He was one of the big favourites for the win but Sam Laidlow‘s IRONMAN World Championship was virtually over before it started in Nice on Sunday.
The Frenchman, the winner two years earlier on the Cote d’Azur, was nicely positioned in the top 10 approaching halfway in the swim in the Med.
But then he suddenly stopped and though he got going again he lost nearly two minutes in the water and that would rise to over three early on the bike.
He would battle brilliantly for the rest of the day to eventually finish fifth behind a Norway one-two-three and Marten Van Riel – but what set him on the back foot early on?
‘I couldn’t wait to get out of the water’
Speaking in the post-race press conference he said: “I just wasn’t good enough to lead it and like a bit of attention so sort of stopped.
“No, I cramped up in both hip flexors so had to stop and stretch out.
“It was a long swim and I couldn’t wait to get out of the water to be honest.
“I was definitely the closest I’ve been to stopping in this race. I was very close to getting in the boat. And then I just thought of all the people that had come out to watch.
“I’ve got old coaches from when I was a kid who had travelled far – and friends and family – so I’d have felt a bit bad if I’d have stopped on the swim. They definitely got me to the finish line.”
‘I hope I can come back stronger’
Laidlow had gone into the race on the back of brilliant wins at Challenge Roth and IRONMAN Leeds but, as he rightly pointed out: “I knew what it took to win a world title and I knew that in those two races the fields… weren’t World Championship level.
“I knew that these boys had been winning all the big races so I knew it was going to take something special.
“And I’d mostly like to thank these guys for elevating our sport because this doesn’t come around every day and forces us all to be better athletes.”
Laidlow’s time was actually two-and-a-half minutes quicker than his winning one from 2023 and of the Norwegian clean sweep, which was led by Casper Stornes, he added: “Yeah, they’ve got an extra carriage on the train now.
“I think all three of them have upped their cycling. We’ve always known they can run very fast but this was special to see and witness and I just hope I can come back stronger.”
