# 21 - Challenge Roth Special | 7 Seconds Faster

00:00:00: Welcome back to the podcast that makes you faster with a new long distance world record.

00:00:06: Seven hours, twenty one minutes and four seconds set by the one in only Sam Laidlaw at The Challenge Roth.

00:00:17: JP first of all how are you?

00:00:21: Get good!

00:00:22: Good crazy busy at the moment.

00:00:24: You know challenge Roth also marks the start of the Tour de France so for us it's one of the busiest times of year.

00:00:31: But yeah, amazing Roth was absolutely amazing this year.

00:00:35: and not to forget Rico Bolgan.

00:00:37: Yeah first ever long distance triathlon smashed the course uh The bike course record in roth with it and finished on the podium.

00:00:45: And then Sam of course breaking Not just a Roth record overall but the Long-distance Triathlon Record like insane Absolutely insane

00:00:55: Absolutely insane.

00:00:56: Like Rico was the fastest swimmer of today and the fastest biker, obviously with a new bike best time on day.

00:01:05: And Sam like we already said took to overall win.

00:01:08: so double podium for Swiss set athletes.

00:01:11: Good date you remember I guess

00:01:13: Definitely definitely good data Remember?

00:01:16: Also just added at the beginning.

00:01:17: now don't forget Rico Had never done along distance triathlete

00:01:23: before.

00:01:24: He'd never ridden a hundred eighty kilometers before, he had never run a marathon.

00:01:28: Before you've never run more than thirty kilometers in training so for him to finish on the podium and what was also record time.

00:01:38: Insane like that whole day.

00:01:40: it's just insane!

00:01:41: And then about with Blumfeldt and oh gosh...what a crazy race

00:01:48: really crazy race.

00:01:49: Rico made it look easy until run kilometer like now, for the first five I guess around?

00:01:55: I think we're gonna let him look easy into that kilometer five and then but i think he learned all shit.

00:02:03: this is going to be a really long day too

00:02:06: true yeah But just amazing.

00:02:11: Just amazing to see How far triathlon and especially long distance racing has come in the past years.

00:02:18: I remember two thousand eleven, um with The seven hours forty one minutes from Michaela back then in Roth where everyone was saying like this is absolutely insane because it's so uh Far away from the eight hour mark that was broken not far not far away From that point.

00:02:37: at this point So crazy seven twenty-one house is possible.

00:02:43: Insane, insane.

00:02:45: Yeah

00:02:47: and we did some testing with Sam one week prior to race or a few days?

00:02:53: Just

00:02:54: just a little bit.

00:02:55: I mean i think it's important to say We did quite a large testing program this year.

00:03:01: You know clear clear goals.

00:03:03: I mean you know sam said to us from the very beginning.

00:03:06: he wants To break the record doesn't just want to win the race He wants to break The Record has his eye on the long distance record time as well.

00:03:15: So, you know... His requirement to us was leave no stones unturned.

00:03:22: so wind tunnel testing, on-road testing pacing strategy with the platform everything and we rolled everything out And literally as saw in this race every second counted.

00:03:37: What was the first touching point with Charles Roth?

00:03:40: when what's the day?

00:03:42: When Sam came up we're saying I will break the record.

00:03:45: Do you remember?

00:03:47: yeah, I mean a good question.

00:03:48: I mean it was certainly earlier this year.

00:03:50: You know.

00:03:51: he said to us Yeah, I want to go to Roth and I wanna break the Record in very Sam-like style like just down is Just what i'm gonna do Which Is really cool.

00:04:01: And We're Like Chore.

00:04:04: And so, you know the first step was we need to go into the wind tunnel.

00:04:06: We needed to book the Wind Tunnel Test.

00:04:09: The challenge there is that we had to postpone it twice because Canyon was launching their new Speedmax bike and It's supposed be available at a certain date.

00:04:19: then they got pushed back again.

00:04:22: So actually this year the windtunnel testing happened very close I think were only two weeks before Roth or something.

