 2700-80-20 Half triathlon for Sam is a race between his 2 Ironmans ( South Africa and Lake Placid), For Hans the final lead-up towards his 3rd A-race of the season…challenge Roth (Germany).

Our athletes went out for the swim well and got out of the water ready to race the bike! It were Steven and Johan who came out first, before Hans and Sam…followed a bit later by our female athletes.

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Steven first out of the water and ready for a very good race!

Once on the bike it was clear the power was in the legs and our athletes rode theirselves to the front. It was Hans who passed Johan/Steven first, followed by Sam riding a 300watt paced race and have a steady but fast race!

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Johan and Steven on the  roads around Troyes, both chasing a good result.

Very soon it became clear that Hans was keen on another topperformance, trusting on his powerfull bike and fast run off the bike he was ready to…put down his bike 12th.
Sam followed a bit later.

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Hans pushing his own limits and picking up group by group in Troyes

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Sam shortly behind Hans going faster every lap and getting ready to run steady!

 

Meanwhile Inge was capable of getting into 2nd place in the female race behind Le Colleter and  it would be a hard mission to keep that spot in this field. Cai from her side moved up on the bike and as there was no +50 category she would race in the +40 cetegory. At the end of the bike she came close to the podium in that younger category.

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Another massive performance of Inge in Troyes, who rides towards the podium!

 

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Hans puts a regular 313watts on the pedals and it made him move forward…fast!

Mostly it’s the run where all the fun becomes PAIN, but as we were in France…PAIN was only French bread. So feeling no pain…just dreaming of a big bread after the race…makes it work!

Hans and Sam both in pole-position for a top20 in T2 started running on a fast pace and they managed till the end. Hans with, once again, superlegs ran the 4th running split (!) and was capable of running himself towards 5th place! A place never expected before the race…in this field!

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Hans is getting on the podium a lot lately and in Troyes it’s no different and well earned after a perfect race!

Sam kept his pace and ran a steady 3’55/km to end up 18th today and looks back confident towards his next Ironman after todays race!

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Not so much later Steven finishes before Johan! The female race was still on at that moment and Inge, who feels very fine on training lately, was going for a very strong race and didn’t only win in the masters category, but also got 2nd overall!

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2nd place for Inge in Troyes, and she can look back happy to that!!

Not too far behind some other female power was on her way to the finish, Cai who got 7th (masters) did a +/-20′ faster race than her last participation in Troyes!

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Cai running off the bike with her faster pair of legs!

In Quassy (USA) our Canadian (and Swiss) athletes went out for a first A-race of the season. For these athletes it would directly be their first tri of the season…not an easy one to begin with!

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Andreas – Allan – Corey pretty relaxed before the race!

During winter they worked a lot on their swim effort and it payed off. Corey and Allan came out of the water quite close to each other…but Andreas kept contact also! And that’s a good sign towards the Ironman coming!! Happy about this!

Once on the bike the mission is to move up, to be capable to start running in the front of the field! Corey really unleashed his legs on this heavy race course…the bikecourse had +/-1300 D+ for 90K and it made him move up towards pole position for the medals after he bike!

A bit further both Allan and Andreas made their way towards the front a bit less aggressive but ready to start running well! Allan had a bikecrash only 3km before T2…which fortunately didn’t stop him from moving on!

I knew these athletes were running well, but how would they run after the bike. I consider this after bike run as a specialty and knew they trained at the right intensities and  right volume to get this in balance. And they did. All 3 of our athletes put down a top 10 running time in the end…and Corey he smashed it! With 1h21 on 300D+ (!!!) running course he could get himself on the podium of this Rev3 in Quassy!

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Corey with the fastest running split towards 2nd place behind David Morris (5th IM Lake Placid – 9th IM 70.3 Atlantic City)

Allan and Andreas came close to top10 but just stayed out of it on 11th and 12th place with a fast run off the bike! They didn’t miss their start of the season and with another race in a few weeks this is good for the confidence!

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Corey ‘smooth’ on the runcourse, heading towards the fastest run!

