The Uplace Pro Triathlon Team returns!

 

What better way to wrap up this blog than with some excellent news from main sponsor Uplace? The lifestyle real estate group has decided to renew its support to the Uplace Pro Triathlon Team throughout 2013 (read the complete announcement). So watch out for Tine Deckers, Sofie Goos, Bart Aernouts, Bert Jammaer, Bruno Clerbout and Axel Zeebroek in a 2013 Ironman near you. The destination: the 2013 Ironman Hawaii. In the meantime, check www.uplacetriathlon.eu, or our facebook and twitter pages for the latest news about Tine, Sofie, Bart, Bert, Bruno and Axel. See you in Kona in October 2013!

De Kruitfabriek: the video

Sofie and Tine, straight off the plane from Hawaii, appeared in yesterday's De Kruitfabriek. Watch the video here (in Dutch).

De Kruitfabriek

 

For the Dutch-speaking fans: Sofie Goos & Tine Deckers will appear on tonight's De Kruitfabriek talk show (19u50/Vier)  in a special segment devoted to the Ironman Hawaii. Don't miss it!

Post-race interviews

Bart, Axel, Bruce and Tine reflect back on their IM Hawaii (in Dutch and French) in these video interviews.

Watch the interview

Watch the interview

Watch the interview

Watch the interview

The athletes react

Bart Aernouts had mixed feelings about his result: "I was aiming for top-15, so I'm definitely happy with my eleventh place. But when you get so close to the top-10, you’d rather be one of those first ten men. I also didn’t swim well and I stalled at the end of the bike leg. I can tell I don’t have enough long distance training miles under my belt yet. So there is certainly room for improvement. But I do think Hawaii suits me. I don’t mind the heat and I do well on tough courses. So I am looking forward to coming back with more long distance experience."

Axel Zeebroek was a happy man: "I'm really pleased with my result and my performance. I did a consistent race and I was able to stay concentrated when things got tough. For example, I struggled in the last 50 kilometers on the bike. I lost time, but I was able to stay focused on my technique and frequency. I think that, because of my injuries this summer and my late qualification, I entered the race mentally and physically fit. In the end, I feel this was the right place for me today. And fifteen is good, especially when I see the big names that came in behind me."

Bruno Clerbout managed only one word: "Super, super, super! This really is not my course. I struggled mightily on the bike. That is why I am so happy with this result. The road to get here was long and difficult, but this race showed that I'm back. My setbacks in recent years have taught me to keep fighting until the last second. That paid off here. Even in the very last kilometers I picked up a number of athletes. Top-20 was my goal. Top-15 was a dream. The fact that Axel took the fifteenth spot ensures that are no lingering “not quite” feelings. I have achieved my goal."

Tine Deckers, last year twelfth in Kona, was not happy with her performance: "It all went to pieces today: I swam poorly, my stomach was upset, the penalty, my SRM device didn’t work ... Of course, when you have an off-day, everything seems to go wrong. I am pleased with the fighting spirit that I've shown today. Immediately getting sidelined for four minutes in your strongest discipline after a bad swim is mentally tough. You already know that making the top-10 is almost impossible. So I feel good about the way I fought during the run. It was the best I could do today."

Sofie Goos was disappointed: "I biked so poorly. After back pain forced me to retire from the race in the two previous years, I got too cautious. One thing made me push through: I was not going to stop for a third time. My back was fine, but of course I didn’t dig deep either. I was holding out hope that a slow bike leg would bring a fast marathon, but it did not. My run was okay though and I swam well. But this is triathlon. You can’t not show up in one discipline it and expect to be in the race. Two out of three is not enough."

Race report

2012 IM Hawaii: Bart Aernouts 11th, Axel Zeebroek 15th, Bruno Clerbout and Tine Deckers 16th, Sofie Goos 25th

With four top-16 finishes, the 2012 Ironman Hawaii brought solid performances by the Uplace Pro Triathlon Team. Bart Aernouts (8:37:31) claimed an impressive 11th place in his first Ironman Hawaii; Axel Zeebroek (8:45:12) came in fifteenth, Bruno Clerbout (8:46:44) and Tine Deckers (9:48:38) sixteenth. A disappointed Sofie Goos (10:14:39) finished 25th.


Pete Jacobs (Australia; 8:18:37) won the men’s world title. Andreas Raelert (Germany; 8:23:40) finished second. Fellow Belgian Frederik Van Lierde (8:24:09) impressively ran to third place.

Leanda Cave (UK; 9:15:54) took the women’s race for an Ironman-double (she also won this year’s world championship half Ironman). Second and third place went to Caroline Steffen (Switzerland; 9:16:58) and Mirinda Carfrae (Australia, 9:21:41) respectively.

Bart Aernouts kicked off his race with a poor swim. Recording the 42nd time, he already had more than 12 minutes to make up post-swim. In the cycling leg, he powered through the field, moving up to the 27th position at the end of the 180 kilometers. Bart continued his momentum in the marathon. With the fastest run of the day, he stormed to a superb eleventh place in his first appearance in the Ironman Hawaii.

Axel Zeebroek started strong. He came out of the water in 19th position, just a minute behind fastest swimmer Andy Potts. He did well on the bike too, maintaining a top-10 position for most of the bike leg. Only towards the end, Axel lost time and places, starting the marathon in twelfth position. In the beginning of the run, Axel was passed by a number of faster runners before settling into a good pace that brought him the top-15 finish he had hoped for.

Bruno Clerbout was able to limit the damage in the swim to five minutes, coming out of the water in 37th position. In cycling, consolidation was his goal. It worked out perfectly. Bruno started his strongest discipline, the marathon, in 32nd position. With a very strong run, Bruno caught no less than 16 triathletes, wrapping up the race with a great 16th place.

Tine Deckers already had more than ten minutes to make up after a bad swim. From the 23rd position, she began her move to the front, which she saw halted because of a four-minute penalty for drafting. Yet she was able to make up time and places to reach T2 in 17th position. Recording a solid marathon, Tine managed to move up a spot to take 16th place.

Sofie Goos was more than seven minutes behind after the swim. But the bike leg did not bring a push forward. A weak performance on the bike set Sofie back to 28th position. A solid marathon allowed her to recover a few places.



Complete results: http://kona.ironman.com/tracker.html

Race day

Photos by Kristof Ramon

More photos

Seeing double

Race Day!

It's RACE DAY! It is D-Day in Kona and the entire Uplace Pro Triathlon Team is ready to go! From 6:30 Kona time/18u30 Brussels time we will be giving live updates from the Ironman Hawaii on Facebook and Twitter. For those who want to watch the video feed, there's ironman.com. After the race, you will find pictures and video right here. Just a few more hours!

Ready to race!

Photos by Kristof Ramon.