PTO World #8 and last year’s fifth place finisher at the IRONMAN World Championship in Nice Leon Chevalier is the latest athlete to announce his plans to balance the T100 Tour with Kona in 2024.
The 27-year-old, who trains in Bath, hopes like many that the fast and furious racing over the 100km distance will leave him primed and ready for the showdown on the Big Island of Hawaii in October.
Speaking to TRI247, the Frenchman said that he is quietly confident of performing well on the T100 Triathlon World Tour but will look to save his best race of the season for a shot at the world title.
“I can fully focus on trying to be an IRONMAN World Champion”
Having finished in the top eight at the last three IRONMAN World Championship in St. George, Kona and Nice, Chevalier believes there’s no time like the present to chase the top spot.
“I feel like I am in a point in my career where I can fully focus on basically trying to be an IRONMAN World Champion and I think the T100 format will really make me work on my weaknesses and my big weakness at the moment is the swim.
“The way this season has worked out so far, I have been able to focus on my work in the water without having to get my bike and run back to a good place to qualify for Kona in an IRONMAN.”
With the IRONMAN World Championship returning to Nice in 2025, the IRONMAN Cozumel winner said that he already has half an eye on next year’s race, but believes he can get the job done in Kona.
“For me, the big goal remains Kona and then I am also targeting Nice in 2025, although I think I have a solid chance in Kona.
“I think I can do well on the PTO Tour but I can’t make it a priority because you can only peak so many times in a year and with the goal being Kona you have to choose.”
“I am looking forward to surprising myself”
Announcing his race plans for the early season, Chevalier plans on racing the first two T100 events in North America and Asia before beginning preparations for a full distance event early this summer.
“I’ll be at the first two T100 races in Miami and Singapore, then I’ll take a chunk of time to train for a full distance race at the start of the summer, which I am really excited about.
“I will also stop by IRONMAN 70.3 Les Sables D’Olonne for my club, which I won last year and look forward to racing again this year as it will be a stop on the IRONMAN Pro Series.
“I will be at the PTO event in London, as it is just down the road from where I am in Bath and I think I would be a fool to miss that one as I think it would be a really nice way to finish off the first part of the season.
“After that, I will begin preparing for Kona and will stop at the PTO event in Ibiza to tick off my races, before flying to Kona and then finishing my season with the last two T100 races.”
On his chances over the 100km distance, the French star was optimistic and hinted that after a poor performance last year in Ibiza, he was ready to bounce back and shock some people.
“I think I can do well in some of the T100 races depending on where my form is and I am looking forward to surprising myself and hopefully surprising other people on the T100 Tour.”