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Not only raceday in France and Canada, but in Belgium our athletes raced fast in Meer, L’eau d’Heure ,… and a special format: “Swike”. This is a ‘Swim-Bike’ event. A bit like a triathlon without an ending…but ok! Anyway for this edition it was one of our younger triathletes Pascal who managed his first podium of his career finishing 3rd!

Fast swim of Pascal, and bringing some salad home!
The first podium for Pascal in his young tri-career!

 

For Anthony it was retake of races after a week out of competition to rest a bit in an already nice season!  Svenne is recovering from his crash and at the moment we only do electrostimulation on the muscles.
Guillaume from his side took 9th on saturday and today in Grace-Hollogne, on a tough bike course, he chose to attack. At the end of the race he found himself in the lead group but a tactical choice broke this group in 2 and Guillaume had to be satisfied with 4th place! Not easy for a hungry athlete! Week by week this rider is in the front…there will be other opportunities.

Our athletes racing around Belgium
Guillaume, very offensive way of racing!

As we coach (a strictly limited/exclusive) small group of youth cyclists, we don’t often put info about these young riders online, simply because I don’t want young athletes put under pressure. But we are glad to announce that one of our young riders could take the regional championshipsjersey (road cycling) this weekend after already having the regional championshipsjersey in the cyclocross competition.

We have a past, the present and definitely the future. A future with well motivated people structuring their sport into their life!

 

Train smart, Perform better!
Jesse

Magic May episode 3

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May is hot, our athletes strong…and only getting stronger!

Today the European Championships were held in Sankt-Wendel (Germany), if you are a duathlete…you were there today? If not…be there next year!

The classic distance was chosen for these championships (10-60-10). And for Jan, Wim and Steve their first A-race of the season! Ambitions were simple for Jan and Wim, trying to aim for the AG podium. Steve was starting in the Open category and was curious to what’s possible….
Being a championship, the only importance to this race is where you end up in your category and try to aim for the best that’s possible…

Jan was hungry, he’s a young guy (AG35-39) and directly took the lead in his AG, Wim wasn’t so far behind and ran on 4th place in his AG. So both could get on the bike in the battle of the medals. On the bike they both could hold their pace and after first being passed and on 2nd position it was halfway the bikecours that Jan attacked and took the lead…to never give it back again! Wim first fell back to 6th, but than step by step moved up to 4th and both could put down their bike…for an exciting and tough run course.
Jan kept his first place and for the first time (after 4x AG world champion) he got himself that European Gold medal (better than that lousy silver we have here in the closet ;-))!

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Jan ‘Gianni’ Meysmans after the 2016 AG world title, today he takes the 2017 AG European title! 

For Wim it became battletime, not the luxury of Jan with a 2′ advantage. But running down on number 3…taking 3rd place and in the end on a steep climb…’parcheggio’ and having to let go number 3. Wim was their for his first European Champs, his first full duathlon season (has been a runner) and we can say he won 4th and didn’t lose 3rd! Congratulations!

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Wim came close to Jan at the beginning of Run2, but Wim had to let go the younger Belgian in search of his 1st place. Wim finally takes 4th.

In the open race Steve suffered, an underestimated run course but full of experience in trailrunning. And once he put down his bike he was able to get 3rd in the Open category!

3Participants on the Europeans duathlon…almost 3 medals…I can not say I’m not happy 😉 Great job to our duathletes. Duathlon is NOT dead, it’s alive…only NOT in Belgium 🙂
Next week National championships are held in The Netherlands…that’s like…weird?!?!

In Leuven then again the first Half Irondistance of the season in Belgium was planned,

for a couple of our athletes this race is the most important race of the season. As Leuven is their hometown. For our other athletes a first big test…leading up to more!

First real warm weather and a citycenter…not an easy combination for most athletes. But hey: IF u want to qualify for Kona, you must be capable to deal with the heat!
Our athletes all had a good swim, better than they had last year…the watertemperature might be the cause for that. And of course the fact that they were ready for it!

We had Bert coming into T1 first, followed by Tony and a bit later Sem, Peter and Wim!

Bert, alone in the chase of the leading pack…difficult to pace and nothing to aim for of course. But he managed a good cyclingpart and could start running 5th. Tony a bit later, ready to show the flexibility in his legs. Those 2 athletes were on for the top 10!

