Keen to put his title back on the line, Sébastien Smargiassi wins the duathlon event again this year. The time gives him access to the World Triathlon Championship, in Italy at the foot of the Dolomites, on September 28, 2024. The new objective of this non-professional athlete, whose objective of victory is never an option…
Reassured Sébastien Smargiassi: the mechanics still work as well. On June 8, in Namur in Belgium, he came to put his title on the line… To leave with it!
On this short duathlon trail) in front of around 300 competitors and a high field.
Obviously at this level it’s hard! But I’ve been winning for 20 years, I’m 37 today, and the pleasure comes from winning.
A victory but also a qualifying time for the World Championships, of which the next round in Italy, the roots of the Smargiassi, forms the next objective.
“I was keen to see if it happened this year, explains Sébastien Smargiassi. Due to the heavy rains of the previous days, the conditions were particular. On foot it was tight but it was the technique, on the bike, that made the difference. “
A hell of a victory despite an absence of regular training at the start of the year, professional activity occupying a large part of his days. “I only had 350 km of mountain biking on the clock and the training is managed according to the activity in the garage. I arrived a week before in Namur, and it was there that I trained like a pro, four times a day.
This victory is also that of everyone in the garage. They allow me to do all of this.
Despite everything, he was aware of his form after a series of victories in Saint-Jean-du-Pin, Domessargues and Aven de Méjannes-le-Clap, he nevertheless showed up in Namur with his gold medal and a sprain! Cared for by Kevin Paulsen, Sébastien Smargiassi, a non-professional, today draws as much from this psychology tinged by this taste for winning as from the management of effort nourished by maturity.
“Obviously at this level it’s hard! But I’ve been winning for 20 years, I’m 37 years old today, and the pleasure comes through victory. We think of the efforts made in the rain, the wind, the cold and it’s a source of motivation because losing is out of the question… But this victory is also that of everyone in the garage. They allow me to achieve all this. ”