00:04:31: And it was kind of a quick fire event.

00:04:33: You know, we had Laura, Philip and Rico.

00:04:36: Morgan and Sam laid low together in the wind tunnel.

00:04:40: you know multi-day session because they'd all three of them only just received the bike.

00:04:46: so It was like quick setup.

00:04:47: I don't think Nico or Rico have even ridden the bike on the road yet Which is always challenging.

00:04:53: Sam done little bit on their rollers.

00:04:55: that's about.

00:04:57: So yeah, you know it was a question that's getting to the wind tunnel.

00:04:59: and uh And first of all You know every time you get a bike out of the box.

00:05:04: You have to reset it up new again.

00:05:07: so particularly with this new speedmax It had a whole new cockpit solution different bottles different pta solution Different cockpit shape which all impacts aerodynamics for the rider?

00:05:17: So we ended up playing with Yeah cockpit heights widths which bottles were in this sort of modular BTA solution that Canyon is brought also behind the saddle, a new solutions.

00:05:30: so testing what's actually the optimum.

00:05:33: And as always we figure out with all three athletes there was a different optimum and so Laura and Rico and Sam all end up with slightly different solutions but it's great.

00:05:43: that's why therefore yeah first step wind tunnel has always.

00:05:51: Sam had some later suits that he wanted to try out.

00:05:55: Also helmets, you know these big wide body helmets.

00:05:58: the fires are super important for aerodynamics but they also impact the cooling and we all know like especially this summer it's super hot.

00:06:07: cooling management.

00:06:09: We saw Lisa Charles Barkley doing a clothes change going into But everyone thinking as well about calling.

00:06:21: So it was also a topic with Sam, you know?

00:06:24: With without visor.

00:06:25: what's the right thing to do if It is super hot day?

00:06:30: so yeah its all About exploring those What Ifs set up for Hot Day Setup for Cool Day setup For A Record.

00:06:37: You Know All Of Those Things And We Never Prescribe To The Athlete What They Need To Write.

00:06:44: We Simply Give Them Information and Say Hey This is the delta between each configuration in watts and then time over the long-distance course In Roth, and they decide them what's best for them.

00:06:57: Yeah Oh let's maybe quickly touch on Lucy's clothing change because you just said that You don't think that was to may be not the best thing to do in this situation.

00:07:10: I Heard after the race that she changed Because her suit was so crazy optimized for the bike course that it was impacting her run, like because turning.

00:07:23: It was turning her back a little bit so she was moving too much upright.

00:07:29: I don't know if that's right but i just heard rumors about that.

00:07:33: do you no more or what?

00:07:35: What is your point on...

00:07:37: First of all l know nothing.

00:07:40: You'd have to ask Lucy about what were the reasons behind it.

00:07:44: Purely from an external Vision and you know, we developed tri suits for our own brand.

00:07:50: Yeah side but also for various other brands.

00:07:54: We know the requirement of You have to be able to be fast.

00:07:57: Also in a swim if you're wearing it underneath you have to Be fast on the bike or aerodynamically But she has to be up at a run an ergonomically.

00:08:04: each two take the boxes of all three.

00:08:07: so It would surprise me If what you said is true that she had a suit That wasn't okay for running, because that's sort of mistake already.

00:08:20: In that sense but yeah I was quite surprised in...I could understand potentially the thinking oh let's go to these full athletics maximum exposed skin after her experience in Kona and the blowing up and clearly understandable maybe anxiety around.

00:08:40: But you know, we do a lot of investigations also here at Swiss Side.

00:08:44: We have special rigs for measuring cooling on textiles and actually want textiles?

00:08:50: For two reasons.

00:08:51: First of all You wanna cover your skin Um...for aerodynamic purposes.

00:08:56: Secondly If it's the right textile for cooling purpose True.

00:09:03: So whatever reason I personally don't understand why their choice The change costs time as well, which proved to be quite decisive in the race result.

