Chris Lieto once arrived at Kona's T2 with a 10 minute lead on the field. He has three of the 10 fastest bike splits at Kona and is generally regarded as the fastest cyclist in triathlon - even with Lance Armstrong in the field. So why has it taken the Danville, California speedster this long to take a crack at Abu Dhabi gold? Lieto says he is ready to compete, but his whole year is primed to peak at Kona seven months from now.
Slowtwitch: You said you've been interested in this race since it started two years ago but haven’t come because you've never been fit enough to compete to your standards. How fit are you now?
Chris Lieto: It is March 1st. It is still really early in the year. I had some fitness for sure. I've had some preparation for this race and have done some speed training preparing for Ironman 70.3 Panama. So this race will be good for me.
ST: Are you acclimatized for the heat, and ready for the 200 kilometer bike?
Chris: I live in Kona for the winter. Things are going pretty good. So I have some fitness but I am definitely not as fit as I will be in June or especially in October. I am not even close to what I will be in October.
ST: Can you compete at a good but not great for you level of fitness?
Chris: This is different. There are a lot of guys who make this race their top focus. They train in the winter to be as fit as they can be on March 3rd. That is not my case. I have respect for those guys. I have no expectations nor am I expecting to have a perfect performance. Anything can happen.
ST: On the other hand, you said you would not be here unless you could meet a certain expectation of fitness and race readiness?
Chris: I have more fitness than I have had early in the season for the last 4-5 years. So, I do have some more fitness. I am a little more focused. But I am not going crazy in myself. I am not going out putting in some crazy miles like I am in Ironman training. The distance of the run is shorter, you know? So you don't have to put the miles in. This I my first time here and I am going against a lot of top guys who have two years experience learning what this race is like. So this will be a learning experience. But I am going to go at it and try to race it to win. And put everything on the table and see what unfolds.
ST: At Panama you led to T2 then faded on the run.
Chris: Yeah, Lance was about 15 seconds behind me at T2. .
ST: Your run was not all there. Was it the heat? Or not enough fitness?
Chris: I was prepared for that race. But the biggest thing that got me was the heat. It got me hard. The first few miles of the run was decent. But after that my core temperature went through the roof and after that I couldn’t do anything about it but just finish.
ST: Were you on the verge of dropping out?
Chris: I kept running as hard as I could but I couldn't run any faster. What happened wasn't based on fitness. It was the heat and nutrition - what I took in and how I adapted. I made some adjustments and will manage it a bit different in this race and I will see what happens.
ST: What about this race -- the money the international competition, the prestige. How important is this race to the sport?
Chris: I think it is a really important and gets a lot of media attention.. It is a first class race. They care a lot about the pros and they care about the media. And they bring everybody here to show the race off and see how they perform.
ST: How does this contract with other series, other big races?
Chris: For the WTC, it seems that they have only put that emphasis on Kona. And now they put a little more emphasis on Frankfurt and this year on Melbourne. I think putting some eggs in a couple of different baskets, drawing in the media and the athletes and making it a first class event will pay off for promoters and athletes.
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ST: Is this race and its distances designed for you?
Chris: On paper yeah. The distances are good for me. The difference with this race, which is one of the reasons it took me a couple of years to come here, is the course is pan flat.
ST: Not good?
Chris: No I love flat courses. But it comes down to the tactical aspects. They way the rules are currently laid out, the bike leg in the half Ironman races and this event become more tactical. The dynamics of our sport are changing.
ST: From what to what?
Chris: It means things are going to keep going to more tactical races.
ST: What does a tactical race mean? That people can stay within a legal 10 meters and still get a big draft effect.? And so that leads to more pack racing and the that means it becomes impossible to get away on the bike?
Chris: Until something changes - perhaps a longer distance of the legal distance between bikes. I think there needs to be some changes in the officiating to return to the purity of the sport of a few years ago.
ST: A longer legal distance between bikes -- such as 15 meters?
Chris: Right. It is different now. A few years ago at 10 meters you didn’t get much of a draft. Now you do and it is because of the speeds. But I think a bigger factor is the technology -- the aerodynamics of the helmets and the frames. You can get right in the slipstream much easier. Things have changed and you have to roll with it.
ST: Is it too tough here to get away on the bike, or at minimum have just a few guys go with you?
Chris: I have no idea how it will break down until race day. You have no idea how it will play out.
ST: On a good day here, you can probably run what? 1:12? 1:13?
Chris: In the half Ironman? I think I can run faster than 1:13 with a 20km run as we have here. It's a kilometer shorter than 13.1 miles. I don't know what the times were here last year. But on a 20km course the run should be pretty quick.