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Tony pacing his race by HR and poweroutput, a steady bike-ride and coming off the bike with a fast run! 290NP is classy for a +-72kg athlete!

Bert alone in chase of the leaders in Leuven
Bert had to pace his race alone, no competitors in his sight and no powermeter. On a hilly bikecourse not easy to pace right. And despite a very strong bikesplit you notice the decrease in HR during his ride. Mostly a sign of slightly overpowering in the beginning of the bikecourse.

Triathlon is a mechanical sport, the gear has to be fitted all just right. For Wim in his ‘homerace’ this wasn’t the case…his frontderailleur fell down and he could spin himself to T2…bad luck. But nice not to give up and continue the race!

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Wim had bad luck having some mechanical issues, but still managed his fastest racetime…

During the run Bert could hold his top10 spot despite stomach problems and had to fight it against some rockets with runningshoes on…Tony was one of them and just passed Bert in the last meters.
8th and 9th in the end which is great in this race! Our other athletes all finished a bit later and felt strong towards their full distance races coming up!

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Tony with another fast run in Leuven and managing his first top 10 in this Half triathlon

These were not the only races our athletes got into the top10, Hans managed 8th in the 1/4 triathlon Seneffe and in Ghlin one of our comeback cyclists managed his 2nd top10 in a row…keen on more!

Magic May…isn’t over yet ;-)!

Ciao

Jesse
jesse

 

The heat is on…astonishing around Europe!

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Our athletes are known for not working hard, but working smart and correct…we race hard, we party hard (and correct ;-))! It’s all about fun, no?

Today was marked in my agenda since October 1st, because of some fine races this weekend. Not necessarily for winning them…but for putting a good result, the rest follows from that point.
Not so long ago someone asked me why are athletes are capable of being good around the year, the answer I didn’t give and I won’t give. But I might say this about this: ‘Never train in panic, never train as being someone frustrated to perform…and always keep your cool’.

Jens, an athlete (as so many others…) which I started working with in May ’16 after having severe injuries and underperforming  the level he has in his body had his first Multi-event coming up…the Eschweiler duathlon, a sprintduathlon in Germany with  over 200participants. Duathlon, a great sport, is alive…only not in Belgium. In Belgium it’s dead. Dead as never before. A good proof are the ETU Short distance championships of past saturday. Ridiculous Belgian results for a country with a great past in this sport. (OK, critics I can handle…no worries, my back has become strong past years…let it come to me). Whatever, in some countries this sport is alive…at least in Eschweiler it is! 201finishers for sprintduathlon…and in the end one of our athletes winning the race!

Jens wins this race after running personal records, but also cycling personal records!

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Jens running to victory in Germany!

Still I would like to give a small point to work on, 2nd transition was slightly off 😉

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And that duathlon is alive abroad also shows the 200registrations for the famous Duath’long and  100 for the Sprint duathlon in Douai (France).
In the sprint duathlon our master Wim, working towards the national and ETU (European) championships long distance takes the win in the masters race by becoming 5th (!) overall among some explosive youngsters!

The Long Distance duathlon…promissed fireworks. Maris (Pro World champion 2007) and Neyrinck (8th World championships Duathlon 2012 – Pro’s) definitely were the 2 athletes who were to beat today. Behind them, outsiders such as De Paula (Fr), Thesse (Fr), Billemons (Bel) and our Jan and Hans. Jan, last week winner in the Netherlands and Hans both are in shape. Ready to deal with the Douai-winds and putting down a good performance. For Jan this races leads towards the National and European Long distance championships. For Hans this race was an A-race, topping off his spring.

Further in the peloton a few of our other athletes had gotten the mission to race this tough duathlon in preparation towards their Irondistance coming up!

The first 12K went super well for our athletes, Jan and Hans and got into T1 almost together within 1’30 of the leaders, not losing too much energy and ready for a steady bikeride.

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Jan in his first 12K, running 3’30/km pace, Hans following shortly behind and both already in the game for a nice result!

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The racecourse in Douai (Fr) is full of variation: Road, gravel, grass…all in it!

