Lanzarote is well known for being particularly difficult, but on race day, the conditions were almost perfect, still some wind and fairly hot but nothing major. The sea was also very calm. I was ready for a perfect race. Little did I know! I still loved the swim, taking the ‘longer route’ to avoid the pack / chaos and swam 4.2 km, @ 1.44 pace. I was then going strong on the bike until km 15 when the shifter for the rear cassette broke; I tried to fix it myself, U-turned towards the start of the course to find the support car, but nothing could be done. So after losing 40minutes, I got the chain locked on the top ring so I could continue and do the climbs. I did think of DNF but then, no medal so I went on.  Doing an IM with a single speed is not ideal and since I could not pedal over 32kmh I lost a lot of time in the fast sections. I was probably the only rider looking forward to the climbs! Ignoring the time with the mechanics, I still managed 28.6kmh average and enjoyed the really fast downhills. The Run was all about chasing Lloyd who was well ahead of me, and looking strong. It did hurt but was great with 2 tough 1 km @ 26km& 37km it was all about survival and mental strengths. I overtook over 500 people on the run and finished in 3:50. Official time is 12:10. I’ve got the medal and another IM under my belt. I’m happy and I will definitely go back to race there!

As raced and reported by Yann Umbricht