00:09:17: So yeah you know.

00:09:18: of course we don't have the insight and all reasons why she did that but from at least an external view not sure if was really right thing.

00:09:33: Yeah, let's see.

00:09:35: Maybe we will get an explanation someday in the video or something.

00:09:40: um Let's get back to testing with Sam in The Wind Tunnel.

00:09:43: I was there just for taking some pictures and yeah i was sneak peeking a bit of the new material And the new visors and everything and... ...I thought like this was the most time-consuming test that I was That I saw in the wind tunnel.

00:10:03: I was there with our athletes and saw testing but this day Was really long because they were so many configurations, and so many little things to test.

00:10:14: How is that?

00:10:15: when you get away?

00:10:16: With that new baseline You have as an athlete it's.

00:10:20: i think It's super cool too see the numbers dropping And you know that you have just one perfect setup you can raise with.

00:10:28: But isn't that also exhausting for the athlete?

00:10:31: Absolutely.

00:10:32: I mean, we normally see in the wind tunnel and you know with our wind tunnel We can test quite efficiently.

00:10:38: so we do a lot of runs per hour.

00:10:43: After four hours an athlete is cooked They cannot hold their position consistently anymore Which means that repeatability measurement goes And then measuring noise.

00:10:54: It's time to stop Sam's determination to test every single configuration.

00:11:02: answer all the questions.

00:11:03: Number one, secondly his stamina To remain repeatable like he was repeatable for Like eight hours of testing

00:11:12: Yeah

00:11:14: Was quite phenomenal.

00:11:15: I haven't really seen that.

00:11:16: and of course maybe you know That we saw how.

00:11:20: How deep is endurance was on race day in Roth?

00:11:24: So You know Maybe it was already a sign can keep concentrated and keep the head down, do their work for a long period of time.

00:11:33: So yeah it was... I was exhausted!

00:11:35: It's been really a long day in the wind tunnel but at the end i'm starting to fry and not even the measurement object under going on site with my laptop.

00:11:44: so you know had off to Sam.

00:11:47: that is probably the most intense testing day we've done

00:11:53: ever crazy.

00:11:55: I remember sitting in the back of, off to area with Sam's dad and we were all completely exhausted.

00:12:03: But Sam was like okay let's do another one.

00:12:06: maybe can you test

00:12:08: this?

00:12:08: What about that?

00:12:09: yeah Okay We're there for him right.

00:12:12: so Of course if sam wants a run And i see then The numbers are still repeating Then Yeah Let's Do It.

00:12:22: You Know Have Another Coffee.

00:12:24: And then of course,

00:12:25: you know we finished the testing day and it was a huge testing day.

00:12:30: Then we had to jump in the current drive four hours to Roth Yeah Uh...and then jump on the bike for next day for the on-road testing.

00:12:37: So yeah with an intense couple days

00:12:39: Every intense because we met at around seven thirty in the morning Exactly.

00:12:46: And Jörg and I, so Jörgao head of digital solutions who's in charge of the performance platform but also our measurement systems on wind tunnel.

00:12:55: He was like yeah i want to go check out various areas for doing straight line testing that we wanted to do with SAM because we actually hadn't done specific straightline testing in Roth before.

00:13:16: So he'd like, yeah.

00:13:17: He and Stefan one of our other engineers had sort of sussed out some possible straight line segments that we could go on use.

00:13:24: And so we were at like midnight one o'clock in the morning driving up and down stretches of road checking a road roughness Checking straightness checking elevation to make sure That We Had The Right Thing.

00:13:35: I think i said you know Sam A WhatsApp Message At One AM Said This Is The Meeting Point.

00:13:44: see you there at eight and yeah.

00:13:47: so it was a long day.

00:13:50: It wasn't really long, especially for Sem also because I saw him he did some test runs like in different speeds on the transfer of course or a road beneath the course, and I saw him sweating because he had to push what's.

00:14:10: you have to do it seriously.

