They Said it: Recapping Another Big Day in Roth

The press conference after yesterday’s exciting race at Challenge Roth offered some interesting information from the top-three men and women. Here’s what they had to say after the big day of racing. You can read the recaps of the women’s and men’s races in the links below.

The Women’s Podium

Daisy Davies

The rising British star adds a third-place finish to a season that began with a win at IRONMAN South Africa. We caught up with her earlier this week, and she admitted she was gunning after a spot on the podium, but figured she would one of three Brits there. The big finish yesterday proves Davies has a bright future on the long-distance side of the sport.

I’m always confident in my ability, but equally you’ve got to execute that come race day. Yeah, it was definitely a nice surprise to pull off what I thought I was capable of on race day.

I think it was as good as it gets. I did what I could control and I just really enjoyed it.

When asked if we would see her return to Roth in the future, there was no hesitation:

Definitely.

Lucy Charles-Barclay

A late entrant to the race – race director Felix Walchshöfer once again reminded us all that she had sent him a video on Sunday night asking if she could enter at the last minute – Charles-Barclay was ribbed at the press conference about the post-race nutrition routine that saw her still chewing while on the podium.

Sorry. Did you see that at the awards? I think I was doing the same thing for like 15 minutes on the podium.

The race — I was super happy. It was probably about this time last week that I sent [Felix] a video and said, “I’m feeling quite good, can I come and race?” I wasn’t sure what the answer was going to be. I’m pretty happy he let me do it. The last few weeks have been a little bit up and down with various things, so I wasn’t really sure where I was at — and sometimes the best way to find out is to put yourself on the start line and get some good data points.

Yeah, once the gun goes the mindset changes. I enjoy racing, I enjoy grinding it out and gritting it — you probably saw that in my face on camera, giving it a good effort, suffering but enjoying the suffering. Getting onto the run I felt pretty good. I wasn’t sure how Alanis was going to run, so I just kept running my own pace. Some people were telling me “don’t worry, she’s going to blow up,” and I was like, I don’t know — maybe I’ll blow up, you never know on a marathon. So I just stuck to my pace, felt pretty strong the whole way, apart from [the climb back into town], which is just brutal every year — it never gets any easier.

When asked about her change from trisuit to shorts and a bra top for the run, Charles-Barclay kept things fun.

The one thing I regret on my wedding day is not having a dress change, so I thought I’d have an outfit change today.

Alanis Siffert (Winner, Women)

When asked what she thought about all the people who were telling Charles-Barclay that she might blow up on the run, Siffert was happy to laugh things off.

Well, I didn’t.

It’s always like — I’m not going to go into a race and say I want to win it, because I’m realistic. I knew Lucy and Kat were on the start line, really strong women, and I think I’d underestimated my own capacity as much as theirs. Today I found out I can do much more than I thought I was capable of. I trained really hard, I felt really fit, and I believed in myself I could do it. But during the race, honestly — I hammered the bike and my watts were so high I just changed the page on my bike computer, because I thought if I kept looking at that number I’d blow up. But it felt good and I could hold it. Same on the run — I went out at what felt like a really fast pace for me and just didn’t watch it, went by feel, and it felt strong. I just told myself: believe in yourself, you can do it. And honestly, the crowd gave me wings — I really enjoy that atmosphere, I can feed off the people, and I think they carried me through.

Yeah, so first I went out and just found my rhythm — I knew there was a turnaround coming, so I told myself, let’s get there, and I felt that was a pace I could hold. I saw the gap had increased, but you never know — can I hold it, or is she going to pick it up? So I focused on myself, but I was aware of where she was, and I saw it slowly growing. But I never let myself think I was going to win the race — I just stayed in the moment and kept running, because if I start thinking about winning, it doesn’t get me anywhere. If I just tell myself to be confident, be strong, keep pushing — that’s what gets me somewhere. Then at kilometre 30, on the climb, I knew if I could get to the top still in front I could bring it home. I only let myself think “I’ve won this” in the last two kilometres.

Those of us who have been in the sport for a while got a chuckle out of the final question asked of Siffert – based on the face she made when it was announced that she was the youngest winner of the race here in Roth since Paula Newby-Fraser in 1986, she was asked if she know who that was.

No, I don’t know who Paula Newby-Fraser is.

It won’t be long before she’ll find out just how heady the company she’s being compared to is. (No doubt coach Brett Sutton can help on that front.)

The Men’s Podium

Third – Rico Bogen

It was quite a debut – in fact, Rico Bogen’s 7:27:53 finish time is the fastest ever for a rookie at the full-distance. He was asked what he would say to people who figured he would blow up on the run.

I’d say — I did blow up a bit. I had a good bike, and after that I couldn’t really go on.

It started quite well — I had a good swim position — and it carried through onto the bike. We had a plan to go away with Jonas [Schomburg] and Sam. So the plan came together quite well. Going up front on the bike was funny — it was a dream of mine to be up there in first position and see the crowd, and it was so loud, it was amazing. The bike was fun with those guys. The bike course record was cool. And the first 15 minutes of the run with them was cool too, and then I had to slow down — [Sam] did a great job to get the record.

Bogen’s sister, Bianca, won IRONMAN 70.3 Sweden yesterday – making it a good racing day for the family.

Second – Kristian Blummenfelt

It had been clear all week that the day’s race plan was centred around isolating Kristian Blummenfelt and ensuring he was well back at the start of the run. The Norwegian star was asked about that, and how difficult that made the day.

It was hard, but Magnus Ditlev joined me during race week, which helped a bit on the first lap — when he was putting down real power, we were actually catching or taking a little time back on the guys up front. But I think the tactic from everyone else was pretty clear, and they executed it really well. I was super impressed with how both Sam and Rico held on the run — the first 10K, maybe even 15–18K, I think we were basically running the same pace. I was barely catching them at all, and when the gap did start to open up it was only by a few seconds per kilometre.

It’s a race I think every pro needs to experience, because Roth has the best crowds in the sport. Coming up over the top of the hill it’s almost a relief, because the noise is so loud riding through it for a minute or two — and then it goes quiet. Your helmet gets warm from all the noise. It’s the reason they call it “the warm caravan.”

First – Sam Laidlow

The men’s winner was asked about his pre-race goals, which he had stated were to break the world-best time – which he achieved thanks to his 7:21:04 finish – and to also break Kristian Blummenfelt. Did he achieve both of those?

No, definitely not. I want to first take a moment and thank both of these guys. Kristian’s set the standard the last few years, especially this year, so that was a big part of my motivation in training. And thanks to Rico for the shared work on the bike — the record wouldn’t have been possible without him. I’m genuinely impressed — most guys doing their first full-distance race in the last four years have their legs go on the bike, and Rico’s didn’t. So congrats to both of them.

It’s always the same — if you could track the thoughts going through your head, one minute I’m thinking about just finishing, the next I’m thinking about the record — it’s all over the place. I felt really good for the first 26–27K, then I could see my heart rate dropping a bit, so I probably hadn’t fuelled enough on the bike. I got to the top of the hill and told myself: I know I can run 4-minute Ks when I’m fully bonked, because I’ve done it in training. And it was downhill from there, so I was doing the math — 4-minute pace — and yeah, it wasn’t that I got that much stronger, it was more that it was downhill. Thank god for that.

Tags: