After taking the win here 12 months ago when the race was Challenge London, few people, including the man himself, expected Sam Laidlow to take the win at the London T100 on Sunday.
Opting not to swim in a wetsuit, Laidlow lost 70 seconds in the water, before making the decisive move on the bike and building a big enough buffer to hold off a charging Kyle Smith on the run.
Taking the tape for the first time since his win in Nice last year, the Frenchman was visibly emotional at the finish line and admitted afterwards that “I needed that one”.
Flipping the script
Having said pre-race that fifth place finish would be a good day, Laidlow surprised everyone on the run and held on to take a famous victory.
Asked if last year’s victory in the Challenge Family event had given him any confidence, Laidlow said no, and explained that if he’d raced the same as last year, he would’ve finished much further back.
“I think I said before the race that if I’d had the same performance as I did last year [in Challenge London], I probably would’ve ended up in seventh or eighth and I think that holds true after today’s race.”
Bold decision pays off
Something that took triathlon fans by surprise early in the race was seeing Laidlow lose over a minute in the swim, with the PTO World #16 the only athlete racing without a wetsuit on.
That decision, however, ended up paying dividends on the bike, where Laidlow swept through the field, and he explained after the race that it was a deliberate decision to benefit the rest of his race.
“I felt really good on the bike and that was probably because my core temperature was lower.
“We’ve noticed that every triathlon I do with a wetsuit, I’ve really struggled for at least an hour and a half on the bike so we made that decision and I think it paid off.”
Celebrating a special day
A fortnight ago, Laidlow was disqualified from IRONMAN Vitoria-Gasteiz for failing to serve a penalty, and earlier in the season, had only managed to finish one of his two T100 Tour races, with ninth place in Miami.
Revealing that doubts had started to creep in at times, the 25-year-old said that this win comes at just the right time, and has reignited the belief in his training and racing ability.
“It ended up being an amazing day and it’s always when you least expect it, I’ve had a really rough start to the season and you begin to doubt your ability, doubt your training and when you get back to where you were, it means a lot and I needed that one.”
