Tag: Inge Roelandt

National duathlon title for Inge and regional Elite championships cycling!

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First weekend of May, the ‘hot’ days are coming!
Unfortunately Belgium is in a big cold these days, very cold temperatures, hail and snow in some regions!

This weekend our Elite riders raced in the regional championships,
Anthony (West- Vlaanderen) had another strong race. With multiple top 10 results and podium spots this season already he was ready for a strong race this weekend. Finding himself in the lead group that went all the way to the finishline he was capable of sprinting for victory in this 21man group.
Anthony takes 13th!

Anthony made huge steps last years and is now harvesting his input into his sport, riding passionate and smart!



Dries (Vlaams-Brabant) didn’t find himself in the lead group. But having missed this group with legs on fire he decided to give it a go and in the very final he makes the jump to this group before the ‘Bosberg – former deciding climb in legendary editions of Tour of Flanders’. Finishing 8th U23 (21st in general) he can look back to a good race. But also knowing the fact he had to be in the group earlier in the race!



Onwards to next races for these 2 riders, they have nice results coming for sure!!

Dries is one of our young potentials, still much progression to make and amazing with some stunning results. Looking forward to a hot summer!

Regional title for Kristof in OVWF today!

Our mountainbike riders were looking forward to Roc d’Ardenne for a long time! Bram is in chase of world championships qualification (Elite) in the marathon discipline. To get immediate qualification today he needed to finish 20th! 100K ~ 3000D+(!) and a lot of participants (volume), but also a lot of the best riders in this race. For 90K Bram was convinced to become 20th! But only in the last kilometers his place was attacked and he had to be satisfied with 21st! A pity, but after a good race the positive points may also weigh towards the future! 21st and having to get the ticket on another day!



21st in Roc d’Ardenne for Bram today!

In the shorter distance marathon (45K) Junior Andres felt good, rode strong and finishes 30th/500!

In Belgium the national championships duathlon long distace were held today and with ambition for the podium in the women’s race!
In the male race we had in particular our LD triathletes coming to race, and because of the good date of the race this season the perfect diving board towars the 70.3 and full distance races!

In the female race both Inge (master) and Isabelle master) at the starting line!
A fast opening in the first kilometer at 3’45/km for this 10-60-10 duathlon made Inge chose to not explode and wisely gets in her pace towards T2! Very quickly she moved up towards a position with here eyes on the podium at the end of the race! Both Inge and Isabelle moved up strongly, being in the master category they put down 2nd and 5th biketime overall!

203NP ~ 56kg for Inge in the national championships being the base for her AG title and 3rd place overall!


In the 2nd run Inge could keep her place and the logical women in front of her were followed quickly by herself! 3rd overall and good for her first AG title on the long distance! For Isabelle the 2nd run would be a real test, and she did well putting down a 2nd run with not much of decay compared with run 1!


Inge chasing her first AG title on the long distance!

Our male duathletes/triathletes made a huge effort in Geluwe today and succeeded well in this race. With very good offbike runs they may look very confident towards their first triathlons!

And then…horror…triathlon veurne, water 13.8°C ‘they say’…but our athletes didn’t hold back and even looked forward to challenge these conditions!
And how…Bert was our man in the front today getting out of the water 10th and moving up strongly on the bike towards the first positions…unfortunately PSSSSST…flat tyre and game over for him! Veurne was his last test before Ironman Lanzarote, where he will be racing in PRO category for the very first time!

Fast racing of Bert untill the tyre said stop! Onwards to Ironman Lanzarote now!


Bert was in racemode and untill the flat cost him his race he was riding 338NP in this 1/4distance!


Our othere athletes were killing it from the start and focussed on the AGcategories!
Dimi, going very well in his recent tests and races was in a battle for the podium in AG35. 3 athletes within 30seconds, in the final of the race he moved up from 2nd to first and takes the win by only2seconds!

Dimi, winner of the day in his AG by 2″!


Hannah from her side, going very hard in her last cyclingraces, didn’t like the cold at all so she tried to race fast and takes 3rd! With other athletes very close to their AG podium the cold weather became a sidestory, the results…were the proof in the hot pudding!

Hannah taking AG 3rd today!



Ciao and looking forward to next week already!

Jesse

Ironman Switzerland and Germany: spot on for Inge! – 7th Kona 18 qualifier!