00:14:12: Because It was like alive testing for the race.

00:14:15: that happened two weeks after And at around i guess ten or eleven am The test on this specific street segment.

00:14:25: That Was one point five Kilometer Or Two Kilometers.

00:14:28: How long was

00:14:29: it?

00:14:30: Yeah, a little bit more than one point five.

00:14:32: One point five.

00:14:33: I thought okay this is that's done now.

00:14:36: but then we sat down in the cafe to talk about The numbers that came out and Then We had It Out on A course also yeah And Exactly so.

00:14:44: maybe gives everyone Sort of an Overview Of what We were doing There.

00:14:47: So like you know On the Friday i think it Was we Were In the Wind Tunnel for Super Long Session Tested Everything new all the Configurations We were Interested in.

00:14:58: Then the next morning in Roth, we did straight line testing with our CDA meter.

00:15:02: So real world testing along a straight section of course so that we pick up nice bit of road as straight is possible With little winds protected very little elevation and then basically do up-and back runs with our CDA meter which measures all metrics including wind crosswinds headwind tailwinds And basically with this system we can calculate the CDA in an indirect method to correlate what we measured on the wind tunnel.

00:15:38: Also, Sam was interested into a real world when you're actually moving to test various configurations particularly around cooling.

00:15:45: We talked about cooling before with Lucy Charles Barclays and know that cooling is big topic.

00:15:52: Yes!

00:15:53: We mentioned yes but wanted to test it without visor and also some various configurations.

00:15:58: So what we do when we do this kind of testing is, first off all the speed sweep so that he tests up on back and repeats at different speeds with a fixed configuration.

00:16:12: With these we can calculate the rolling resistance coefficient And then after that we have CDA.

00:16:19: Then test his race speed.

00:16:21: So yeah, to answer those sorts of questions.

00:16:26: And what the main conclusion from that test is?

00:16:30: we had a good correlation to the wind tunnel which was important.

00:16:34: We have an accurate real-world CDA number Which will be used then for our performance simulation platform and we answered this question For example, whether to use visor or not depending on temperatures and conditions.

00:16:51: So different approaches already tested two weeks before.

00:16:55: And then some had, in my opinion it's a lot you have to weeks and he stayed in Roth for the two weeks to train there and get to know the course.

00:17:07: but He knows of course because he won already one year ago.

00:17:09: But yeah with the new setup and everything getting confident with the set up With temperatures so It's a benefit from suicide that is unique, I guess in the field of triathlon.

00:17:27: Yeah definitely and you know The really important thing.

00:17:31: as we mentioned Sam had the goal of breaking record.

00:17:33: so to do this You can't skip any steps.

00:17:38: You've got turn every stone.

00:17:41: So next part not just aerodynamics which we kind have dialed Cooling management setup.

00:17:51: The next step was then pacing strategy, you know how many watts is he going to push where on the course?

00:17:57: and something we've been working with Sam in over last year or so In the last World Championship races as well.

00:18:05: And so using our Swiss side performance platform not only can We determine equipment set up which Is really clear for Roth because it's max arrow rear disc Deeper front wheel.

00:18:16: But Then the pacing strategy, so what does that mean?

00:18:21: Basically it means you have a certain amount of energy available.

00:18:24: You have your normalised power he knew from last Roth race.

00:18:31: and how much more would expect to do in the normalised part?

00:18:35: we can enter into our placing platform then calculate best use for your power which will give you target normalise power.

00:18:48: how much to overpower.

00:18:49: So, how much more watts plus twenty-plus thirty watts or whatever it is on the climbs into the headwinds?

00:18:56: How much under power to recover because its quite efficient to do that On the descents with tailwind sections.

00:19:03: and then what a target parry for flat section.

00:19:06: And you think I had sounds pretty simple but actually You can save many minutes There's not seconds Yeah, and using your energy wisely And using it the right places on course.

