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.:.

Bronze in Sydney World Triathlon Series #1 ... plus bonus.

Believe it or not but I am posting this news from my flight between Dubai and Paris! It's crazy what technology allows us to do theses days.
To be honest, I haven't purchased 100MB of credit only to update my website. I submited a change in my whereabouts in the ADAMS system .
After a great summer in New Zealand I will be in France this afternoon but not home yet as I will stay 36hours in Paris for the ceremony of the day minus 100 until the London Olympics Games. This event is organized all over the world by national Olympic committees. It's an honor to be part of it and it's also a good way to promote our sport to everyone.

Anyway, that's not the purpose of my post.
Last week, I raced the opening round of the World Triathlon Series in Sydney and I took the Bronze medal, 9 seconds behind the winner Steffen Justus and 2sec behind Richard Murray second.
The Sydney course still feels unreal! What a stunning place. A dive start in front of the opera house in clear blue water followed by the first transition in between the opera house and the Harbour Bridge and to finish a bike and run leg in between Macquarie Street and the botanic gardens. What an experience!

At 10:36 (live TV ) I started ( I had a pretty average start tho) on the right side of the pontoon. 1500m later, I managed to exit the ocean 13second behind the leader.
From that point, I was in the lead group.
Early on, James Elvery ( sweet bro) from New Zealand and Ivan Vassiliev from Russia broke away from the peloton and did an impressive 40km bike together to start the run with more than a minute ahead of us, the chasers.
My focus on the bike was to stay out of trouble as the course was designed very tight and I noticed that there was a lot of nervosity in the bunch: Sydney was an Olympic Qualifying race for the NZers, Australians and Canadians.
In transition 2, the challenge was to catch the leaders as soon as possible.
The pace was ON straight away and after the first of four laps we ( Murray, Justus and I) were only 30 sec behind Vassiliev.
Sydney was different to Mooloolaba ( the world cup I won three weeks ago), the run course was flat, more speed was required and when Steffen Justus surged with 3k to go I gave "all in" to try to catch him.
There were nothing I could do, he was stronger (harder, better, faster too ?!) and I realized that I was burning a bit myself. Richard Murray passed me again and drop me with 800m to go.
I couldn't respond and crossed the line third!

It was a good day and the way it all happened is confirming my form and the way my training will go over the next 6 weeks up until Madrid WTS.

I am really pleased to achieve my base training on a solid result. Over the last four months, I raced four times and I felt my performances increasing the right way. Ok this time I didn't win but I guess I am where I am supposed to be.
Full credit to Steffen and Richard for their performances, they earned it in a gutsy way.

I also have a little story from this week end, it's not a big deal ( ok, yes it is a big deal ;-) ) : In this early season, I am taking the first spot on the world ranking (ITU point list) for the first time of my career. Andrea insured her leadership on the women's ranking ( by finishing also 3rd in Sydney) ! Even if it is going to change in the next weeks, you can't blame me for being pleased with that !

For more infos, video, full results and et press release .:.click here.:.
Photos are courtesy of Delly Carr  and Clare Clarke.
 ------------------------------------------------
Before leaving you I would like to share with the scientists of my readers my powerdata ( rollercoaster photo below) from Sydney with the race course and a few numbers:
-AVG Power: 4,43Watts/kg ( w/ 48 peaks over 10Watts/kg).
-Best 5min: 5,9 Watts/kg
-Best 1min: 7,6Watts/kg

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

Triathlete Mag French Edition Covert ( Sept 2011)

Hello,
After the New Zealand Triathlete & Multisport in august, I am this month on the covert of the French edition of Triathlete Mag.You will find a 4 pages interview where I am talking about my recent Olympic selection, my training, my plans for the future and a little bit more.
Online version available HERE
Cheers, Laurent

ALLEZ LAURENT VIDAL -chat w/ Herbert Krabel from Slowtwitch.

ALLEZ LAURENT VIDAL

Source: www.slowtwitch.com

Written by: Herbert Krabel
Date: Thu Aug 11 2011

With his 6th place finish at the Dextro Energy World Championship race in London, Laurent Vidal earned his ticket to return to that site next year for the Olympic games. He had a few words with slowtwitch.