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Fantastic day for our Ironman athletes today!

Ironman Switzerland, Ironman Germany and Ironman Canada, 3 races on the same day!
In Hamburg the swim was cancelled and replaced by a 6K run!
In Switzerland the water was too hot and there was no wetsuit allowed.

In Switzerland it was Inge who turned her focus on the race into positive energy and came out of the water placed better than expected. 1st…and in pole position! Knowing the bike and run are her strongest points this was a good starting point!

Pushing hard on the bike and making the gap bigger towards T2 made a podium more than possible!
On the runcourse the nearest opponents tried to come back, but never came closer than 4’30. After halfway chances turned and it was Inge making the gap bigger mile by mile and take the AG win in her very first Ironman today!
A dream coming true for most athletes by qualifying for Hawaii, but before the race she already decided not to go. The last thing I heard now was she was reconsidering maybe…

*Inge also broke an exceptionnal record among our athletes, she was the first female athlete ‘chicking’ her husband this season 😜

In Ironman Germany, the no-swim made both Eline and Matthieu slightly nervous. Especially knowing a run before T1 always feels heavier than a smooth swim.
Both athletes got their mission and mounted the bike well, a good and steady pacing during the bike made both foto van Jessevnsportscoaching.athletes put their bike in T2 relatively fresh before running of another 42K towards the finishline!

And how! Steady running and finishing in Hamburg well paced, a good feeling and very nice performance in the end!

Meanwhile our cyclists are working hard towards their next goals, a lot of top10 results this week, but also athletes on trainingcamp or working towards the championships in September/October!

foto van Jessevnsportscoaching.

www.jessesportscoaching.com

#Jessevnsportscoaching #TSPB

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.

Sam NP

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!

Sam Run

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!

Sam G finish

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.

Hans VDB

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.

HansJesse

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!

Hans run 2 geen greintje verval

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!

Wim DC

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

Stage and GC win for Daniel in Greece – 2 Silver medals on Belgian champs Xduathlon!

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Great weekend for our athletes this weekend, several top10 performances in multiple cycling races this weekend. Not 1 of our riders didn’t play a role in front of the races! Coming out of the winter in shape and week by week they are racing with a very offensive style!

Yesterday it was Daniel (One of Roumania’s promissing cyclists) who, after a winter of hard working in difficult weather conditions from time to time and a hard training camp a few weeks ago, who won the race in Kilkis (Greece) after a breakaway which he set up in the last climb to finish solo….and take win + GC lead.

Daniel Crista

Daniel on his way to victory in stage 1

Today was very important for him, because he could win his first ever stage race, and begin his season with a super feeling!
He found himself in the lead pack and was even capable of sprinting for victory again! 2nd…and of course the most important of all is the win in this stage race!
Also important is that it’s obvious this win is already opening new doors for this young rider and we are glad to soon see him at the starting line at some interesting races!

 

Daniel Crista

Winning this stage race was opening the season with a deam, well done!

In Belgium the national championships offroadduathlon were held in Retie.
Inge (women), Tony and Wim DC (men) were ready to rumble…despite the migraine attack in the 2nd half of this week and Wim twisting his ankle past sunday. Little annoying things an athlete can miss…but there’s always a way to overcome these small issues, and that’s by being strong between your ears!
Both proove they were/are!

In the female race Inge slightly missed her running start and was set on chasing the other female athletes! Aged 42 she was today in full battle with the younger girls and (former) PRO triathlete Adam. But a fighter as she is she was capable of putting a big step forward on the bike during this race and come off the bike in battle for the medals.
With a good off bike run Inge takes silver overall and silver (AG) behind Adam today!

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Inge 2nd on the nationals Xduathlon

The male race was full of specialists in this specific part of triathlon/duathlon, but with the defending national champion on the road in masters category (Wim) and Tony (multi talented athlete in all sports and heading to Chtriman 2018 and the Ironman World champs in Hawaii in October) our athletes are not to underestimate!
Tony had a fantastic start, but had to admit after the race he blew up his legs a bit there by passing the 1K mark at 3’04/km.

Tony

Tony in full attempt to move up on the bike!

This made him drop a few places during the first run, but with some good breathing on the bike his body got full of energy for the last part of the race and on the bike he moved up before putting his bike down in T2 and have a good off bike run towards 14th place today!

