Al-Sultan and Stadler are not best friends. Nor are they enemies. Rivals might be a better description. Al-Sultan isn’t shy about pointing out their differences. They were both training in north San Diego County leading up to Kona and more than once went on the same bike rides, rides Stadler made sure to dominate.
“Normann is very different from me, in every respect,” says Al-Sultan. “He will try and drop you on the hill. He will go very hard to drop you. Especially when he’s here, he always wants to dominate the rides.”
Stadler’s motivation is obvious. He wants to plant the seed in the back of everyone’s mind that he’s the dominant rider. He’ll be the man to beat in Kona.
“He’s trying to make you think he is invincible, even before the race,” says Al-Sultan.
Asked if it works, Al-Sultan replies, “Definitely not for me. I don’t really care. The most important thing is myself (how I feel on the ride).”
Rambling on, Al-Sultan adds, “Normann is like a diva. If he has his day, nothing can stop him. He can be incredible. But he has to have his day. He’s nobody like Cam Brown, who is solid as a rock, who’s always there no matter what happens. If it rains, there’s heat, wind, Cam Brown is there. With Normann, it’s something different. If something happens, he puts his head in his chest and he’s melting down.”
Lest anyone think he was disrespecting Stadler, Al-Sultan went on to say, “But on the bike, he’s incredible.”
Read blindly off a computer screen, Al-Sultan’s words could be construed as cocky or part of a gamesmanship ploy. It’s not how they were intended. He is simply bold enough to say what other others say in hushed tones.
Faris is the defending champ. He can be beaten and knows it. Look at his fifth place earlier this year in South Africa. And a second at Roth.
This will be his third Ironman of the season, a mistake, he confesses.
“If you want to have a long career, you don’t do three Ironman (races),” he says. “Every Ironman means a wrinkle in your face. It takes something from you. You only have so many races in your life.”
But Al-Sultan knows this, too. He knows he can win triathlon’s most famed race. It’s those without a victory here who must remove the doubt.