Sam Laidlow was a sensational winner of the IRONMAN World Championship in 2023, but he knows that a repeat of that performance may not be enough to retain his crown.
Just over 12 months ago on home soil in Nice, the 25-year-old Frenchman roared to a spectacular success after destroying his rivals with a quite brilliant bike leg through the mountains of the Cote d’Azur.
In just over two weeks though Laidlow will face a very different test as he takes on the challenge of Kona, the spiritual home of long-course triathlon and a brutal challenge for all.
Laidlow faces Blummenfelt et al
Sam will also face some opponents who were missing on the French Riviera last year – notably Norwegian superstars Kristian Blummenfelt and Gustav Iden. Laidlow split the Scandinavian giants at Kona in 2022, leading deep into the run before finally giving best to the imperious Iden.
The battle on Saturday October 26 (we have not even mentioned the likes of Magnus Ditlev or Patrick Lange yet) is a mouthwatering one, with a stellar field set to line up. And Laidlow knows what will likely be needed to retain his crown.
He is leaving no stone unturned in a bid to grab all the gains he can ahead of Hawaii, and that included a recent trip to a Barcelona velodrome for aero testing. A trip he captured on video.
You can watch the full video at the bottom of this page, and there are some fascinating nuggets (the ones which are not blurred out as Laidlow keeps some things under wraps until Hawaii).
Laidlow on ‘exciting’ aero gains
So how did Sam sum up his day in the Catalan city? What did he come away with? And should it have his Kona rivals worried?
He revealed: “Actually one of my best aero testing days, sometimes it can be quite frustrating but today was really good.
“We found some exciting gains – I’m not sure we’ll be able to show everything in vlog because, well, I want to keep some things for Kona. We’re going to be quite a bit faster in Kona.
“I’m not faking it for the video. Sometimes I’ve spent a whole day testing, sometimes two days testing, and found nothing. But yeah, we’ve opened some really good doors to finding some gains.
“The thing with aerodynamics, it’s never ending so we’re gonna carry on, slowly getting faster and faster and faster.”
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