On the bike Hans immediately layed his card on the table, ‘La Machine’ (his nickname in the North of France) went hard immediately and was capable of taking the lead already after 25km! It wasn’t a possibility to wait and see. Every mile had to be focussed and hard to upgrade the advantage. It went so hard that other athletes had to take risks…going in overdrive, or losing terrain.
Unfortunately Neyrinck (Bel), already on 2’30 after lap1 crashed later in the race and broke his collarbone. The wind, roads and turnings make Douai a very demanding racecourse. We wish our friend a good recovery, and he’ll be back in shape for the World Champs later this year. Jan really feared this bikecourse, not his cup of tea…but he knows he needs to work on these kind of races to take advantage in his A-races. And it’s obvious his Italian training camp and the race in the Netherlands last week did well for him. Jan could manage to keep up with the top 10 and putting down the bike ‘relatively’ fresh!

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Hans only focused on his strengths during this race and builded up his race, he normalized a +300watt powerfile and it was enough to make a gap with former world champion Maris (Bel)…but was this gap big enough. Or does Hans can run?

The focus we give our athletes to kill it on the off-bike run, because yes…once again I will say ‘you don’t win a race on the bike, you always win it on the run…always’, seemed to pay off again! Hans was capable of keeping an advantage of Maris, definitely the better runner, who suffered a bit from the hip at the end of the race. Jan was closing down mile by mile on other athletes and was fighting himself towards 6th position!

Hans practicing his French again, La Machine takes it all!
Jan cycling towards 6th in France!

In the end both Jan and Hans told me they suffered on the 2nd run, at that moment just after the race they didn’t know the runsplits yet. And if we look below, it’s clear why they suffered. The plans worked, races were build up well and they took 1st and 2nd runsplit overall ;-)!

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Hans winning the race, after winning Belman, Chtriman, Half Iron Roeux, EC AG Duathlon he wins the biggest long distance duathlon in the north of France and Belgium.

Hans wins this beautifull race and puts another big race everyone would like to win on his resume!

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Maris and Hans, 1st and 2nd in France! Maris being 2nd makes this win even better, our deepest respect for this champion.

People know I’m quite a maniac when it comes down to analyzing races, and knowing full results of races out of the head…(and maybe thinking the opposite of the common sense sometimes…but this might be making our >150wins/year)  well I want to share this thought: ” Hans  always, over and over again…is looked at as being an athlete winning or making his races on the bike” I TOTALLY disagree with this. I will not write too much about this, but everybody can count 1+1…so make the count of the top 10’s RUN1 + RUN2. Tell me…who are the 3 fastest runners of the race? T1 is part of the race, but there NEVER is a finishline at T1…Also tell me whose bikecourse affects it’s 2nd run the less in % to run 1 (min/km)? I know the results, it are FACTS.

 

Hans en Jan 2e run

That being said, duathlon is alive among Belgians…only not in Belgium 😉

Our cyclists today were racing a bit across the country and it’s Svenne again who takes his 5th podium of the season by getting 3rd at Les Bulles (Belgium).  Arne, on trainingcamp in ‘Les Vosges’ could top off his trainingcamp (5H bikeride yesterday) with a 23K Trailrun on Grand Ballon, and despite a full box of chocolates yesterday, he managed to get 3rd in the mountains! Future is assured, our athletes are alive.

In Germany Anthony raced in Frankfurt and could win the race around the Feldberg (11K climb), with a breakaway started on the Feldberg and a final attack in the downhill…Anthony could ride towards his 2nd victory of the season!! A great victory!

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Anthony wins the race by hitting the pedals on the Feldberg and its downhill, giving it all lead to victory in Germany!!

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I would like to close with a proof of A. Einstein that one of my athletes posted on the internet last night: “All is relative to your own point of view, changing that point of view brings a big insight with it”.

A message maybe to not loose feet from the ground the moment you win or succeed towards your point of view, but keep the passion and spirit to train smart, and if possible to even perform better ;-)!

Ciao,  and be aware…tomorrow once again RACEDAY, and I feel it in my fingers some are keen on…!

