Winner in Australia & Halberg awards

Since we went up to altitude early january, we have been pretty full on with Andrea.
Our training has been going well and over the last few days I was looking forward to a little break.
It came when we flew to Auckland for the Halberg awards. Andrea was a nominee and finalist as the sportswoman of 2011.
She didn't win ( Valerie Adams did) but it was awesome to be up at the skycity building and to share the evening with the top sports people and the high persons of New Zealand including the Prime Minister, John Key. I really enjoyed it, it was really an honor for me to be invited with Andrea. ( Find just below a photo with the legendady All Blacks)

After the ceremony, we took the earliest flight to Melbourne in order to compete at the Geelong ITU Continental Cup. It doubled as the Australian Sprint Championships.

Three weeks ago, I raced the Doddsy International down in Wanaka ( NZL) so Geelong was my 2nd race of 2012 and it fit in really well into my training program.

I was the top ranked athlete leading into the race and it is alway something special to start with the number 1 on your arms. I was pretty relaxed and looked forward to a hard and fast race.
It's now the 4th year in a row where I am racing this early during the year in Australia and it is alway a shock to the system after many weeks of base training at a mainly slow and steady pace.

The race went well and I managed to pull away from Will Clarke ( GBR - Ranked 9th in the World) in the last 200m after an intense hour of racing.
Tony Dodds (NZ) who trained in Wanaka too during january completed the podium.
Results:

• 1. Laurent Vidal FRA FR 00:55:19
• 2. William Clarke GBR GB 00:55:21
• 3. Tony Dodds NZL NZ 00:55:39
• 4. Drew Box AUS AU 00:55:41
• 5. Aaron Royle AUS AU 00:55:48
• 6. Cameron Good AUS AU 00:55:58
• 7. Chris McCormack AUS AU 00:56:06
• 8. Jamie Huggett AUS AU 00:56:07
• 9. Richard Varga SVK SK 00:56:14
• 10. Courtney Atkinson AUS AU 00:56:25

So two wins in two races, it's quite exciting but I know the hardest is in front of me and this is what I am training for...

I am now back in Christchurch and my family has arrived from France to visit us. I hope they will enjoy Christchurch and NZL as it is their first time here.
Hopefully, we won't have too many earthquakes these two weeks!

See you soon.
Laurent

Photos are courtesy of Delly Carr.

Report of the race & full results .:. HERE .:.

Triathlon's golden couple victorious in Wanaka

Text by Triathlon New Zealand.
Photos by Mike Heydon.

Surely the fittest and fastest couple on the planet, Laurent Vidal and Andrea Hewitt proved victorious in a stunning day's racing at the latest round of the Contact Tri Series in front of huge crowds in Wanaka.

The men's race was dubbed the ‘Doddsy Challenge' with local boy Tony Dodds boosting the prize money from two thousand dollars to ten grand in a winner takes all pressure cooker. And Dodds disappoint in front of his home fans, supporters and the local businesses that had contributed to the prize pool, leading out of the water and riding prominently in a group that included Kris Gemmell, Vidal, Ryan Sissons and Aurelien LeBrun, winner in Christchurch last week.

Once on the run it was Dodds, Vidal and Sissons who broke clear, with flying Frenchman Aurelien LeBrun. As he did last year though the likeable Vidal kicked clear on the run to win back to back Wanaka titles and make it a double for himself and partner Andrea Hewitt.

"I don't think I stole it today, I went out and get it. The crowd was awesome, I really appreciate it I know I am not the favourite here but they gave me and the whole field great support. Doddsy is amazing; the race is amazing, so well done to him and to the organisers. I'm glad I won; everyone was hoping Doddsy might win, but he is on the podium so that is good too.

"On the run Tony was looking at me at the place I moved last year, so I didn't go, I waited for the hill and pushed then, I had to work very hard to be honest. It was a very hard race.”

Sissons finished strongly to kick clear of Dodds into second place and spoke of a good day.

"We spat a few out on the swim, it was hard and choppy but I got out where I needed to be and in the front pack; that was key to a good race. I did a fair bit on the bike, keeping the pace solid; maybe I did a little too much. On the run I came into my own on the final lap and started closing in but ran out of time.”

Dodds was philosophical in finishing third, knowing that he had given his all in front of a huge home crowd.

"Laurent is the nicest guy around so you have to give him credit, he raced really well. I really wanted the money today so I could give it back to the community but I was getting attacked every corner on the bike by the likes of Laurent, Gemmell and others. But we managed to close the gap every time.

"Then on the run it was so hard, we just went for it. I'm really proud though, it has been a great day, a great race and an amazing crowd. I gave it absolutely everything, I went out fast, held on but the Frenchman did it again.”

In the women's race it was a group of six athletes who emerged together from the swim, a group that included Andrea Hewitt (Christchurch), Debbie Tanner (Auckland), Sophie Corbidge (Auckland) and a strong representation from Holland in Rachel Klamer, Dane Boterenbrood and Sarissa De Vries. Corbidge though found the going tough and lost contact on the first lap of 8 on the 20km bike leg and De Vries followed soon after to leave a lead group of four, it was Holland against New Zealand.

