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Haven’t finished it yet as I’m down with a pretty terrible sinus headache, but this does a better job from what I’ve seen to make me like Sam through its professional tone. It might not be fair to judge from afar, but some of his other content just makes him seem like an impulsive punk hamming for the camera. This one is much more professional.
Maybe it leans a little too much on Babbit, but he provides a credible sense of authority to it all.
Really great work and worth of some awards in my view.
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Watching it now.
10 min in. Bob Babbitt mentions that getting 2nd in Kona did more for Sam than winning in Nice. 
Cue the Kona vs Nice vs the rest world debate…
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Not much to debate since it is true
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There is a rumor going here that Sam was paid by Canyon a very big amount of money to get them the bike course record. Like something between 700K and 1 million….that bad Canyon wanted the bike course record as how the rumor is going.
Might explain why he went on that kamikaze-ride during Kona and ‘walked’ it in after 10 miles in the run.
Jeroen
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I thought the video was done quite well and contrary to other videos made Sam seem quite classy.
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Just watched it in full. It was classy until the end when he flicks the camera off with his family all around him.
Regarding his stomach/nutrition issues, is Mortal hydration to blame?
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I found it interesting that he acknowledged pretty early on the bike that he was taking in too many electrolytes and not enough water. Followed by issues trying to pee. Seems like he knew he was not nailing the nutrition (the signs were there) but still decided to just send it on the run. I guess those are the chances you have to take when you’re trying to be #1.
I sat next table to him at a sushi restaurant the next day. He looked utterly shattered, barely had energy to speak or look up. Didn’t look like somebody who just cashed in on a million. He wanted to win in Kona, dominating wire to wire like in Nice, but in Kona it’s a lot harder as you risk overheating if you push early on.
Absolutely loved this. Thanks for the link.
Happy new year!
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Sam comes across as impulsive. He doesn’t demonstrate the race intelligence that someone like Frodeno used to have. The ability to adapt and change when something isn’t exactly as predicted.
I don’t think he will win Kona for quite a few years until he learns to race with the conditions rather than against them. He has a better chance in Nice 2025.
It’s naive to compare Jan Frodeno to Sam Laidlow like for like.
Jan has achieved A LOT, probably THE MOST ever, but at the Sam’s current age Jan’s best international result had been 2nd place in ITU Hamburg World Cup race. He won gold in 2008 Olympic at the age of 27, but it took him another 6 years to podium an IM.
Sam, being 26, still has time to learn and improve.
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This is why we need down voting functionality added to this forum
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Is somebody a sad panda this holiday season?
Happy new year!
Wouldn’t all the bike companies, especially one that has the most pros on the payroll currently have a bonus structure for the bike course record? 700k seems like an Emperor’s ransom though.
How about that cockpit?
The guy from Canyon said they had an engineer dedicated half the year ($150k salary / 2 = $75k), and he had to build a machine to test it ($?k?), then cost of the cockpit itself.
It was odd that this hasn’t been mentioned more. I assumed from the moment he broke the record that Canyon had a big bonus ready, but no one really talked about it being a possible reason or motivation as to why he went so hard on the bike. Obviously a Kona win pays well and that’s the goal, but you can’t discount the what getting the bike course bonus might do.
I highly doubt that the numbers mentioned were for a bike course record only. It could be something like get that bike record, the overall one too and win the race, and that would be a very nice bonus for all 3 of those metrics…
And I dont think he really thought he was over riding the course, except for maybe the beginning where he really wanted to force a break and not become part of the large group. I mean he even ran well for awhile too, so not like Magnus who was completely shattered in T2(but did manage to salvage his day).
In his account it wasnt even an overheating issue, but one of nutrition. I remember seeing him miss some bottles at a station, but that shouldn’t have been a big issue. And then later trying to play catch up with nutrition, then shutting down absorption and thus falling apart. These guys nowadays depend on getting those calories, and on time to fuel racing right on the red line. So missing anything along the way can be disastrous, as we saw with sam and blu that day…Its the make up game that gets them…
I agree with that 700k number seeming WAY too high, but I would imagine the bonus for just the bike course record was still a hefty 6 figure number. I don’t think it was is sole motivation for the race, but it sure is a big carrot.
I personally think Sam knew he couldn’t win Kona this year. He had a minor injury in the run up, he had covid and he hasn’t learnt how to conquer Kona heat just yet.
It would make a lot of sense that he targeted the bike bonus knowing he was unlikely to win.