00:19:22: So The purpose for the afternoon of that Saturday was then to ride the course in particular key segments off the course so that Sam can really subjectively try Overpowering at the target over power see how that feels for him Practice a recovery seeing what its like on the descents all these scenarios so that we can get the feedback from Sam, does this pacing strategy make sense for you?

00:19:51: Is it too aggressive is a too conservative.

00:19:53: So that we could make the final tweaks for a race?

00:19:58: and yeah That's what we did.

00:20:00: great thing as you said Richard Sam's dad who's uh You know very experienced guy was there with us And also looking over the shoulder and giving inputs of insights into What we should be doing.

00:20:15: So that was the big session.

00:20:18: Unfortunately, Sam he was a little bit sick on that day and it wasn't brutally hot.

00:20:23: so yeah... Sam said at one point you know have you got enough data?

00:20:28: And we say Yeah!

00:20:29: We've got what we need.

00:20:31: He's like.

00:20:32: I don't think i can go on and its like dude stop..we dont'need more but obviously most important for him in this stage to recover.

00:20:42: But yea ..We got our data needed.

00:20:45: we could do some refinements on the pacing strategy.

00:20:50: And then yeah, it's all down to race day and what he can actually deliver on that date because you never know your form on race day can be good or not so good.

00:21:03: So our job in supporting athletes is just doing as much work possible.

00:21:13: We certainly, we certainly

00:21:14: did that.

00:21:15: Yeah and it's so cool to get these insights because now I know how much of work goes into this race Because as a normal age group or normal triathlon lover fan of the sport You just see the big races The life coverage of the races And you feel like okay It is all about Of course with some testing beforehand and everything, but that amount of testing is like insane.

00:21:47: But you need that amount to do times seven or four I guess?

00:21:53: Absolutely!

00:21:54: You mentioned at the beginning first of all Patrick Lange.

00:21:59: when we did project one-on-one with him The goal was go under eight hours in Kona for the first time.

00:22:06: Everyone thought it's even possible But you've got to do the work.

00:22:13: And, you know... You mentioned before when Michael Raylett did The Seven Forty Time in Roth and everyone's just like oh my god how is that even possible?

00:22:24: That's insane!

00:22:25: A few weeks ago Sam went seven twenty-one but this was a result of the objective structure approach.

00:22:39: Yeah, to racing you know.

00:22:40: development of equipment Testing of equipment Optimization of pacing strategies all of these things to make sure that You're not leaving seconds or minutes out on the road.

00:22:53: and yeah.

00:22:53: You can see compared to Michael rated like That was an incredible time with state-of-the art equipment back then.

00:23:03: now to go twenty minutes faster You can say how much progress they've been in last years.

00:23:07: Yeah, that's crazy.

00:23:09: Twenty minutes within fifteen years and how long did it take to break the eight hour mark?

00:23:15: Like from beginning of triathlon.

00:23:17: thirty years or something?

00:23:18: Crazy!

00:23:20: And this is what I love about the sport of triathlons cycling in general compared to.

00:23:25: you know what i used to do in Formula One.

00:23:28: You Know stuff we didn't.

00:23:29: formula one didn't really trickle down The end user driving your car.

00:23:34: you don't benefit As much as they might say that you do.

00:23:38: but in triathlon and cycling You directly benefit.

00:23:41: You get the same equipment,you can buy The Same Equipment.

00:23:44: ,You Can Benefit From The Same Technologies That The Pros Are Using Which I Think Is Great And You Know Like The Swiss Side Performance Platform That We've Used With Laura And Sam And Patrick Langer In The Past And Whoever To Set These Kind Of Times To Optimise It.

00:24:01: .That is Now Available As A Tool to The End Consumer.

00:24:04: That's the same tool we're using with the Cathalon CMRCGA team in the Tour de France at the moment.

00:24:11: So, you know I love it because the same tools and products use as an age group can benefit from that and go faster too!

00:24:24: And be more efficient.

00:24:25: so i think thats a really cool thing about our sport

00:24:29: Absolutely.

