Bronze medal at European Championship

26th June 2010, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. 4km Swim, 120km Bike, 30km Run.

Toughest race of my life. After a slow swim, I caught up with several competitors during the bike. Yet, 2km into the run, I felt I had gone too hard on the bike and the remaining 28km were a nightmare. In addition, the conditions were extremely hot and the absence of even the slighest breeze to temper the heat was dearly felt. The race start had been postponed to 9.30am due to fog, which meant we ran during the hottest hours of the day under a torrid sun with no shade to hide. I finished 3rd, a handfull of seconds behing the 2nd, after a 7h36' long journey inside the world of suffering! All along I told myself the others must have been suffering at least as much as I was. I also thought of all the people I cared for and all the people who were able to make important sacrifices to reach their goals. These thoughts in which surrender had no place enabled me to hang on and to resist better than most other athletes. It took me nearly four weeks to recover. Nevertheless, this race gave me the confidence that I would need during the world championships just 5 weeks later...