Winner of the Garmin Alpen Triathlon

Four days after I left Poitier where I won my 3rd national title, I headed up to Germany to compete in the 25th edition of the prestigious Garmin Alpen Triathlon.

This event also doubled as the  BundesLiga grand final.

A transition area in between lake and mountains

I already competed there last year and took the silver medal behind my good mate Will Clarke from Britain. Just like the 2012 French Champs, Schliersee is an old school triathlon with a one lap very hilly bike and a run in the middle of stunning mountains.

Final climb with Will Clarke

The bike leg consists of 40k with 4 hills finishing with a 5k climb followed by a roller coaster 10k off road at 1100m altitude.

In the lead with Will Clarke up the last climb

In the breakaway with Will Clarke in the last hill, I won the race after a little bit more than 2h in front of the German Olympian Christian Prochnow and my french team mate Tony Moulai.
Right at the finish I was delighted to taste the Kaisersmarren, a local speciality which is pretty much a massive thick pancake.

The podium of the day.

Without any doubt it was a great reward for all the 1000 athletes who competed but also a good way to short cut the beginning of a bonk.

With my win and the performance of Jonny Zipf, David Hauss, Patrick Lange and Will Clarke my German Team EJOT won the German Team Championship title.

1/ Laurent Vidal (FRA) 2h00min39sec
2/ Christian Prochnow (GER) 2h00min59sec
3/ Tony Moulai (FRA) 2h01min31sec
4/ Jonathan Zipf (GER) 2h01min36sec
5/ David Hauss (FRA) 2h02min16sec

In the woman's race, it's also a french who won as Charlotte Morel crossed the finish line ahead of Simic (SVL) and Mueller (GER).

Team EJOT

Next stop Yokohama and Auckland for the last two events of the World Triathlon Series but first I will spend some time with my friends and family.
Cheers,
Laurent.

Photos courtesy of Team EJOT

2012 French Champion

It's almost a month since the Olympic race is over.
After the race, I had a week off in London where I did everything apart from exercising.
It was really enjoyable to support all the athletes competing in other events but also to chill out around the Olympic Village and of course party at night.
After the closing ceremony, I flew back to the South of france where I restarted training and I spent time with my friends and family.
If I judge by the amount of solicitations and extra attention I have got since London, I can be sure that the Olympic race was a great opportunity for the development of our sport in France.
The race was broadcasted on French TV with a Market share around 27% and an average of TV viewers during the 2hrs of 2 700 000!
The first few weeks back in france were pretty busy with PR and media commitments on top of the training but I really appreciated the extra attention to be part of the process to help triathlon grow in France.

I probably underestimated this post olympic factor leading into the Stockholm World Triathlon Series where I was useless.
I was there but my mind wasn't, I really didn't have the right attitude required to perform at that level of racing.
I knew that physically I was good but it's not enough in high performance, I DNF a race that I should't have started. I was a bit annoyed with myself and for the french team but fortunately my team mates did a great job and they managed to win the silver medal in the World Mixed Relay Championship.

I really enjoyed supporting Jess, Carole, Tony and Vincent, what a remarkable effort they did!

Champion de France- Photo: B.Regoli

A week later, I drove 700k accross France to compete in our National Championship.
Stockholm was a good wake up call and I lead into that race really relaxed and excited about it.
The French championships is never easy as France has some of the finest world class triathletes and the expectations are high when you turn up as the defending champion and recently 5th at the Olympics.
I started the race aggressively exiting 2nd out of the water and breaking away on the bike with 5 of us. The old school cycling course was tough, our lead extended to one minute at the 30k mark but we lost lots of time in the last 10km starting the run with a little head start of 17sec on a 30plus chase pack.

I knew I was in a tricky position but after a painfull first 500m, I managed to extend my lead and finally won my 3rd french champion title after 1h53min of racing.

During the cycling leg- Photo: B.Regoli

Results:
    •    1 VIDAL laurent 01:53:30
    •    2 MOULAI tony 01:54:10
    •    3 ROUAULT gregory 01:54:10
    •    4 RAPHAEL aurelien 01:54:19
    •    5 DIEMUNSCH etienne 01:54:40

The podium - Photo: JN Mahey

Next week I will be on the start line in Schliersee (GER) for the prestigious Garmin Alpen Triathlon, Final of the bundesliga.
Then I will head to Japan and New Zealand for the last two round of the World Triathlon Series.
Take care.
Laurent

Back to London - Olympic Games -

1h47min21sec I crossed the finish line fifth in the heart of Hyde Park crowded with a million people who came to attend the Olympic triathlon.
I have pins and niddles in both arms and cheeks, I have only one which: to lie down to recover.
I see David Hauss just behind the fence, we clap hands without saying a word.
We delivered on the day but on the podium, they were stronger!
Since I started my specific phase for that race, I did everything with James Elvery who didn't achieve the challenge to qualify for the New Zealand team.
We spent hours and hours together, beyond the sweat, lactic acid and pains, he threw me one day: "Bro, expect things to go wrong."
It is this simple sentence that I kept in mind, in any case it would be hard and if this sentence was true for me, it was also for others.
To have a chance to win this race, you will need to fight in order to don't loose it .
The pre-race is like many races but this time I watch Andrea four days before my race on TV.
She has a great race, and extremely concentrated from the start to the finish, she finished 6th beaten by girls stronger than her on that day.

