Spencer Switching Back to Ironman
|
Pascal Richard & Spencer Smith
|
|
Spencer Smith of the Linda McCartney Pro Cycling Team is retracing his steps
to focus his career on the Ironman Triathlon discipline.
Staying within the Linda McCartney umbrella, Spencer will cut short his
road-racing programme and build towards a new big target, the Hawaii Ironman.
"The racing has been excellent so far this year," said Spencer. "I had a
really good start in Malaysia at the Tour of Langkawi, then it was back to
Europe. To be honest, I've found the racing in Europe unbelievably hard, and
I've struggled at times, which I fully expected. I still think I can make it
to the top, but it's going to take a year or maybe even two before I'm at the
sort of level I need to reach to compete."
It gives the Linda McCartney Pro Cycling Team, and the Linda McCartney Foods
brand, an opportunity to broaden their horizons. Spencer is probably the
world's best known triathlete, and Linda McCartney will now be represented at
the peak of two international sports.
"I can't stress enough how brilliant the team and the whole McCartney
organisation have been to me," said Spencer. "Julian Clark and Sean Yates
stuck their necks out for me and I'm desperate to repay their faith. I'm so
pleased that they want me to stay within the Linda McCartney set-up. Also,
the overwhelming support I received from family, friends, athletes and
followers within the triathlon world was astounding and had an immeasurable
impact on my decision to return to triathlon."
Team manager Sean Yates has got to know Spencer well over the first part of
the 2000 racing season.
"Spencer is one of the best trainers I've ever seen in the sport. His
technique and his endurance and recovery are all excellent. His motivation
and focus can't fail to impress anybody who meets him, and in some ways,
that's where this change of plan has come about: Spencer is used to being the
best in the world, and he's impatient to get to the top. He knows it's going
to take a long while to do that in cycling, and he knows that success in
triathlon is well within his grasp."
The switch will once again open the question of whether Spencer will aim to
go to Sydney for the Olympics.
"I hope the British team wins gold in Sydney, but it's not really my target,"
explained Spencer. "I'm aiming for Ironman - that's a 2.4 mile swim, 112
miles on the bike and then a full marathon. That's the true test of who is
the best all-round athlete in the world in my book."
Team 2000 | Sponsors | Racing | Diaries | Home | Contact | Music
|