Slowtwitch: Huge congrats on making the Olympic team for London 2012.

Laurent: Thanks Herbert. It was a gutsy race, very nervous & slippery on the bike and at the finish it was a mixture of relief, excitement and joy of an accomplished goal. It’s not often that you cross the line 6th almost as happy as if you won the race!

ST: You made the Beijing Team in 2008 too - is this time just as exciting?

Laurent: No way, this time is 50 times more exciting! For Beijing it just happened, I qualified as the 3rd French. I was the young gun of the team. This time I prepared that particular selection race for 2 seasons now. In 2008 and especially 2009 I have raced a lot and very consistently (6th on the overall rank of the WCS) but I had never done my best race on the biggest race of the year. So in 2010 and 2011, I changed my way of approaching the season and racing and I really tried to set up a plan in order to have a crack at it in London 2011 and even more so in 2012. So it is very enjoyable to seal the deal so early even if the more challenging part is about to come.

ST: Did you have some extra motivation with Andrea qualifying for the Kiwi team a day earlier?

Laurent: It is crazy but I was nervous watching her race. When I am doing mine I am not stressed at all, but being on the side of the road, without any control, is pretty stressful. I knew she was in good shape and I really trusted her ability to answer the London call and she did, so I was delighted! Andrea showed the way with a classy performance and without saying any word about my upcoming race to me I knew what I had to do the next day.

ST: Had you not qualified would Andrea have given you grief?

Laurent: I am sure she wouldn’t have said anything at first because it is only sport and second because we are both really good separating sport emotions from couple things. We have been together for 4 years and we share a lot, we made our plan in common and assume our choices. I believe to achieve great things you have to take some risks and then the game has to play a bit in your hand and this is what happened in London for both of us.

ST: How confident were you going into the race?

Laurent: To secure the Olympic selection for France, I had to do a top 8 and I was ready to fight against great adversity as the Olympic distance World’s best wanted to qualify there. It was really a 10-month plan, taking a direction and sticking at it, believing it will work well. It was a question about timing and deciding the way you want to achieve your goal. I didn’t have 50 different plans for the race. I could feel everyone around me quite worried, but I was very confident.

I had a long and nice build up, I also decided not to race in July to give myself the best chance, but also to put myself in the same situation of the 2012 year: Nothing mattered apart from this one day race. Ten days before the race I did a very hard day and then I knew I was ready.

ST: Your season until now has been quite steady, but I guess that really did not matter.

Laurent: My base training had been great in NZL and I only did Madrid (12th with 4th fastest run), Kitzbuhel 6th and European 7th as International ITU races prior to the Olympic Test event. It is consistent racing without any crack but I really felt I was getting better week after week. I have learned from the past and my mistakes. I just didn’t say anything but I was putting little piece after piece into London.

ST: Were you surprised by Brownlee’s attack during the bike?

Laurent: I actually didn’t realize he attacked until half way through the bike. I thought it was Stuey Hayes. It’s only my fault, it started to rain hard and the course got very slippery. For a while I was quite deep in the peloton so I couldn’t really react right on time. Alistair is an aggressive racer so I am not surprised he would want to get away. Both Brownlees are great athletes but they are not the only ones. They have brought triathlon to a new level but I can feel that some other athletes are reaching them step by step.

ST: Had your team plans to attack the Brownlees, or in general being aggressive?

Laurent: For this race we didn’t have any team plan. It was a bit weird but the goal was not especially to try everything to win it but to get a top 8 finishes. It will be completely different next year. After Beijing, I realized that the Olympic Race is about winning it. I haven’t spoken with David yet but surely we will put ourselves in the best position to bring back home something big for France. And for the first time in my triathlon career I raced the major goal of the year just focusing on achieving a top 8 because there is not point on being the best in August 2012 if you miss the qualification!

ST: With David Hauss the French team has another very strong athlete going to the Olympics. Has he surprised you?