00:24:30: We just talked about it a bit before we started recording, I put on my Swiss head cockpit and for the first time in my life as a triathlete... ...I have the BTA bottle directly under my chin.

00:24:43: when i lay down to go right into the cockpit It feels like being a pro!

00:24:49: To be totally... As deep as possible.

00:24:56: the high amount of bottles they use at this time on the back and underneath, the cockpit in everything.

00:25:07: It's crazy!

00:25:08: And also we had a booth at The Challenge Roth so many people showing up to get their personal race strategy printed out directly at the booth because that was such a great thing.

00:25:23: We had an installment off the performance platform there And then they got their perfect pacing strategy for race day.

00:25:34: That is something that's way more than gold.

00:25:38: on a day like this, it's crazy!

00:25:40: Yeah no one wants to suffer longer than you need too and its always nice to have the faster time.

00:25:47: so ultimately we're racing against ourselves most of us... ...and our own ambitions if we've had the chance do the race before your racing against previous times.

00:25:57: But yeah, I think these are great tools.

00:25:59: And as well particularly in the world of triathlon.

00:26:02: everyone loves the tech.

00:26:04: Everyone's really into it and to understand how to be more efficient or improve your time Why?

00:26:13: This is what a tool like the Swiss side performance platform does.

00:26:19: It'a real learning tool.

00:26:21: so you know by doing simulation for challenge Roth teaches you things that you can apply to every race.

00:26:27: You do after that, so yeah again I just love the technology drive and motivation of all athletes pros and amateur athletes in triathlon.

00:26:38: Yeah To get into the tech And be faster have more fun doing it?

00:26:46: It's exciting.

00:26:48: if you had asked me like two thousand eleven as Andy said this record involved If there is any possibility to go under a seven thirty, I would have said like probably no.

00:26:58: But now what do you think it's possible in the future?

00:27:00: Oh who knows!

00:27:04: The eight hour record was the Holy Grail and we're now forty minutes almost under that.

00:27:10: so can we get to seven hours?

00:27:12: yeah i think we can because let us forget its not just aerodynamics Uh, textiles and cooling.

00:27:22: It's it's everything.

00:27:23: its nutrition is training.

00:27:24: how people train uh How people can take on carbs?

00:27:28: How deep they can go.

00:27:30: I mean we haven't talked about the run yet um but i mean watching sam And riko on the run Was insane.

00:27:39: and you know I don't know how deep Sam went Compared to anything he's done in the past.

00:27:47: Yeah, I'd be really willing to put money on that.

00:27:50: He's never been so deep and that pain cave ever?

00:27:55: I mean a look at his face was Was.

00:27:58: i think all of us at some point were like He's so deep.

00:28:02: He's too deep.

00:28:03: I think young Frodino when the live coverage was like no No That he's he's too Deep.

00:28:07: yeah is gonna blow he's going to blow He's Gonna walk.

00:28:10: And then literally I Think you know two seconds after he said that, Sam briefly walked through an aid station to drink and it was like oh no but then he kept running.

00:28:20: And I have to have a chat with Sam since the race except to congratulate him on their effort.

00:28:28: yeah i'd be really interested to know if is even conscious or just somewhere deep in some world of torture.

00:28:40: But you know, he was watching his watch consistent constantly.

00:28:42: And it's like is He Watching His Watch because he's losing time?

00:28:48: Or Is He Watching his Watch Because he's conscious of the record and dosing his energy moving forward who knows but either way It Was Amazing to Watch and also let's not forget Rico never run a marathon.

00:29:03: Also The Pain Face There?

00:29:06: Yeah Of Course.

00:29:08: Well Not Of Course to be honest, expected.

00:29:11: Bloomfield came through him at one point and it was like can he hold onto the podium?

00:29:15: But you know to see Rico as the leading German in his first ever long-distance triathlon race across the finish line on Roth's podium is insane!

00:29:29: And also knowing a big call out to Philip Seippe.

