Yo, it was a good year. It felt to me as if I have turned to the next page. And for that, I want to give mad props to my coach Lubos Bilek. Structured training is extremely important if you want to peak for certain occasions.

The UAE part of the season: consistent wins and improved performances in the local races, with highlights 2nd for TRI Yas, where Faris al Sultan and I had an interesting battle going until the end, and a 5th at Abu Dhabi International middle distance if it weren’t for an implosion on the last 2.5k on the run that ruined a podium spot.

Onto the European part: well, the weather played its part. Switzerland 70.3 got aborted due to a landslide during the bike, luckily no one got hurt. Citytriathlon Heilbronn was awesome with a super hard bike course and I ended up on AG podium. 5150 European Champs Zurich was the hottest day of the year in Switzerland: 37C at 1000 in the morning, it was utterly hot, but thankfully my ” Bear Grylls desert skills ” worked super for me on that day and I got 2nd in a very competitive AG field. Wiesbaden 70.3 although a very beautiful race with good companionship from the Dubai gang ( Guy, Stefan, Paul among others ) it was ill chosen. I had a very good swim and a super run in the end, but the bike course was so technical and required serious kamikaze skills in certain spots, and I did not want to hurt myself or somebody else for that matter. plus soooooo many competitors on the course it wasn’t funny. The bike just did not play to my strengths unfortunately, so I ended up 28th AG, and I was not very happy with that at all, but managed to qualify for Vegas. Which I did not go to. I live in the desert. I don’t wanna go from one desert to the other. That’s why I went to Luxembourg 70.3.

perfect race for me. finished 1st AG and 14th overall, which also meant Luxembourg LD national champion. and that rounded up my season.

I am really looking forward to 2013 2014 and have set new goals, which keep me hungry.

Hope to see out there and I wish you all the best for your 2013 2014 season as well!

Cheers, Olivier