AsiaTRI Interview: Antony Costes, 2017 Ironman Barcelona Champion

By Wires October 3, 2017

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AsiaTRI caught up with Thanyapura Triathlon Team Pro Antony Costes to talk about his first iron-distance win in Ironman Barcelona, and also his amazing finish time of 7:49:19!

AsiaTRI: How does it feel to win your first Ironman title and go sub-8 hours at that?

Antony: Great! The Ironman full distance has been a very tough learning curve for me and this victory has been a huge step forward after many difficult trials.

AsiaTRI: In your training leading into Ironman Barcelona, did you do anything different than the usual sessions?

Antony: The only difference that I see is that I did two training camps in altitude this summer but I got the first injury of my career between. After this injury I had to adapt my training with less intensity.

AsiaTRI: After going toe to toe with Mike Philips on the bike, and him taking almost a minute lead on the run, you never gave up and caught him at km 24..what was going through your mind then?

Antony: Well, I have a good story about this: I saw my wife Mathilde around km20. I was still second about 30″ back and told her “look carefully, this is going to be your birthday gift!” in a very confident way… Then I realized that the race was still long and freaked out a little bit! (I am usually winning each race the week-end of her birthday, last time it was the 70.3 Korea in Gurye!).

AsiaTRI: You had one of the fastest bike splits on the course, tell us what was the course like.

Antony: The bike course on the Ironman Barcelona is a nice one along the Mediterranean Sea. Some short hills help to relax the back muscles making it easier than a pure flat race. The road surface is mostly very smooth making it suitable for fast times.

AsiaTRI: Whats next for you, and when are you coming back to Asia?

Antony: My next race will be Challenge Kanchanaburi in Thailand where I will come-back to defend my title!