28; 2017 Xterra Triathlon World Champion.
Talk us through the day you won the Xterra Triathlon World Championships in Hawaii.
The Xterra World Championships is always an incredibly stressful day for professional, elite and amateur athletes alike. But it’s the day we’ve all prepared so diligently for, and waking up on race morning knowing you’ve done all you can in training brings a certain calmness to the situation.
I ran through my usual prerace routine, and before I knew it we were on the start line, ready for whatever the Maui Gods had planned for us. The swim is my Achilles heel; that’s usually where I lose the majority of my time to fellow athletes. But this day was different. I had the swim of my life, and exiting the water, I was right on the leaders’ heels, exactly where I needed to be.
Transition blew past, and at the start of this incredibly demanding mountain-biking course, a group of five had formed at the head of the race.
I love the mountain-bike leg of an Xterra triathlon, and knew that if I wanted to win this race, I had to break away from this group and start putting time into the faster runners. 2016 Xterra World Champion Mauricio Mendez from Mexico was in the lead group, and with his lightning-fast run, I had no choice but to attack.
I got the lead about 5km into the biking leg, and just kept pushing. Ruben Ruzafa from Spain was closing in fast; and about two thirds into the course he finally bridged the gap and caught up to me – thankfully, not bringing any athletes along with him. I welcomed the company and we worked well together for the remainder of the bike course, until eventually he opened a small gap on the final singletrack section.
この記事は Bicycling South Africa の March 2018 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は Bicycling South Africa の March 2018 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
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