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Heading towards 14th place in the championships

Wim, who had his eyes focussed on the masters race, came into T1 just shortly behind Tony. With a consistend bikesplit in which he didn’t lose any spots and could maintain his 2nd place in the race he was ready to take this silver medal in a racing format in which he had to dare his black beast. That black beast is called: technical MTB-skills, he dared himself with success!

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1year ago Wim had 0 championships medals, now he won Gold, silver and bronze in all duathlon disciplines and became vice world champion on the long distance…top athlete!

Next weeks our cyclists will be racing races around Europe and Asia, our triathletes will put away the MTB and get out there TT-bikes! With in particular the African continental champs, the North American championships and Ironman Lanzarote as first big international races!

Train smart, Perform better!
Jesse

Cold weather, hot results!

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Splendid weekend for our athletes this weekend with several top 10 results in cycling, duathlon and road running races!

This morning, early race for Jan, Wim, Jeroen and Arne!
Jan raced 10K in Lembeke after a loaded trainingweek and went home with the win and a lot of fruit 😉
Our other athletes had to race the 26K and this went totally according to plans, Arne takes the win in this long race while Jeroen was in for the podium all race long. In the he finishes 5th! A few minutes later it was Wim who finished in his PR on similar distances!

LEmbeke.jpg

Later that day our tri/duathletes were ready to race in Nossegem, near the Brussels airport. A tough and muddy racecourse, a perfect test towards the first roadtriathlons within a few weeks.
For Inge this was a final test before the Belgian championships next week! A test in which she succeeded in style taking the win with over 4′ of advantage. But feet on the ground, this was a smaller regional race. Next week it’s time for her first national champs. Our othere ladies performed well in Inge’s footsteps. With Hannah (6th-3rd AG), Judith (9th) and Els (11th).
Our male athletes could make a fist and kept a very positive feeling after the race with Robby and Kristof fighting eachother and a battle for the podium in the Masters +50 category between Bart and Raymond. With Bart finishing 4th, Raymond 5th.

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Inge winning the overall race in Nossegem

Our cyclists didn’t miss their season at all!

Our elite riders are going hard at the moment,
in Vollezele (Elite/U23) Anthony, Dries and Robbe were at the starting line. An earlier breakaway on this tough racecourse with in it…Robbe (U23-rookie). In the head of the peloton Dries and Anthony trying to get in the front. For Anthony the race ended with a flat after 80K. Robbe didn’t manage to stay in the breakaway untill the finishline but showed his guts to immediately make it in this breakaway in his 3rd race as U23. Dries tried for 120K to close the gap with the front and managed in it within the last kilometers. Finishing 23rd but closing down a gap on 20 riders…then you may conclude you missed the right train!
Shape is there, and next few weeks these riders won’t be just filling the peloton.

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Anthony heading up front in Vollezele – Elite/U23

Svenne from his side had and important race in Nivelles, 75K – 1050D+, 3smaller climbs each lap and 22 laps. Yes, then you count 66 (!)smaller hills to race on. From very nearby we saw Svenne break away several times but he didn’t get a big gap on his opponents. Rain in the last hour made the course quite slippery, not easy to manage and heading to the last climb he finished 6th! A strong race in a peloton that was very difficult to control for him! Upcoming weeks, more climbing races will be on these riders programs!

Strong athletes, they didn’t miss the start of the season…they didn’t miss winterpleasure!

#jessevnsportscoaching #TSPB

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.

hans-vdb

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.

Adrian

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

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

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

When the hunger is there, you can do it everywhere…

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Here you have one  happy coach, the biggest tri-weekend of the season…with many athletes  getting involved in races! We knew our athletes are in great shape, but every raceresult depends on how an athlete gets up and goes into the race!

With big races coming we mentally load to the race and look really forward to what’s going to happen. You win some, you lose some…but winning some sure is much nicer.

Saturdaymorning I was in Holland and could witness the raise of Tony (Young duathlete transforming to triathlete) who was able to do a very good swim followed by a super 40K TT and 10K cruising @3’30/k pace to finish the day. He won with >5’advantage on his concurrents. He won his first ever triathlon and confirms the Half distance results of Leuven and Bonn! Great to see the development of this athlete.

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Tony won his first triathlon ever, now having a (short) resting period and then full speed ahead to a good summerperiod!

