Some super sonic racing in Brasschaat

ETU Long Distance Triathlon European Championship
8th place in 3h49m26s



With the European and World Long Distance Triathlon Championship separated by only three weeks, I had to log a huge block of training in altitude before the first one since between races I barely have time to recover well. This meant a very short period of taper before the race in Brasschaat so I could log solid miles until late on the block. I went to Belgium very close to my peak shape but prepared if things went wrong. Coming from altitude 48 hours prior to the race is something new to me and I was anxious to see how I felt. Brasschaat is a very scenic but small village just North of Antwerpen and all the courses - "swim", bike and run - were flat as a pancake. Actually I swear I could almost see The Netherlands from where I was standing. I never saw a flatter country. Anyway, very fast but somewhat (a LOT) technical on the village section of the bike.

The swim
Some ITU boys were racing so everyone was up for a very fast swim. I have been logging a lot of meters on the pool so I was expecting to be close to the front pack. It didn't happen. I suffer thru every meter. I felt the Polar stripe so tight on the chest that I could barely breath. I was way off the pace I aimmed for and was losing ground in every stroke. I lost both the front and the second group till I settled with the Nº1 cap. It was Jens Koefoed and he had caught me already. I was feeling terrible but stayed on his tail. A few meters after I had finally catch my breath again slowly regain calmness. With the swim going by I accelerated to the exit so I could exit T1 with a slight advantage over Jens. Once I was on my bike, Gerrit Schellens was also beside me and NOT the man I wanted to see so early on the race. I got confirmation of my - so far - bad performance when my coach shouted "three minutes to the front, 40 seconds to Colting". I was left on the third group.

The bike
There's no real story on the bike. On such a fast and flat course as it was, any second I could gain would demand a tremendous effort not worthy. Sometimes the flatter courses are the toughest since you are always on effort. If you have some hills you know you will have the downhill section to rest a bit. So two laps of 40Kms each where we had to go around and in the village twice. The village section was very technical and every pack was going by it very slowly since it was really dangerous. Looking at the results, F. Van Lierden's time was demolishing for the day and it sure gave him the win tape to tape. So I got to T2 with almost the same men I left T1. Nothing much I could do there. If only I had swam a few seconds faster.

The run
Most of the run course was on the village's park. Also totally flat without. I got out of T2 just with 16th place in knowlage. I didn't need to know more, neither who or how much futher they where in front of me. I was determined to put a very solid run and was confidant that the training in altitude would eventually make a difference. Man on a mission. Schellens - a past European Champ and former IM champion - was out of transition too fast for me. I was not surprised since he's known to be one of the best runners in the sport. I didn't felt great at the start so I slowly built my way into a comfortable pace. Soon I realised I was gaining time on most of the front men. On the three loop course, I hit the last lap with Schellens just there. We had ran ourselves into 9th and 10th position already. Final 4Kms and I had already passed some fading studs like Koefoed and Johnsen. I could see Vabrousek gaining on us too but remained focused on nutrition and at some point I eventually caught Schellens and passed him with a convict pace. Last mile was ran thru the Belgium crowd and it must have boosted Schellens. He passed me again with no more than 500 meters to go and was on a much convincing pace. I let go.

So I crossed the line in 8th place with 40-minute swim, 1h57 bike and 1h08 run. I am happy with the overall result but - you may call it ambition - have this slight taste of defeat. I didn't put the swim I know I can achive. And that made me angry. If I had, I would have gotten to T2 with the same effort but with three minutes less on the clock. And that made all the difference.





Top 15:
1 Van Lierde Frederik BEL 3:41:49
2 Colting Jonas SWE 3:42:39
3 Bayliss Stephan GBR 3:43:08
4 Pertusati Gabriele ITA 3:44:14
5 Gambles Joseph GBR 3:47:08
6 Jammaer Bert BEL 3:48:08
7 Schellens Gerrit BEL 3:49:07
8 Gomes Pedro POR 3:49:16
9 Hoeyberghs Koen BEL 3:49:24
10 Koefoed Jens DEN 3:49:48
11 Kristl Filip SVK 3:50:19
12 Vabrousek Petr CZE 3:50:57
13 Johnsen Jimmy DEN 3:51:11
14 Verbinnen Thierry BEL 3:52:18
15 Demeulemeester Stijn BEL 3:52:53

Full results available here