Sam Laidlow claimed his first T100 win and then let out a roar of relief that echoed all around a jumping ExCel Centre in London this afternoon.
It was a very emotional victory for the Frenchman, who has had to deal with a challenging season to date.
“I want to thank the London crowds,” said the current Ironman World Champion, who was born in the UK and moved to France aged three years old, but still very much considers it home. “It means so much to come here and do this with my family and friends we’ve known for years, especially as this year has been really rough. When you hit rock bottom you never know what tomorrow might bring and yesterday I thought I would come in the top ten maybe, so to do this is insane.”
“During the whole run I just kept thinking of this quote Jan Frodeno posted when he won Kona for the second time which was, ‘still here, never left’. I think I am going to post that on Instagram tonight!”
Laidlow, who led the way after the 80km bike and held on to win from a charging Kyle Smith (NZL) by 25 seconds, added: “I like to be in control of a race and when I race from the front I can do that and I’m not someone who races for the rankings. I would rather risk it for the biscuit and blow up and finish tenth and know I had given everything I had and that’s what I did today. I gave it everything I had, I was cramping on the last lap but it was everything.”
Second-placed Smith, who was also born in the UK before moving abroad, said: “Obviously, I am a little bit disappointed not to win. It was like someone dangling a carrot in front of you [on the run] and you can’t quite get it. But I am happy with how I performed today and proud of how I dug deep. At the end of the day, that’s all you can do and if that’s only good enough for second then I’m really happy for that and really happy for Sam.”
“The crowds here today were insane. Every time I ran through the ExCel centre, the crowd was amazing. I was getting goosebumps and getting a bit excited and had to calm myself down. London knows how to put on a show, the fans are amazing.”
“I represent New Zealand but I was born here in England and my family came down here from the north of England to support me and my mum flew all the way from New Zealand which was pretty incredible. All you want to do is put on a show when you have that support and give it your best and that’s what I did.”
Daniel Baekkergard (DEN), finished third and achieved his first ever PTO podium in the process. He said: “It feels sweet beyond words. It’s huge and I am just grateful to be here. I have tried to keep believing in myself. It’s been a rough year and I have been taking all the lessons I can learn, just putting one foot in front of the other and believing in the process. So this is huge. Coming from not being able to walk to getting out of bed in the morning to being third on a T100 podium means a lot.”
“I tried to stay in the moment throughout, react to everything happening in the dynamic of the race, to stick to my own race plan and not go above any limits and I really got tested, I dropped the chain on the last lap of the bike, I tried to stay calm and wait for my moment. I stopped, got my chain back on and then it was just about the mental game of getting back into the group and then, when on the run, keeping my own rhythm, technique and running form.”
How the race unfolded
Diving off the pontoon into a glistening Royal Victoria Dock, the men’s London T100 pro race took place under sunny skies. The nail biting nature of the T100 series has demonstrated any athlete is in with a chance to claim victory.
Australian Aaron Royle exerted his water prowess with an immediate lead at the front of the pack as British Double Olympic Champion Alistair Brownlee followed in close pursuit.
Laidlow, the only pro swimmer without a wetsuit, came out of the exit and climbed the steps into the ExCel almost one minute behind the leading group of Royle, Brownlee and German Rico Bogen.
The majority of the 20 T100 men stuck together for the duration of the swim, waving goodbye to American Sam Long who was left over three minutes behind them.
Muscling his way into the front group, Kyle Smith clinched the quickest transition from swim to bike, then remained close by to catch up with Royle, Brownlee and Bogen.
Similar to the pro women’s race yesterday, the 80km bike leg caused havoc for the men. British favourite Alistair Brownlee faced a flat tyre during the second lap and, adding to his disappointing swim, Sam Long dropped his chain, losing even more time to the leading Laidlow.
Pushing on from the group as he approached his 5th lap of the bike, Laidlow fought alone for much of the route and into T2, ultimately racking his bike 1min 33secs ahead of Rico Bogen in second.
Bogen escorted the tight-knit chasing pack into T2 to cheers and flashing phones from a sizeable crowd, where such a close bike stint meant there was no time to lose in transition. This resulted in most men choosing to run a sockless, which left Bogen with a 30 second penalty after his were left outside his box. Upset also came for American Ben Kanute who withdrew from the race at the end of the bike course.
A 18km dockside run in a scorching 28 degree ensured a heated race. Sam Laidlow, visibly hurting, was under pressure from Kyle Smith, who pulled off the fastest run leg of the day and closed the gap by almost 50 seconds.
Just 20 seconds behind Laidlow with 3km to go, Smith didn’t have enough in his tank to repeat the infamous San Francisco sprint finish, leaving Sam the blue carpet all to himself.
Danish pro Daniel Baekkegard had his first taste of a T100 triumph, taking 3rd place exactly 1 minute ahead of fellow Dane Magnus Ditlev – almost 3 minutes behind Kyle.
A massive, high-fiving British crowd gave Alistair Brownlee a rousing reception, but his race had been run with the puncture on the bike.
Ditlev now leads the T100 standings, three points ahead of Smith, with Sam Long dropping down to third. The Ibiza T100 is next on 28-29 September.