00:29:33: You know Phillip Seippes' coach who's also Laura's But, you know he's there in so much depth that every wind tunnel test driving the whole thing pushing Every partner to maximize performance.

00:29:49: You Know He's So all-in as a guy As a coach Yeah behind these guys and then yeah too.

00:30:05: You know?

00:30:09: And, you know as well to give him the best chance first.

00:30:13: So together with Phillip Sype in this case we did a pacing strategy which made sense for Rico.

00:30:20: but Philip said at the end yeah well Rico's plan is pretty simple.

00:30:25: he just can sit on Sam and not let them go and lead and share the lead with Sam.

00:30:32: so it was kind of like okay that let's say Sam had a clear pacing strategy that he executed, Rico I think his pacing strategy was stick with Sam.

00:30:41: And then head out on the run and stick with him as long if you could.

00:30:45: but yeah i think the biggest challenge that Philip Sightt had was to keep Rico conservative as possible which didn't happen.

00:30:55: He went all-out But yeah in any end again what a result for both of them.

00:31:03: Just want to jump back to Sam again.

00:31:05: We're talking about the long distance record and Sam's so deep in the pain cave, and Sam knowing that he wanted that record And He knew what?

00:31:16: The pacing strategy That was required To get that record Was and for example part of that pacing strategy was a significant overpower on the climbs.

00:31:25: one Of those climbs was Salah bag and On the second lap you've got the challenge with all not to mention the crowd.

00:31:35: And you could just see Sam's dedication to, to maximize or minimizing time and maximizing his performance.

00:31:43: he came on the second lap became into Solabaer and Rico got past well gotten front and actually put an age group of between him and

00:31:53: yeah.

00:31:54: Yeah.

00:31:54: So yeah.

00:31:55: And Sam was having none of it.

00:31:57: so Sam literally barged the age group athlete and then barged his way past Rico, And just kept on power up that climb.

00:32:07: Presumably because he didn't want to lose any seconds now cause He knew you had to over pace On That Climb and he couldn't be stuck behind someone.

00:32:16: Now when we saw it was like oh wow!

00:32:19: That is aggressive I wanna call it But...he knew..He wanted To go for a race record and Sam's mentality Is i'm all in Uh, he's in the zone.

00:32:33: He's in a tunnel.

00:32:34: now you know?

00:32:35: You could debate whether it was um Too aggressive uh But in the end he got the record by seven seconds.

00:32:42: yeah.

00:32:42: So then hindsight if he would have sat behind that age group athlete Would he've got the records?

00:32:48: no he wouldn't of because he would Have lost seven seconds.

00:32:51: so Whichever way you want to cut it you wanna break records You're all-in.

00:32:58: Just you've gotta hit it and you've got to be fully committed.

00:33:02: I think if one thing we can say about Sam, for what we saw in the leaks weeding up to the race whether it be a wind tunnel or straight line testing.

00:33:10: Whether it being the pacing strategy on course when he wasn't feeling well then in the race, Sam was fully committed and there's no question of that which is super impressive.

00:33:25: There's nothing more you can say.

00:33:30: And it was insane and really hats off to Sam, fastest triathlete ever.

00:33:36: Yeah.

00:33:39: Goosebumps!

00:33:41: Really, really goosebumps because Sam said in a podcast after the race that he... The last seven K of the run.

00:33:48: He was in the darkest place ever Of his life like couldn't see anything on the outsides and everything just focused on time, on his clock.

00:34:00: And it's so crazy to stay that laser-focused for seven hours and twenty one minutes!

00:34:09: I remember writing my studies in.

00:34:12: everything like staying focused for two or three hours is also very exhausting but doing something like this...and he wants it so bad.

00:34:23: So, yeah.

00:34:25: Also from my side again huge congratulations to this race also for Riko.

00:34:31: there was just one scene in the live coverage where you saw Philip really screaming like it's too fast!

