The last time the men’s IRONMAN World Championship was held in Nice, Sam Laidlow completely bossed it.
He came out of the water in the front pack, broke clear on the bike and then stayed strong throughout the marathon for a famous victory as he became the youngest ever winner of the men’s showpiece race.
A repeat for the now-26-year-old was looking a long shot earlier in the season when he was hampered by illness and injury but after what’s happened in the last four weeks, there’s every chance he could do the same again next month on the Cote d’Azur.
Perfect ‘training’ race
For the British-born, French superstar first exceeded expectations – given the build up – with a stunning victory at Challenge Roth in early July.
And then he headed to the first-ever IRONMAN Leeds and rather than just validate his ticket for Nice, he dominated from start to finish.
He won by no less than 14 minutes in Yorkshire and his grandad was on hand to present his medal at the finish line.
We’ve caught up with him since then to chat about that race and how the next few weeks between now and Nice are likely to pan out.
In terms of the Leeds race, he told TRI247: ” The aim was just to have a good solid day out. There’s no better training for an IRONMAN than actually doing one.
“I didn’t have too many choices [for validation]. Coming to Leeds just made sense and I’ve got a lot of family not far from here. I wanted to have a solid race where I felt in control.”
Momentum building
And asked about the training block to what should be an incredible showdown on the French Riviera, he added: “You never know in professional sport. I could wake up and roll my ankle tomorrow or whatever.
“But since Roth or even four or five weeks before Roth, I’ve started to get some good momentum and I just want to keep that going.
“The plan is just to not do too much. This is probably the least I’ve trained and I’ve put out two good full-distance races now. So yeah, just don’t do anything crazy. Listen to my body and trust that. I trust my capabilities and my level.”
‘The sport’s only going to get faster’
And talking of levels, there’s every chance an even better performance than two years ago will be required for the repeat win on the French Riviera.
Laidlow himself has referenced the quality of the swim field at Roth this year when a whole host of Olympians were stepping up to long distance. He and others continue to set record-breaking bike splits – and 2025 has also seen the 2:30 barrier in the marathon broken for the first (and second) time in a full-distance race.
And that’s no surprise to Sam, who told us: “There’s more and more money in the sport which is great but that also increases the level because everyone has better teams, everyone invests more and there’s more and more racing.
“So the sport’s only going to get faster – and I’m ready for it.”
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