Andrea during the run

Jessica Harrison in the first french crossing the line, finishing in 9th and other French Carole and Emmie missing the lead group after the swim screwed a bit heir chances to do well, they still fight to enjoy fully their games. Brave.

With David and Vincent two days before our race.

The morning of my race, it is 6:26, I woke up just before my alarm. I met David in the lobby of our hotel for a jog around the pool.
It is 8:00 and I swam 1500m and ran 30min.
I feel good, really relax, I know I'm ready and David is too.
Later, we go to the Olympic venue where the crowd is already massive. I look at Vincent Luis (my team mate) and tell him to get the most of it, we couldn't hide a smile during our warm-up.
There is no tension, no anxiety, it's been four years that we prepare for today and we will do what we know, we will perform.

I was so ready that things will be complicated,  I was surprised to find myself in the perfect scenario!
After a 10km Team Time triathlete of 17athlets, we caught the 5 breakaways formed after swimming and from now I'm in the lead group with 22 athletes (including David and Vincent).
33 competitors have therefore already lost the race.
Adapting to the race, I decided to save the maximum amount of energy I could on the bike as domestiques were keeping the pace on during the whole bike scion. They were no opportunity for a break.
I don't necessarily enjoy this type of racing but in order to grab the best place finish on the line this is what was the most valuable for me,hoping (knowing ;-)  ) my running legs wouldn't let me down.

My transition (T2) rom bike to run is average, I start the run in eighth position. As they have a little head start from T2, the Brownlee Brothers and Javier Gomez are impossible to follow, The pace is too quick on this first km for me to bridge any gap.
Quickly in 4th and 5th position with David, we know that Jonny Brownlee has penalty and we relay to keep him in sight.
In the 3rd lap of 4, I give it all and I believe we can catch him.
Finally, we never did, Jonny leaves only few seconds in front of us after his penalty and I'm exhausted. I gave everything in this hunt.
I learned to win by losing. I'm not afraid of losing because I know what it takes to win and today in front of me they were simply better.
So I crossed the line in 5th in the biggest race in the world.

This stunning race is ending the London 2012 Olympics campaign during which personally but collectively with the french team we have never stopped improving.
David 4th, Vincent11th without forgetting Tony Moulai Aurelien Raphael and Fred Belaubre for which we had to be ready.

A part of my supporters

Thanks for your messages, your support and encouragement if you were there.
Thanks to those who supported me to make this adventure possible.

The French Olympic Triathlon Team

Never ever ever ever give up.
Laurent

Press realease, results and photos  .:.here.:.

A month of racing

Management of fitness is something very individual.
2012 is very special compared to 2009/10/11, the major title of the season will not be decided on a series (World Championship) but on a single race, the Olympics.
A one day race brings uncertainty, nothing is ever 100% guaranteed. Obviously and fortunately, it is possible to limit the impact of random factors.

MY PRIORITY:
"The most important part of training is recovery."
During the past week I really focussed on my recovery after a cycle where I raced 4 times in 5 weeks.
-27/05/2012: A 11th place in Madrid in the World Series .:. More info .:.
-09/06/2012: A victory over a 11.3km run in Frontignan .
-17/06/2012: A Silver medal at the World Cup in Banyoles (ESP).:. More info .:.
-24/06/2012: 7th place in Kitzbuhel (AUT) in the World Series .:. Plus d'infos .:.

Banyoles World Cup Podium

MY GOAL
Obviously achieving such a schedule after a hard block of training is definitely not the best to grab the best results for now but over the years I understood how to get ready for an event.
This year my target is to be fully fit early august and in that sense the past few weeks have been really important.
Nevertheless, I found myself able to grab descent results considering my fatigue.

MY PREPARATION
We are five weeks from the goal of the year (the past four years): the Olympics. Around me, everyone tells me the "last straight", I do not really like that word it makes me think of a sprint while the period that separates me from the race will be anything but not something rushed!
I am confident but aware.

All the best, Laurent.
OTHER-For the second time this year I found myself leading the world ranking "ITU Point List" co-leader with Andrea leading the women!

 ITU Point List World Ranking 24/06/2012