Oh, and Jan and Hans…what are they training? Well, tomorrow they have a 200K bikeride planned…nothing comes easy 😉

Jesse

 

Guillaume grabs the win in Couvin – GP du Fond de l’eau, the resurrection of a cyclist on easter!

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How can you celebrate easter by not eating too much chocolate?
Well, by winning a race…in Couvin (Belgium) GP du fond de l’eau UCI 1.18 was held today. A cyclingrace for climbers with a +10% climb each lap. Food for Svenne, food for Guillaume!
These types of races are difficult to approach, being in the front all the time and not letting get away strong riders…every breakaway can be the right one. So what was said to both riders was easy “Ride with an offensive mind and try to have a tiny bit left for the last 15K to give it your all”. Those words came out easy, but our cyclists played the game perfectly!

Guillaume towards his solo-win in Couvin!
Svenne giving it all and finishing 5th today!

Guillaume takes his first win in years after avery offensive race in which he made the right breakaway and could manage to finish…solo!! Great victory of one of our young riders!
Svenne found himself in a difficult situation and tried to pull his cards out. After a good race he finishes 5th on a race course which pleased him a lot! Svenne is having a good leg – period and that’s seen by his colleagues of course.

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Guillaume with a 20″ gap on the chasing group behind him!

In Arden Challenge stage 4 Anthony still is among the better riders in the peloton. Tomorrow the last and maybe toughest stage is planned, let’s see if Anthony still has some fire left in his legs!
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Mouscron is the yearly season opener of the French speaking Belgian triathlon league, Mouscron had some of our athletes at the starting line and they did well! Everybody could look back happy to this warming-up race!

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Raphael opens 2017 with a 4th spot in Mouscron behind Baelde – Béthencourt and Dillies

In the front of the field it were Raphael and… Alex,who picked up a serious boost in his performance level past year and closed the gap with to best athletes.
Raphael had a difficult period in January, but despite that period, he could pick up a good level from then till today and finish 4th, Alex was the 2nd best swimmer in the pack and finished 8th! Our other athletes finished just a little further in this sprint triathlon with 260 participants.

Raph watts

In Mouscron our athletes got a nice bikecourse from the easterbunny, Raph pushed out a very consistent bike to finish off with a fast run!

Not only Mouscron was racelocation, Nico had the opportunity to challenge some world class athletes as Kienle, Raelert, Diemunsch,…in the Cannes triathlon (France). Nico had a 6′ faster swim than last year and moved up 130spots on the bike and run course which made him finish satisfied in his season-opener!

Uitslag Cannes

Maybe the best densified half triathlon in Europe during spring….triathlon Cannes (Fr) with a very high level of athletes racing it! Nico was part of it!

Yesterday it was in Holland the easter bunny came too early!

Hans rode a very good first Individual Time Trial of the season, finishing 3rd (same time as 2nd place) behind Dutch Grasman and German

3rd overall spot, but the win in his AG for Hans on Silent Saturday
Hans needed a 361NP to mount the podium

Ciao

Jesse

Belgian Tri-season kicks off!

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Triathlon De Haan, the first Belgian triathlon of the season in 2017 was spot on it for our athletes!
All our athletes had a sub 8′ swim, ready to go out on the bike and be in the front of the race!
That meant that everbody was in for a good race, on the bike our athletes kept moving up, with the fastest bikesplit of Hans…and a progressive run off the bike he finished 7th overall!
Steven, Johan and Pascal came off the bike almost together and ran for what they were worth. It ended up in a battle for the master (+40) podium for Johan and Steven, Steven takes the win and Johan misses the 3rd spot with…7seconds. But prooves to be ready to make that small ‘jump’ in one of the following races. A bit further Pascal (Rookie) and Alex (In prep for the IM70.3season) closed our male field in style!

In the female race it was Inge who challenged the younger girls on the bike, but couldn’t get rid of them. In the end Inge gets 2nd overall!

Train Smart, perform better…and enjoy it!

Jesse

Steven – 1st masters
Hans with a 380NP ride till the last 5K where he gives some breath to the legs before going out for a fast run!

Snow, Sand, Mud, road…eat it!

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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.