00:34:41: It was a great scene because I guess Sam thought that he would be completely all alone on the top of off-the-bike course and everything like doing the whole race alone.

00:34:53: So he, for him it was also a benefit to this battle with Rico or an on-the bike course?

00:34:59: Yeah I mean

00:35:00: sure!

00:35:00: I think you're right.

00:35:01: i think Sam can definitely Also credit part of these seven seconds To having ridden with Ricco.

00:35:08: yeah...I mean they in The great news is now in Roth.

00:35:11: there's that twenty meter rule.

00:35:13: so You know let say There Was no real drafting effect but the fact That two Of them were pushing each other and sharing the lead, I think is great.

00:35:22: So yeah it's brilliant.

00:35:25: And you know at the beginning of the run we're talking about seven seconds.

00:35:29: so in the beginning they are running with someone having that drafting effect.

00:35:33: saving a second every other kilometre certainly contributed The whole race dynamic.

00:35:39: how it panned out with Ricco Sam led to the phenomenal result for both of them again just jumping back you know, that performance first ever long distance triathlon.

00:35:54: What can that guy do in the future?

00:35:56: Yeah I mean oh my god let's see.

00:35:58: um but yeah it's going to be a really exciting future.

00:36:03: um i can't wait to see how he develops How Sam develops both of them young athletes.

00:36:08: um totally

00:36:09: yeah they're gonna set this scene alight for the next few years.

00:36:13: so It's going.

00:36:16: Yeah,

00:36:19: now the Norwegians are angry.

00:36:21: So they will put all in for Kona and so will Sam because this is his lifetime goal.

00:36:27: as I was at his house last year to do this podcast interview with him He told me like with an intensity i haven't seen often before that His biggest life goal is to win in kona not only an ironman world championship Like a niece and everything.

00:36:45: That's fine for him.

00:36:46: It's totally cool but he wants to win Kona

00:36:49: like

00:36:51: Nothing else in its life.

00:36:53: So, um yeah already excited for that For me it was.

00:36:57: I had some really great days before the race Like seeing Sam with all of testing and in Roth testing on the course And Of Course It's always a Really Great Experience With You Guys On The Booth.

00:37:12: We Had Some Great Days There too amazing new products with the like.

00:37:18: we said, you touched on it.

00:37:19: The performance platform and yeah, new apparel in your product's view everything.

00:37:25: And I think um We will leave this to uh a next episode.

00:37:28: We will record an also talking about tour de France

00:37:32: of course.

00:37:32: Oh yes Yeah.

00:37:33: So we've also got say You know right now as we're recording This episode that Tour De France is in full swing.

00:37:39: Um where already had a stage win With Olaf Koi On the first sprint stage.

00:37:46: Since then, he's done multiple podiums as well.

00:37:49: Paul Saxas also a day in the white jersey on the podium for the first time and leading into last week of Tour de France is going to be insane.

00:38:03: And if something happens, Pogacir is going to win it.

00:38:12: But yeah let's see our goal is to get PaulSexus onto the podium.

00:38:18: Our performance platform Is a big part of that effort as well in the background.

00:38:23: His time trial was also an excellent effort Where the performance platform Was one of the primary tool for pacing strategy.

00:38:36: Yeah great stuff.

00:38:38: We'll see how the tour ends up in the final week.

00:38:41: And lots of things to talk about it, you know next podcast?

00:38:45: Yes

00:38:46: we do.

00:38:46: thank you so much for all the insights.

00:38:49: and yeah let's see.

00:38:51: um It is I think best ever season for team Decathlon CMA CGM so far this year.

00:38:59: So cool to talk with us on our next episode.

00:39:03: Absolutely!

00:39:04: The best-ever performance from Swiss pro athletes as well.

00:39:08: It's a good year.

00:39:10: Ultimately, it is proof of the work that we do together with our athletes and team.

00:39:15: so let us see how far can push them to break moving forward.

00:39:21: Thanks everyone for listening.

00:39:23: We will catch you all in the Tour de France episode.