The first weekend of september would be loaded with races and not the least!

3 world championships ( Ironman70.3 – ITU/Powerman Duathlon Long distance – Cycling Amateurs UCI) and many other important races!

Let’s begin with  the world championships races, in Australia Raphael and Sophie found themselves among the top of the triathlonworld. The racelocation was splendid and  that always gives wings!

Raphael had to start first and we were focussed on doing better than his place on the  world champs last year! He was in shape, ready! All went to plan, a very good swim and a fast bike…but then a card and a 5’penalty. This would be an expensive one..We asked Raphael how he could get this penalty and clearly he got blocked. He had no need to draft, because he prooved to ride this pace easily in former halfs! A pity, but he went through and with a very strong offbike run he finished in  4h19′ in Australia! Because of the highly densified level of this race the 5’penalty costs him a 16th-17th place! That would be even better than expected!

Our athletes in Australia managed their races well can look back at a great adventure!

Sophie from her side needed just 1h longer than Raphael, and managed a solid race!The goal was to swim well, cycle below 3h and put down a 5’00/km run, we can say he managed all! Being part of the  world championships is an honour in IM(70.3) racing, only the  very best get this opportunity!

On a World Championship the best come around, our athletes had the honour racing them!

A bit further in Australia, in Perth, our Canadian master cyclist Ambrose rode his  world  championships. With good legs he got closed in at an important moment and had to chase the head of the race. More was in it for him, but cycling is more than pushing the watts of course. Some good luck and being at the right place at the right time also makes part of it!

In Switzerland, Zofingen, the ITU/Powerman World championships duathlon took place! As we have an honour to defend with 3 AG world titles, 2 AG vice world champions and an 8th place in the 2012 PRO race (with a fulltime working amateur ;-)) we were focussed on this for months. Jan was ready, more than ready. All duathlons so far this season..he raced in the front. Knowing Zofingen has a 30K run in the end,  this is his race! He was keen on getting back there after a severe bikecrash last year! Already in the first run he placed himself just behind the profield. 18th he was coming out of T1. The 150K bikeride was hard, but he defended his position well and put the bike down in 25th position! The 30K run in the end would be tough and he  was moving up place by place! The race was  won by another Belgian (Odeyn) with a strong progressive race. A long Belgian tradition goes on in Zofingen!

Jan becomes AG world champion duathlon, finishing 14th overall among the pro athletes!

Going deep till the finishline in this tough race made Jan lost conscience 15’after the  race, but after a good meal he’s already the old him again!

In the short distance race JanG got a 19th overall place and 2nd in the masters classification! All signs were good in advance and this is a nice confirmation of his  summer!

Jan Meysmans, BACK at Zofingen!

Except for the World Championships a few other international races were held, in  Xterra Denmark Joeri was keen on the AG podium and so he did. “A nice racecourse and 2nd in my AG, super satisfying to pick another slot for the Xterra worlds and to show I am worth it”

A wet and muddy race in Denmark for Joeri!

Joeri looking for the AGpodium!

In Gerardmer (France) they had a classy field at the starting line, with Andi Boecherer (Ger) and Van Lierde (Bel) it would be a absolute triathlonstar to win! Boecherer was the strongest, Van Lierde 2nd! Behind that 2 of our athletes gave the best of themselves!

Sam did a good race, that totally fits into his Hawaii preparation, with I think his fastest swim ever there. On the  bike he simply was strong and on the run he kept moving up towards his final spot. 17th at the finishline and 2nd in his AG!

Gerardmer is not an easy bikecourse, the irregularity in bikecourses demands a lot from athletes. It’s much harder to pace this right and not explode during the race.

Cai from her side did a very strong race and that resulted in her AGwin! After becoming 4th and 5th (AG) in Ironmanraces this season…now she takes it all.

These shirts is what the AG winners get in Gerardmer, they race hard for it. Everybody wants one the closet!

Cai and her fan Frederik Van Lierde

In Brugge, our ‘sub50 Jeroen’ won the swimrun. He experiences the use of training smart!

Svenne, 10times podium in the road cyclingraces this  season. Always just not winning kept fighting all season, believed in it…and yesterday he won! This morning he sent me a message :”Alles op alles” or “all on it”…well, today he won again! Svenne is no sprinter, and this makes it difficult to win. But on the tough race courses he’s  always in the main group, if he’s not in it…he closes the gap later! This is an athlete with an absolute positive spirit. The season he is riding is fantastic, and not done yet! More to come!

Our other cyclists had less luck this weekend, 2of them crashed (bad weather) and Anthony who was in the leadgroup of 10 in Luxemburg had a flat tyre and no immediate backup! On to the next race!

There is NO other Svenne than this Svenne, giving it for 100% 2wins in a row for this rider!

And last but not  least Tom who became ‘The Beast 2016’,  in Lynmouth UK Tom was ready for his 2nd Half triathlon of this season! This time it was a race beyond tough. It was extreme! The THE BEAST TRIATHLON is a half triathlon with extreme bike and run courses. The run course for example has 800D+ in it! On Tom’s site  you will soon find more about the course! This race was the maingoal for Tom in this part of the season. Not knowing who the other athletes were it was difficult to predict the outcome! Earlier this week Tom let me know the percentages on the climbs would be very steep.

With 324NP Tom could pace himself to the front of the field and save enough energy for the 800D+ run!

My answer was simple: “It cuts the crap”. And so it did, the strongest man in the races lasted in the end and Tom was capable of winning his first Half Triathlon! Only, because of the wild sea…there was no swim. So it became a duathlon, which turned into his advantage! 1big race to come for Tom within a few weeks. But now, coming home and take a few days of  active recovery. I think, he’ll need it 😉

Tom, turned from cyclist into duathlete, and last season into triathlete. With 3 Triathlonwins of which ‘The beast’ and a top 10  in Monts de Guéret…this has become a super season for him!

Oh yeah, Maze Runners…yesterday I looked at this movie and a group of people had 2 choices. Keep on living in a circle of complaining or getting out of it, moving forward, live and explore what’s out there  and not having to “what if..”. Today I thought about that movie again…;-) #TSPB

Ciao

Jesse