Magnus Ditlev is aiming to repeat his gameplan from last year as he bids to defend his Challenge Roth crown this weekend.
The Dane, now ranked number three in the world, produced one of the performances of the season in Bavaria as he won by more than nine minutes from Patrick Lange.
One step at a time
Lange had gone into that race as defending champion and now that’s the position Ditlev finds himself in; does that alter his perspective at all?
He says not: “I’ve tried not to change too much – I’m looking to apply my mindset from last year into this year’s.
“That’s usually how I perform the best – by breaking the race up into smaller pieces and having a clear plan, knowing what to do and when to do it.
“Just trying to execute all those small parts of the race as well as possible. If I do that then usually the race goes great also.”
Upward trajectory
This year there’s no Jan Frodeno – who was alongside Ditlev for much of the swim and bike before pulling out early on the run 12 months ago – or at least not on the race course as he’ll be commentating on the action.
And while Ditlev has a way to go to match the modern-day great, his win here definitely took him several steps up the ladder.
That’s something he acknowledged as he said: “It’s crazy how much a race can do to you. Last year I came here alone, this year I have an amazing team supporting me.”
Lange is again in opposition as are the likes of IRONMAN World Championship runner-up Sam Laidlow, Joe Skipper, Ben Kanute and many more.
“Obviously it’s a really stacked and deep field and I’m expecting a tough day but I hope to win again,” says Ditlev.
A lot of factors play into how fast we go, especially on the bike.
“I think the dynamics could be similar to last year where Patrick and I got out of the water together and I attacked him early on as I wanted to get some separation.
“This year we have some really fast swimmers who also bike fast so it’s difficult to bridge the gap to the front – I’m hoping I’ve improved my swim a little bit since last year, we’ll see on Sunday.”
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