With strong cyclist Nicky Samuels not competing due to a second bout of heart surgery to repair an arrhythmia problem the group stayed together throughout, no one in the lead group was prepared to risk a solo effort into the strong North Westerly.

The group of four exited the bike together and headed out on the run but as is her trademark, Hewitt put in an early burst to take the lead with Tanner and Klamer settling in 10m behind. That was the way it stayed for the first two laps until a great burst from the Dutchwoman drew her level with Hewitt while Tanner too closed the gap on the final lap.

It was Hewitt though who prevailed, outsprinting Klamer to the line to win by the barest of margins with Tanner in a good early season hit out close behind in third.

"This is a great, hard race to start the season”, said Hewitt.
"It is always good to come to Wanaka, we are often here training but racing is awesome, the Dutch gave a good challenge and a great sprint finish. I was taken by surprise and thought I could be in trouble here but the pace dropped off a little and I had the pace in the end to win, the crowd certainly help lift me, I have been training pretty hard and this is a great way to start 2012.”

Klamer was delighted with her race, showing the improvement under NZ triathlon legend John Hellemans who is coaching the Dutch programme.

"It was amazing, I saw Andrea and thought I am coming closer to her but I knew she was playing a game with me, in the end I thought okay, I will try and go now, I gave everything I had but she had a better sprint than me. This was amazing, I missed some Dutch people all I could hear was Kiwi, Kiwi!”


Conditions were testing for the athletes in Wanaka today, with wind at times causing plenty of chop on the Lake and leading to a few scary moments on the bike on the tight and technical bike course. 

But none of that could deter the huge and noisy crowd lining Ardmore Road, enjoying the warm sunshine and the great hospitality in front of one of the greatest landscape vistas you will find anywhere in the world.
Earlier in the day a record field of age groupers enjoyed their day with children in the Contact 1:2:1 and the beginner Contact 3:9:3 but the huge crowds will remember for a long time the world class racing to end the day with Hewitt and Vidal the best of high quality fields.

Contact Tri Series 
Wanaka

Elite Women

1. Andrea Hewitt (Christchurch) 1:01:12

2. Rachel Klamer (Holland) 1:01:13

3. Debbie Tanner (Auckland) 1:01:38

4. Dane Boterenbrood (Holland) 1:01:56
5. Sophie Corbidge (Auckland) 1:04:30


Elite Men
1. Laurent Vidal (France) 55:25

2. Ryan Sissons (Auckland) 55:34

3. Tony Dodds (Wanaka) 56:04

4. Aurelien LeBrun (France) 56:14
5. Jan Van Berkel (Holland) 56:35

Press:
The press 21/01/2012 - Hewitt & Vidal too strong in Wanaka.
Otago Daily Times 21/01/2012 - Multisport: Second win some revenge for World Cup.
TVNZ 21/01/2012 - Laurent Vidal takes all in "Doddsy Challenge".

Christmas Update

Hello everyone,

From Christchurch I wish you all a merry Christmas and I hope you are having a great time.

My break has gone very fast and it's already time to think about 2012.
I am sahring with you two short videos (from my facebook page) I made and hopefully they are gonna give you a little taste of NZ.




After more earthquakes last week (Cf. photos below) it has settled down here and I am getting ready to leave Christchurch for a month of altitude training down south in Wanaka.

Kia Kaha.
Laurent

Leading into 2012.

The last season of racing is probably my best so far and all the signs of my Olympic campaign are green.
The Olympic Race is definitely special, I have learnt it from my Beijing experience. It's not just a race, it is THE RACE and I see it as a great opportunity to do what I love in front of the world's eyes.
My 2012 Olympic "build up" started back in november 2008 but as an athlete it has been 15 years of everyday training. I have evolved with time but I always stayed focus on achieving my short/middle term goals without forgeting my ultimate target.
For 2011, I had only one goal: secure an olympic spot as soon as I had an opportunity. This is what I did in London WCS. For the first time in my sporting career I had my fastest race of the year on the race that everybody wanted to win ( this is something I was working on the last 18months).
I had to sacrifice for it, especially in the events prior to the Olympic selection but nevermind... It was what I had to do!
My second target of the year was the end of the season with the World Championship final in Beijing and two weeks later the French National Championship.
Once again I was happy with my performances with a 5th in Beijing and winning my second french champion title.
And finally, I raced consistently all year round ( see World tour 2011) and out of my 17 races I had 16 top 12 finishes including 13 top 7, 6 podium and 4 victories.
These are only statistics and they are just an indicator of how my training is going.
The only thing I keep in my mind for next year's training is IMPROVING as much as possible sticking to my targets, I won't waste my time analysing everybody elses performances.

Anyway, after a few weeks break, I am now back into my training in New Zealand and for the fourth year in a row I will prepare my season of racing in Christchurch with Andrea.
Andrea had a fantastic year, probably a bit better than what she expected. She also qualified for the Games, got 2nd at World Champs, won the final of the World Champs, won in Yokohama and enjoyed the feeling of a victory on home soil at the Auckland World Cup!

Now it's back to normal, we train hard as and I am really looking forward to 2012. I am operating a few changes and I will let you know soon...Surprise surprise!
I wish you a great Xmas holiday, all the best for your goals and never forget that you can't control the performances of others but you can control yours.
Laurent