ST: Who is most likely to get that third spot?

Laurent: Well, it’s still very open with 4 guys fighting for it. They all are good athletes and have different strengths. At the moment, Vincent Luis has shown some great form and by his young age he should keep improving a lot in the next few months. Fred Belaubre and Tony Moulai are experienced and they know what it takes to grab an Olympic spot. Finally Aurelien Raphael was junior world champion in 2007, so he has the talent and now it’s just a question of time until work pays off.

Laurent: I was actually very impressed by Vincent Luis, he is on his debut in the WCS (only his 3rd one) and he took 10th on the fastest! As for David, I have known him since we were 15-years old. Since then we have been very close to each other, he is a very good friend. David was always good, it just took him a bit of time to get the consistency but now he has it. Both of us spend our base training outside of France and I think this is making a difference. He spends time on Réunion Island and I as an adopted Kiwi in New Zealand. Now I am used to say that I am 49% Kiwi, 51% French.

ST: So what is next for you?

Laurent: I am now back in my hometown, Sète (South of France) and you will see me competing in Lausanne for the round 6 of the WCS, then Beijing Grande Finale, Yokohama WCS, the National Champs and finally I will race Auckland World Cup before basing myself in Christchurch to prepare the Olympic season.

ST: How are things going in terms of sponsorship?

Laurent: My partners are involved in my project, without their support it would be impossible to perform at the top level. We are working on long/middle term mutual goals. Although, one or two extra collaborations would be perfect, I decided to limit my number of sponsors to have time to best suit each of them.

Lagardère is a French multinational conglomerate headquartered in Paris. The group is divided into four business lines: media, services, publishing and sport/talent management.

I also belong to the Adidas Olympic Team in France. This team includes several athletes from every Olympic sport. Since 2010, I am «all in» representing the brand with the 3 stripes.

Finally, since 2004, I am contracted to the French army as an athlete and representing values like perseverance, commitment, respect and performance.

ST: Anything else we should know?

Laurent: Yes, during my spare time I enjoy composing electronic music. I have been doing it for 5 years but no dance floor for me - triathletes are a bit sleepy past 11:00pm!


The website of Laurent Vidal is laurent-vidal.com

Images 2 and 3 are courtesy of Mike Heydon of jetproductions.co.nz

QUALIFIED for London 2012 Olympic Games

YES, I made it!
I just made the criteria for the French Olympic Team by crossing the line 6th and 1st french in London!
Even if I didn't win the race, it feels good to seal the deal so early.
The race conditions were epic, more news soon.
You can follow me on twitter for more everyday updates!

Thanks for all the cheering and support!
Laurent

Photo: T.Dekeletere

Consistency

Hello everyone.

I am now back in my hometown Sète preparing the London Olympic Test event in 4 weeks time.
I have oriented my season all around this race. To secure an Olympic spot I will have to finish in the top 8.
This race is basically the most important of the year for all athletes from all over the world, as securing a start in London 2012 Olympics is a big deal in order to perfrom there.
I am getting ready to face adversity and I am expecting a very hard race.
My build up is going well and my recent results are going in the right direction.
I have been racing 4 times in 5 weeks and took 12th in Madrid WCS, 6th in Kitzbuhel WCS, 7th at European Champs and 2nd at the Garmin Alpen triathlon.

I decided not to do the German leg of the WCS in Hamburg in order to prepare London at my best. This is not an easy choice and I know I will lose places on the world ranking but I want to put myself in the best position to have an olympic ticket.

I am currently training for it and I don't need to say that the hammer is down.

All the best.
Laurent

London, 742 days before.

I am happy to have raced in London, the future Olympic city, yesterday.
A week ago, I was very pessimistic about the possibility of being able to start.
12th at the finish of a race where I could not give anything more.Andrea finished fourth and is holding 2nd in the World Championship ranking.
We're already back at altitude to prepare the next stage of the World Championship in Kitzbuhel (AUT) in three weeks.
For more info, video and results .:. click here.:.


Photos: Maud AG-Facebook