Joerie Vansteelant talks
Late in 2007 Joerie Vansteelant lost his brother Benny after a tragic traffic accident and a few weeks later he won the ITU Duathlon World Championships in Richmond, VA in a dominating fashion. We wanted to find out more about this young Belgian.
ST: Joerie, we were all saddened when we heard about the death of your brother, but we are sure he was smiling down on you when you won the World Championships in Richmond, VA 5 weeks later. Could you feel his presence?
Joerie: I don’t really believe in those supernatural things, but it is sure he was in my thoughts at the end of the race. Not during most of the race, because I needed to have all my focus on the race. Of course it was a special feeling after the race, but not sad, at that moments you realize how short life can be and you have to enjoy moments like that for 100%
ST: You are involved with a memorial race for your brother in June 2008. Can you tell us about the event?
Joerie: The event will be part of the ITU World Series 2008 and it will be held the 1st of June in Torhout, near Bruges. The race format will be non-drafting and very exciting because there will be 4 transitions. The distances will be 10K running – 30K biking – 5K running – 30K biking – 5K running. The running course will be fully in the city center and the bike course is mainly flat and straight, big roads but very scenic as we pass along two castles. There will also be a completely separate age group and elite race. The website address is www.memorialbennyvansteelant.be and should be online by the end of January.
ST: Of all your victories, which one do you cherish the most?
Joerie: This is a difficult choice for me! Back in 2004 there were the World Champs SD in my own country and I won the U23 race. But my victory this year at the LD was in the Elite race, so that is the best you can get. World champs in Belgium were very special for me, but I think I would go for this years World title.
ST: What does a typical training week look like for you during the season?
Joerie: Usually I do two workouts a day, one running session and one bike session. Depending on the weather I chose to do the bike in the morning or the afternoon. If the weather is good I always do the hardest or longest workout first. Sometimes I run two times a day, but this happens very rare. Every week I also do tree sessions of stability training, to prevent injuries. In total I train about 25 hours maximum a week. A big running week is about 120 km and a big bike week is about 500 to 600 km a week.
ST: What are your plans in terms of racing for 2008?
Joerie: My main focus will be on the European Champs SD and the World Champs LD. I will try to be good at the World Champs SD as well, of course, but it is just not my type of bike course over there in Rimini. As I won the World Champs LD last year, extending my world title is my main goal. Also the Worlds LD will be held in Belgium (Geel, 10 August) this year, what makes it even more important.
ST: How are things going for you otherwise in terms of sponsorship? What is new and exciting?
Joerie: In terms of running equipment everything stays the same, just because I am very happy with Nike.
For the Bike almost everything has been changed. I now ride with Specialized bikes, before it was Kuota. I was also used to ride Campagnolo and now I will be equipped with the new SRAM Red group. I also ride with the Rotor Q-rings because I really believe in this system. The reason why I opted for Specialized is because their TT-bike seem very well engineered and I believe in some of the new features they added to this bike.
ST: Your position on the bike appears very good, can you tell us if someone helped you with the fit or did you do it yourself?
Joerie: I did it mainly myself and I had also the help of Benny. In the beginning it is a bit searching an adapting, but after a while you start to feel comfortable and you can make some adaptations again. When you start with TT-riding it is very helpful to have a handlebar and stem that allow for some adjustments.
ST: Do you have a favorite race and can you tell us why you like it?
Joerie: This would be Powerman Weyer. I love the bike course over there because it is complete. There is a very hilly part and a flatter part as well, I just like the combination of this, certainly for a long distance race. Also the atmosphere over there is just fantastic, the spectators go completely crazy.
ST: Tell us a little bit about how you spend the off-season.
Joerie: Nothing special actually! I can really enjoy going out for a dinner with my friends. I cannot do this during the race season because I am always abroad. So winter time is the perfect time to catch up with friends.
ST: Belgium is such a cycling fanatic country. Do you think the fans have enough love and passion left for multisports, or is it all about road cycling and cyclocross?
Joerie: The main focus is of course on cycling, soccer and tennis. But I think the Belgian tri- and duathletes cannot complain, as it is possible for example to get close in the Belgian sport awards (this year I was 5th). It is difficult to get on national television but when a tri- or duathlete is on the podium of a world championship or Hawaii for example they will surely bring it in the national news. Some tri- and duathlons are being broadcasted, but almost never in direct and not the whole race.
ST: How many bikes might we find at your house if we came by and looked?
Joerie: Four bikes: I have a normal city bike, a road bike (Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL2), a mountaibike (Specialized S-Works Carbon Hartdtail) and a TT-bike (Specialized S-Works Transition).
ST: Can you share with us some of your food likes and dislikes?
Joerie: Actually this is a tough one for me. I don’t really have to many food dislikes. In general I like all sweet things and chocolate and ice cream of course, but that’s not real food. I prefer fish above pork or beef. My favorite fish is salmon, so any dish with that would be great for me.
ST: What about music? Anything you listen to more often?
Joerie: Back in the US I think the people would say I am a typical "Euro-kid". I like a good beat in the music, in general techno-trance style. After training I can also enjoy "crashing" in the sofa and listen to some lounge music.
ST: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Joerie: Hopefully I will still be a pro athlete then and let's hope with a few more world titles then! I am only 25, so my best years in sports still have to come. I don't have big plans otherwise, I just try to enjoy life as much as possible.
ST: Is there anything else we should know about you?
Joerie: Maybe. Recently I have been appointed a member of the ITU Duathlon Committee. The role of the ITU Duathlon Committee is to work out proposals, but we can’t make any decisions. So my role is to help bring forward some good ideas. Our long term vision is to get duathlon into the World Games. Not the Olympics, because it is just not realistic. IOC wants to make the Games smaller, so there is no way duathlon will get in there. Also we want to build up a good World Series, with at least 8 or 10 races. My proposal is to have 4 short distance events and 4 long distance events and the 5 best results to count. This way SD athletes are motivated to do a LD event and vice versa. We will need some help from the national federations to get this World Series going well.
Joerie Vansteelant data:
Height: 1m 83cm
Race weight: 66 kg
Off-season weight: 69 kg
Resting heart rate: 42
Max heart rate: 200
VO2max: 89 ml/kg/min