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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!

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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!

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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…

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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!

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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!

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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

A weekend with ups and downs!

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Past weekend began great, but it had a big down also….

but first the positive news!

On friday our athletes had the right feeling and were  capable of racing for the medals!

In Lommel (UCI1.18) Jef was the first to go into a breakaway, the peloton didn’t let them go and so it was Svenne who once again went in the breakaway! They were off and averaged almost 44km/h on  this 85K criterium. In the last loop it was Svenne who went for the win, but some of his concurrents came back and so he was outsprinted and got 4th in this fast race! Hans and Tony, both in full preparation for  the national triathlon championships did a short preprace. Hans got 2nd in the Lakeparadise triathlon with his team and Tony raced for the win in duathlon Herentals and finally got 4th.  Meanwhile Gwendolyn became 2nd in Wenduine 10miles!

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Hans vdb

On Saturday Germany was the place to be,
Joeri did a very good race in the XTERRA German tour, Schalkenmehren by getting 11th overall!

Anthony was riding on the Nurnburgring (Rad am Ring) and was out for a topperformance…till he flatted and had to chase the main groupe. After a soloride of 100K he managed a 26th place! Now getting ready for the Tour de Namur (UCI 2.12 – stagerace)!

GuydbOur young cyclists also had fire in the legs today!
Dries (U23) could ride the post-Tour criterium and was outsprinted by John Degenkolb (Ger) and Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita)http://uitslagen.dewielerbond.be/Kalender_Uit…/Uitslag.aspx…

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Robbe and Quinten (Juniors) have both made a long way already to where they find themselves right now. Both were in the breakaways and dared to‪#‎attack‬. Robbe was in the right breakaway and finished 7th in Tourinnes, Quinten was in a little group behind the leaders and took 16th! Both are first year juniors! Already looking forward to next season!

Junior Robbe is putting a step forward, making the race and finishing in the front (7th)
Joeri did a magnificent race finishing 11th in German XTerra Tour

Meanwhile our oldest male athlete Guy realised again another Ironman70.3 finish! In Hungary he was capable to get his revenge for the flat tyres in Ironman Luxembourg! Now looking forward to Ironman Vichy and Turkey!

Sunday had to become another beautifull day, and it was…only it ended with an accident…

Our athletes are hammering hard, we  get used to it…despite that, we don’t forget it’s no evidence! Dedicated and hard work comes before the output and visibility!
In Ironman Maastricht (Holland) Patrick (25 AG – 10h02), Pieter (18AG – 10h14) and Toon (12h05) realised each for themselves their best IM result ever! The road towards a long race is also something to remember and be proud of!

A strong offbike run for Patrick, running towards his 10h02 in Ironman Maastricht!
Toon is an Ironman and after Ironman Vichy now it was Ironman Maastricht!

In Bridgetown (Canada) it was Heather who astonished on the olympic distance by coming into T1 as first overall athlete, she left all male athletes behind her! Heather could hold her spot on the bike and during the run and took the win back home!

On the long course (Half Iron) Corey advanced Allan during the swim and they both came out of the water in the front. The swimcourse was in a river into the current!

COrey NP

Corey and Allan both did what they had to do today and paced the race well. The weather was not easy as it was a warm day and drinks were not always easy to grab 😉!
On the run course our athletes are fast enough to fight till the end!
Corey won the party, and it was Allan making the day complete by finishing 2nd and once again confirms his high level he’s on for the moment!

Corey is doing a massive season ! Thumbs up is the least we can say!
Corey, Heather and Allan in Bridgetown! A clean sweep once again in hot temperatures!

 

In Oostende (Time Trial) Jan did 2 races, first he did the 13K ITT with racebike and later that day he rode the 26K ITT with Time Trial Bike! It resulted in a 3rd and 8th spot in the Masters race!

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After all these great results we checked our phone and saw less prettier news…Hans was involved in a frontal accident during a Timetrial…a broken shoulder has ended his 2016 season. Once again it makes us realise we must enjoy every moment of training and racing. Also the tough ones, also the flat tyres,….always look forward and fast forward!

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www.trainsmartperformbetter.com

Jesse