A bit further in Holland the Run-Bike-Run series in Amsterdam were held, Jan was invited there to do this race and he did great finishing just before former European Champion Vandersmissen! Building towards the World Championships now for Jan!

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Saturdayafternoon we heard some of our athletes who messaged or called, with lots of energy to go into the race. Every athlete has its own mental approach, but I felt concentration and willing to do well everywhere.

Early in the morning on sunday the Ironmen were ready to enter the water in France and Austria! Meanwhile I went off doing a short spin to get down my stresslevels…I was out with somebody and said: “who knows, maybe 2 sub9’ers…if that happens it would be great!”

In France Hans swam a good race and could enter transition with a reasonable gap on the fastest swimmers! It was one of our athletes Seb, who lives on the racecourse, who messaged us that at Watten (K35) Hans had only 26″ behind the first athlete. At that moment I knew he would get into the lead. For a good cyclist that’s an advantage. Especially in a race like Chtriman where you don’t have pelotons (you do have these in IMlabels). Being in the lead also means you’re in control of the race and don’t have to  accelerate to catch groups or ‘legal-drafters’.

Hans getting on the bike and starting the bike bikecourse!
Pacing your own race is more comfy for a decent cyclist than having to get around groups

 

The advantage on Julien Boulain (Fr) seemed to be growing fastly in this man-to-man battle. Hans never could be sure, because Boulain his status and former IM  results. But this was no Ironmanlabel, so the cyclingpart only got more important. Pacing was done on exactly the wattage we talked about before the race, so if nutrition was ok…

Again I am not posting any wattagefiles of Hans, just because I want to express the great swim and run he did!

He sure should be capable of battling for the win by doing a good marathon. And he did!

Run Hans

Racing the IM marathon steady like Hans did is the best way to approach your IM marathon. Starting to fast is just good if yo  want to be knocked down somewhere!

His last kilometers must have been great, he kept on running and found his best legs to close the marathon after 3h05′!

Our first Irondistance overall winner of 2016 is Hans! Knowing he did the  racecourse in 9h07′ with a 186k bikeride…it seems he has the legs for finishing sub 9h in a full soloday!

Hans Chtriman

The greatest feeling an LD-triathlete can have is crossing that finishline, a personal ánd an overall victory! Great vibes!

A full moviereport of Chtriman 2016 A full moviereport of Chtriman 2016 

In Ironman Austria we had  Cai and Sam and 2 rookies  (Jorn and Peter) starting the race! Bad weather also was predicted so some tension was felt there.

Bad luck for Jorn before the  start, going to the toilet and not finding back the guys with his wetsuit. Some panic before the  start, but above all he had to get into a starting box that was too slow for him. The whole swim long he had to make his way through the field, but still entered T1 after 1h00! Sam followed close behind him, while Cai and Peter also came out of the water shortly behind each other. At that moment Cai was already in 11th position in  her AG!

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Despite some troubles before the swim, Jorn still managed to get out of the water in 1h!

Once on the bike everybody got his recommendations to follow…

During this Ironmanrace you have a totally other impression about the cyclingpart than u have in Chtriman. Ironman is too much loaded with athletes and strong cyclists don’t get the full benefit out of it (especially in  AG-racing). I was already disgusted, really  disgusted after seeing IM70.3 Lux racepics.

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Ironman should stop tolerating these kind of acts. It’s becoming a normal thing to do. But it’s disgusting, far away from the real Ironman spirit. But it also let’s  me understand how some pussy cyclists can ride fast…while they are not able to do it solo…Epicfail of these athletes! (Photo Ironman Lux 2016)

Well, in Austria you have a rolling bikecourse which is perfect for moderate cyclists to cheat. Groups of  >20 in front of the AG race, wheel to wheel….that’s not nice. The speed is hard and the watts are low. The guys pushing their own pace should be respected. I say: Ironman, stop acting this way but give more penalties, for the love of this sport!

But ok, that said…back to the games, Jorn and Sam went out there very fast and it was Sam who moved up during the bikeride towards 21st overall and came off of the bike in 1st position (AG). Perfect circumstances to get his Ironman Hawaii qualification!

Jorn got into T2 a bit later and was on track to be another surprise today!

