With Abu Dhabi on his mind
The 2010 Abu Dhabi International Triathlon champion Eneko Llanos will be back to defend his title later next week. He'll face an even tougher field this year but Llanos seems to be very calm and collected.
Slowtwitch: Eneko, Abu Dhabi is almost upon us, are you ready to defend your title?
Eneko: Yes I'm ready. Just like last year I'm doing my preparation for Abu Dhabi in Club La Santa in Lanzarote and the training here is going great, I'm feeling very well. We are following the same training schedule as last year, it worked great in 2010 and I'm sure that is working great again this year.
ST: You are currently tapering for that big day, what did your last training block look like?
Eneko: The last two weeks were tough. I didn't go very long, 5000 meters swim, 5 hours on the bike and 1h45' on the run were the maximum training times I did in each sport, but we combined these rides and runs with intensity intervals. At the end of the week I felt pretty tired but I managed to survive and recover well from all the efforts and now comes the tapering which is gonna be much more easy.
ST: Any thoughts on the strength of field in Abu Dhabi this year and which athletes do you see as the biggest challengers?
Eneko: Last year we had a very strong field and it seems that this year is gonna be even stronger, but we will see how this big names arrive to Abu Dhabi. Obviously Macca and Craig seem to be the men to beat, apart from me haha, but I wouldn't discount any of the pros in the starting list for the victory.
ST: What about the women's race?
Eneko: My favorite is Julie, but same as men any of the pro women in the start line can get the win on a good day.
ST: Do you wish there were more races in terms of the distance?
Eneko: I would like to see more races in terms of organization, care for the athletes, media exposure and of course prize money they have in Abu Dhabi. The longer the better for me but I also enjoy racing in different distances and formats so if the race is good I don't care too much about the distance.
ST: What about the prize purse?
Eneko: Is one of the biggest in our sport and of course it would be great to have many races like this. Still if you compare it to other sports is not very high but I think we are going to see better prize moneys in the near future and the thing that Abu Dhabi is here is going to be good for professionals because races that want a good field and that want to be competitive have to take the example of Abu Dhabi.
ST: Do the new Kona qualification rules make it very tough for you and other Pros to race non WTC events?
Eneko: Yes, it is hard for everybody. I'm in a good position because I got points from my last year 7th place in Kona, so if I do an Ironman and I do it well it should be enough to get my qualification, but if I think in the old rules I would already be qualified for Kona from my top ten finish in 2010, and I could think in racing in other circuits or even not doing any Ironman till Hawaii. So the new rules make things difficult. For other pros who don't have points and don't have a very high level it is gonna be tough. They will need to race a lot, spend a lot of money on their travels and races just to get a slot, then they are gonna be so tired that they are not gonna be competitive in Kona, and they are gonna be so busy trying to get the points that they must forget about racing outside WTC. And is not only about not been able to race non WTC events, is also about some WTC events, look at IM Lanzarote, is my preferred race, I can say is my local Ironman, I love this race, but right now is not worthy for me, there are not good points and not good prize money and I guess this is the case for other Ironman races too. The new rules make it tough to fit races of other circuits like I Can, Challenge, TriGrandPrix, Rev3… into our racing schedule. I think it is not fair for the pro athletes, we have to make our livings and there are races offering good things to us: good appearance money, good athlete care, good prize money… but we have to say no because of our qualification for Kona. WTC should be more aware of that and offer better things and better services to the triathletes if they want us in their races, and not use rules for their exclusive benefit.
ST: What are some of the races you would do this year if not for the qualification system?
Eneko: There are a lot to choose from: I Can Triathlons, Ironman races that now have few points and much lower prize money, Challenge races, Rev3, TriGrandPrix, Tristar events, Wildflower, XTERRA… the list can go on and on. Fortunately there are a lot of good races, but the new rules make it difficult to race in those events.
ST: What is on your schedule for the rest of this year?
Eneko: My race schedule is still quite open, but the first part of the season is scheduled. After Abu Dhabi I'm doing I Can Marbella in April and maybe ITU Cross Triathlon Worlds, and I'm doing an Ironman in May to get the points. Then we will see if I need more points and I have to race 70.3s. If not I won't probably race much (this is the part that still is not scheduled…). My Kona preparation race in September is going to be I Can Mallorca. Then is Kona and Maui for the XTERRA Worlds.
ST: Any news on the sponsor front?
Eneko: No big news which is great because I am glad to have the support of my fantastic sponsors: BH bikes, Spiuk, AVIA, HED, BAT Basque Team, Sailfish, Polar, Mulebar, SVC Seguridad and 3BAT. I've been working with all of them for a long time now and I'm very happy to keep my good relationship with all them and to have their support.
ST: Anything else we should know?
Eneko: If you'd like to improve your Spanish follow my bilingual Twitter @enekollanos and website www.enekollanos.com!! 😉
