Jelle Geens revealed he suffered multiple mechanical issues – and a sore hip – after an early spill on the bike before he somehow went on to defend his IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship title.
Geens hit the deck not long after T1 but wasted little time in bridging his way up to the front group only to have to stop again at the side of the road to work on his bike.
But again he made it back to the head of the race and then overcame a slightly slow start on the run to catch up with former Olympic champion Kristian Blummenfelt as the two of them settled down to what was one of the great triathlon duels.
It all came down to a sprint finish and not much more than 100 metres from the line was where the brilliant Belgian asserted to see off his Norwegian adversary by three seconds.
Bike mechanic and world champion!
Speaking afterwards to Craig Alexander on the live broadcast, he revealed what had happened early on the bike: “It was my own fault. I just went too fast through that corner. I had no idea we had to go right so I just slid out and went under the barrier.
“I got stuck a bit and my right TT extension was sort of across this way so I had to ride with it like that.
“And then the casing on my rear derailleur cage was also bent a bit which meant I couldn’t go into my smallest gearing.
“So I stopped at the end of the first climb to bend it back and luckily it felt good from there on.
“But my hip was hurting quite a bit at the start of the run and it took me a little bit to get into it but once I did, I felt really strong actually.”
Family affair
Geens has had to see off two triathlon greats to win his world titles, having run down Hayden Wilde on the Kiwi’s home turf in New Zealand last year.
They are also his only appearances to date in the 70.3 Worlds and he added: “It’s unbelievable. This was the main goal of the season.
“We went with the family to Andorra for an altitude camp and had a really good block there. Going into this the aim was obviously to defend the title but there is so much that can happen in a race as the crash showed today – and I actually thought it was over at that point for the win.
“I still think it has to sink in a bit. I think being able to do it while having a family and doing everything with the family it makes it that much more special. I think my little girl is there shouting ‘daddy, daddy’ – she has no idea but I think for her as well looking back maybe in 10 years, knowing that she was there even though she won’t remember it, I think it’s a really good thing.”
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