Tag: ötillö

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.

HansVDB

 

 

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!
    • raphsoph.jpg

 

Every day makes the difference!

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With Ironman 70.3 Turkey, Crocodile Trophy, the Xterra world champs in Hawaï and the European championships swimrun our athletes were performing on 4continents past weekend!

Raphael and Sophie started in the EC Swimrun with the goal to qualify for the famous Ötillö, world champs swimrun in Sweden! Raphael and Sophie, both very compatible on the swim and run got a virus earlier this week and this made last week a bit difficult.
They both bite through that sour apple and on raceday they were well motivated to race hard! They got rewarded for this and not only got 4th on the European Champs but both qualified for the World championships in Sweden in 2017! The first WC qualifier of the day…but we didn’t know what would come later that day!

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In ‘couple-mode’ Sophie and Raph qualified for the World Champs swimrun in Sweden 2017!

At the same time Bjorn was finishing the 2nd stage of the Crocodile Trophy (Australia), before the stage he was 7th in amateur category. Today he was on his way to another very well performance but flatted and lost approximately 20’…despite that he kept pacing and didn’t loose 1 single spot at the end of this tough day! Still in 7th position in the GC at the beginning of stage 3 tomorrow!

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Bjorn racing in the famous Crocodile Trophy, Australia. At the beginning of stage 3 he’s in 7th position!

The biggest, and unexpected, surprise came from Adrian. After last week’s 2nd place in Alanya (Turkey) today he raced the Ironman70.3 in Turkey. His maingoal and last race of the season. Adrian did a splendid race, with a good swim, a very fast 2h16 bikesplit and a negative split half marathon towards 6th overall and winner in his agegroup!

 

Only 4h18′ he needed to complete the race and run towards his most remarkable performance in his career! Some later he must have been motivating for Guy who finished the race 13th in his AG. Congratulations!

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Adrian made a huge progression and could made the connection with the better AG athletes, won his first triathlon and got 6th overall in an IM label this season!

Of course Adrian was able to qualify for the World Championships Ironman 70.3 in Chattanooga, USA 2017! Adrian decided to pull back on this one and to not go to the WC next year.

klaas-vk

In Belgium cyclocrossseason is running and our cyclocrossriders are getting in shape! Past weekend Klaas could get 12th and 10th and by this he moves up on the national ranking! His first top 10 performance of the season and more to come!

Late in the evening we went back to…Hawaï where they not only host the Ironman world champs, but also the Xterra Offroadtriathlon World championships!

Joeri was our man at the right place in Maui and was keen on performing well in his AG. The mission was to pace well, and race steady coming off the bike! Joeri came off the bike 16th in his AG and biked himself to 11th off the bike!

Then the most difficult part still had to come, but he managed well and finished 12th in this difficult race! A long season with this qualification for the WC race! Not only did he qualify once, but twice…proving he earned his spot over there!

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Joeri finishes 12th in his AG in the Xterra World championships 2016

Meanwhile our athletes who are building up towards  2017 already came together for groupsession #1. The focus today was a an aerobic fartlek run with easy miles around it, followed by a strengthening bike session on the rolling hills of Flanders! Motivated athletes were stronger than the first really cold weather in Belgium. Let’s have a good winter, a dry winter!

 

Ciao

 

Jesse