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Another 0,9″lost during his race by playing with the camera for Sam

At the moment Sam came off of the bike, I calculated that with a good run he would be capable of finishing sub9h! What happened then…nobody could predict. He realised his fastest Ironman ever and reached the finishline in 8h42′ after a 2h57’marathon!

Sam is not racing a lot, but within the last 14 months he took 3 AG victories, and now breaking his speedrecord! He took his qualification for the Ironman World Champs in Hawaii and can join Pierre (Bel) and Heather (Can) in Kona!

Sam run

Just like Hans in Gravelines (Fr) Sam realised a perfectly paced marathon! 4’13/km after 21K, 4’16/km after 42K!

A nice fact to know is Sam could beat the powerrecord on a full distance among our athletes, I think he was stimulated by Hans setting the new Half distance record in Troyes ;-)! But once again, I won’t post the powerfile, just because you wouldn’t believe it…

Behind Sam, it was Jorn who did everything to  finish sub9h30. From the moment he saw it was possible he pushed his body to the limit and ran his last km sub 3’50/km which was his fastest of the race! If you pace well, you are capable of growing during the race! Super glad for this athlete who was involved in an accident exactle 7days ago, his bike was totally wrecked so had to ride on the  bike of a friend!

Cai did a perfectly paced bikecourse, and ran a good marathon. It made her move up towards 5th place in her AG and just missing a ticket to Hawaii. This 51-year old lady finished twice top5 in an Ironman within 10weeks!

Peter was the most unknown factor in the race, how would his body react on this long effort. Clearly he was ready and the taste of reachint the finishline is sweet! Becoming an Ironman deserves the deepest respect!

 

Top15 male athletes of Ironman Austria 2016! Legenday result!
Cai on her way to set a good marathon and finishing 5th!
Peter is an Ironman after a perfectly paced race, eternal glory!
Jorn has prooved being a topathlete, finishing in 9h29’in his first Ironman! Great!
The winner takes it all!

 

How much inspiration did our other athletes need to compete later that day? Not much more I think!

In the half Irondistance at Gravelines (France) it  was Raphael who was extremely motivated to get into the top 10 of this regional championship half irondistance!

He went out hard on the swim course, but just missed the 2 main groups. So it would be 93K solo against the wind. Raphael got stronger past years, and I was sure he could manage his own race! He  did, he raced 90K solo and kept the gap around the same! But he  moved up to 11th and then his strong offbike long run came! It had been a tough race for all athletes and some totally were knocked down, while Raphael moved up! He finishes 4th! And that was even better than we hoped for! Also in the top20 overall Steven also got 4th in the masters race! Our other athletes all had a good race and fun, Wim for example was very proud on the fact that Hans (winning Chtriman) supported him during his race! Working with these athletes I  can only be happy that our athletes have this kind of spirit! Healthy  positivity is what an athlete needs!

Raph Amato

Raphael in full effort heading towards 4th place! Supernice result and it’s just a matter of time before we see him into the foodsteps of our Irondistance athletes…

In the female Half Irondistance at Gravelines Inge surprised,by circumstances not sure being able to compete in this race earlier this week, she got out of the water in  5thposition. Once on the bike she moved up to first place and she won her first Half Irondistance! One more race to go now for her before a short and well earned resting period!

Hans en Inge

Hans and Inge on the podium in France, 2winners!

And then the night fell…so the Canadians woke up… and started in their first triathlon of the year! Corey was very keen on the Inguish triathlon, he wanted to win this edition and went out very hard! But it was Andreas who seemed to be the runner-up in this race!

Andreas did better than his Swiss national soccer team the day before and kept his 2nd place till the end! Corey took the win with much determination!

Corey Deveaux running out of the water
On the run course Corey felt great…and he’s looking sharp!

In the sprintdistance we had Allan, who had a light muscle rupture earlier that week…by doing something he promissed never doing again!!! A wise decision to switch towards the sprint race, and with his current shape he was able to win and take his first triathlonvictory! More about this on his  website!

 

Now looking forward to next weekend with the European champs Ironman at Frankfurt and the National Champs team time trial! It’s fun being on the run!

These athletes performing now are just enjoying the efforts they put in months ago!

This was an extraordinary weekend, with many races. Our youngsters and older athletes performed like bosses!

Train smart, perform better!

 

 

Jesse

 

 

Not just à weekend, but a week of joy and being fast on and off the bike!

