South African kick-off - straight outta comfort zone

In preparation for IRONMAN South Africa on March 5th, many intensive sessions with the young guns were on the cards for Michi. Whether it was in the swimming pool, on the racetrack or jaunting up the Teide, the highest mountain in Spain - Michi was challenged!

Michi said goodbye to his usual training intensities and pushed himself, but also his teammates, to great training successes. The conditions could not have been more different under the Spanish sun. On the Costa Adeje, the swimming and running sessions were reeled off in 20 degrees and sunshine. On the bike there were almost daily tours to the mountains, where one even encountered winter snow conditions on the ascent to the Teide side-by-side with Wout van Aert.

At the beginning of the second week of training, Michi already started the two-week tapering process leading into the IRONMAN African Championships in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth).

12 weeks of optimal preparation will culminate on Sunday at the Easter Cape, with a test for IRONMAN Texas. Due to his routine, Michi no longer does competition simulations in training, but only in the competition itself. Sunday funday - performance control is coming up!

He tackles this showdown with his long-time companion and mental coach Wolfgang Seidl. South Africa calling - Why? Regeneration is not severely restricted by the minimal time difference and therefore jet lag is also not an issue.

Furthermore, the competition at the Nelson Mandela Bay serves as a test for material and form on his new SCOTT Plasma Bike. The competition also serves as a location check and lays the foundation for a long season ahead - no pressure! The strong field includes prominent names like Bradley Weiss, Matt Trautman, Leon Chevalier, Rasmus Svenningsson and Cameron Wurf.

Kom ons gaan!

Race start: 06:10 am (05:10 am CET) - live in the IRONMAN Tracker App