Starting the season off in style, PTO World #2 Magnus Ditlev lived up to the favourite tag in Florida, as he took the tape at the Miami T100.
The Danish star, who finished third at the PTO Tour European Open last year and second at the PTO US Open in 2022, finally found himself on the top step with a perfectly executed race.
In second, American Sam Long made his way through the field from a long way back whilst Frenchman Mathis Margirier, fourth in Milwaukee last year, got his first 100km podium.
“I am super stoked”
Reacting to his win after the race, Ditlev said “I am super stoked to take my first T100 win” despite sweltering conditions, which he said caused him some real challenges in training leading up to race day.
“When I arrived here, I felt super bad during the week of training and so we made a plan to have a super conservative strategy for the heat and cooling.
“The entire day, I felt I was right below the limit and then at the end of the run I could start to push a lot more. It was super controlled and just below the limit trying to deal with the heat.”
Given the heat and humidity, Ditlev said it was incredibly important to hydrate and stay cool throughout the race, with the soaring temperatures felt from start to finish.
“Already in the swim I started to feel the heat and I was actually with the front group for the first half of the swim, but I had to let them go.
“On the bike, I was taking every opportunity possible to cool down and especially on the run, with the sun baking, it was super hot.”
Asked how he managed to stay so calm and in control throughout the race, the champion said it’s never something he thinks about, but is perhaps unique to his personal approach to races.
“I don’t really know what it is, I think it is a personal trademark. I don’t think I am that cool actually, maybe it looks like that on the outside, but I am just trying to remain calm and focusing on my own tasks as well as I can.”
“The spectators got me excited every lap”
Cheered on by the support out on course, home favourite Long said the crowd kept him going as he picked off athlete after athlete on the run, but admitted he didn’t know how high he could finish until the closing kilometres.
“It was all about focusing on myself moment to moment [during the run]. The spectators got me excited every lap, but it really seemed unfeasible to get up there until the last ten minutes of the race and then that gave me a huge surge of energy.”
Asked by triathlon legend Jan Frodeno about his kit, which sports a yin-yang theme of chaos and order, Long said it represented his desire to leave it all out on the course on race day.
“The theme has kind of changed this year. I wore bright pink flamingos last year and the idea was I am a super happy guy and I love to race, which is still true, but I think that side is more for before and after the race.
“I really wanted to embrace the inner demons inside, go deep into that hurt box and really punish myself and hopefully punish my competitors. It was just a great day out there.”
“What a way to start the season”
For Margirier, the race was a brave display of dogged determination, as the Frenchman confessed that by the time he was halfway through the bike, he was already in the red.
“What a way to start the season. It was a really tough race today, because I was a little excited and I had a strong swim for me, I pushed too hard on the bike and halfway through I thought my legs couldn’t push anymore, so I was just hoping everyone else would be tired from the heat.
“On the run it was slow, and I thought I would finish in fourth or fifth, but saw Alistair [Brownlee] slow down and I then managed to get past and finish on the podium to start the season.”
Having put together a phenomenal bike leg, where he lapped a number of world class athletes, Margirier said riding so fast had been all about minimizing his competition on the run, even if his coach might not necessarily agree with his tactics.
“It was quite amazing to lap all those people on the bike, because I was thinking that just makes it one less guy in the race on the run. On the bike, I was thinking about my coach, because I am sure he was thinking “Mathis you are so stupid’ to go so hard, but after the finish I think he will be pretty happy.”
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