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Some weekends I remember forever, past weekend is a weekend that will be such a week !

Let’s begin with Ocean Lava Aranjuéz (Spain), David Tovar  is doing a great season and in his 3rd A-race of the race he amazed  everybody by getting a 3rd overall spot!

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With a good swim, a well dosed bikecourse he ran himself towards a spot on the podium!

A little confusion by girls in bikini in the last K made him make an extra loop and loosing 2nd spot by 1second! (Focus David!!!)

Later that day we had Jan racing in racing the national Championships Long distance Duathlon in Holland, and everybody who knows Jan…knows he can do special things. Well, this first. If did his race a bit slower he now had a son with Dutch nationality…

Only a few hours after the race Jan became father, congratulations champ!
A flat and fast race course, only 5gears were enough, who needs 11speed?

Jan did a superrace and on a flat race course he could limit the gap with the TTbikes and discwheels. Jan races with a froadframe and no aerowheels. It’s no coincidence his former employer is named Eddy Merckx. In true flandrienstyle he put the bike in T2 and runs the best 2nd run split and becomes 3rd! His  3rd duatlonpodium this spring! Now a short competitionbreak till summer because…his pregnant girlfriend, who went with him to Holland gave birth to a son 12hours later! Congratulations to (J)an!

Belgium got its first triathlon ‘fun-event’ with a Swim-Bike/finish in Harelbeke. Not yet a great succes when it comes to participants but certainly this can be a good intensive workout! A few athletes tested this event and liked it except for the ‘no rules, everything allowed policy’ during the race.

Tombike 360NP

If you balance right between intensity, strength and endurance you get high performance. With 363NP at the end of load block someone is ready to shine at least once.

While in Canada tri-season is slowly starting up our athletes are getting ready another podium for Corey and Allan on a road race and looking forward to their first tri overthere!

Alexander on the swim
PJ aka ‘The Hulk’ out of the water
Tom finishing 20days of tough training with a TT-win on saturday and his first swim longer than 500m followed by the best bikesplit!

 

I would be happy if the weekend stopped there, but then there was sunday. While some athletes suffered in Almere (Holland), L’eau d’Heure, Jona-Rapperswill (Switzerland) and Meer we had athletes racing in Troyes (France) who did a fantastic race. Hans finished 9th in a strong field of athletes, while Inge…became 2nd behind French Pro Isabelle Ferrer. Being first year of Master, she is stronger than ever!

Her husband Steven did behind them a very good race finishing 34th and is now getting closer and closer to Norsemann!

I just could post the powerfile of Hans, knowing he’s a strong biker. But I won’t, because he ran fantastic! The focus for Hans is on Long distance (non-drafting) triathlon and if you can’t run, you’re done.In Douai (France) he prooved to run fast off the back and  in Troyes once again he realised his performance by putting down his bike strong…but he ran to his 9th spot. Triathlon ends with running, if you can’t run…you can’t get big results!

The only thing I can say about his powerfile is that he has beaten the Half Iron power record of our athletes.

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In Germany and Luxemburg it was time for some cyclingraces! Anthony is doing a very nice season, but getting on the podium wasn’t too easy till now! In Schleiz (Germany), there was the next manche of the German Cycling cup. He didn’t miss the right breakaway and sprinted for victory, finishing 3rd we can be very happy with his result!

Anthony Duitsland

Anthony finishes 3rd in Schleiz (Germany) and is ready for more!

In Longchamps Svenne raced the way we talked about the day before. It was very simple, the bike course was super tough with a lot of climbing…so tactics were “Attack at the starting line”. He did , and it was the right breakaway. Svenne finishes 3rd! No further comment 😉

Our female athletes run fast off the bike, but even faster without a bike. Pas  sunday regional Championships Half marathon were held in Ieper. Gwendolyn went for the podium and got back home with a podium! The winner was outstanding, and Gwen got 2nd in 1h21′!

Gwendo

Gwendolyn running with a lot of determination towards 2nd place in 1h21!

Last but definitely not least, Ironman Nice (France) was a big challenge for Bart and Bjorn! Both followed tactics, and finished within their dreamgoals and had a super experience.

BjornC

The bike check-inn, no way back…but Bjorn could happily check out after the race!

Train smart, perform better!

Jesse