The day before Yann van de Spijker started on Sunday at 4.15 pm with a breakfast. Three hours later, the 20-year-old triathlete from Hapert jumped into the water for his first World Cup Ironman in Nice. After 9 hours, 56 minutes and 58 seconds he crossed the finish line in the French city. “I survived, it was a very long day.”
After the white sandwiches with jam in the night, his last preparation hours broke for his first World Cup. He won the ticket earlier this year during the Ironman in Austria, only his second entire triathlon. And so he was allowed to show himself on Sunday among other world toppers during the 3.8 kilometers of swimming, cycling 180 kilometers and running 42,195 kilometers.
“The start is always with swimming, but that is not my favorite part. We had to swim without a wetsuit because the water was too hot. In any case, it was hot outside, that is quite difficult to prepare you. The sea was quite restless, that took some getting used to. In the end I came out of the water pretty well.”
“I flew during the marathon.”
Then cycling was on the program, his favorite part he has been working on for years. “That went really super well. I set the seventh time of my age category 18-24 years. Finally, I flew during the marathon. It went very fast, I am very happy about the time of about 3.13 hours.”
In the end, the World Cup debutant ended in his age category as sixteenth, but as the fastest Dutchman. “I did not expect this, I am very happy with it. My main goal was to come in under 10 hours. I succeeded, I am proud of that.”
“I don’t get much because of the fatigue.”
After the finish, Yann was finally able to take his deserved peace. “And of course eat and drink. Although I have to say that I don’t get much of due to fatigue.”
It will certainly not be Yann’s last triathlon. The Brabant top athlete has only been working with the sport for a year and a half and he is motivated to get as far as possible. “I don’t know where my limit is, I am still discovering it.”
