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De Haan, .5-28-7.5 This is the Belgian year opener, and just as last year, it falls the weekend after my return from training camp. Last year I had felt bad all week (recuperating), had a mediocre swim but a strong bike and run. I was hoping to improve on the swim... Not that lucky though. Once I started swimming I felt I could really go for it. So I lost another five seconds compared with last year. In the afternoon everybody sets up for the rest of the race, and I had quite a few people to pass. That in itself is not a problem, but as this is a drafting legal race (hate that, but well, it is considered to be training), you have to try to get rid of the people you pass or work together. As usual, neither happened, and apart from two guys who swam a few seconds slower (Hasan Öser and Wim De Doncker) everybody who swam slower stayed behind and only Marino Vanhoenacker stayed in front. Al the others formed a group of ten where I could not get away (riding hard for a while is no problem, riding very hard for a couple of seconds is) and there was no cooperation. I was riding in front all the time except for some breakaway attempts. In those cases I actually tried to let them stay ahead a while hoping it would tire them, but that definitely didn't help. Might not have been a very good tactic, but still. So at the end we arrived at transition in group and after some troubles getting into my shoes, I left the transition last. My run had as much punch as my swim, so I couple of guys passed me (even in the lest couple of meters, I normally never let that happen as easily, but the legs would not do their thing). Conclusion, recuperating from a training camp doesn't always happen as smooth, and I have a somewhat more work to do to get into the shape I want. But I still have some time for Lanzarote... keep training. |
