Michiel de Wilde

@michieldewilde

Nickname

The Wild One

Hometown

Amsterdam, the Netherlands

No one is born an athlete. Some discover their talents early. I on the other hand not until my 18th. That’s because I moved to Amsterdam to study at the university. That was not where my talent lies. I picked up rowing. I fell in love with training hard. The harder I pushed the more joy I found. Training hard ánd a lot is what long-distance triathlon is all about. That’s where my talent lies!

What are your biggest achievements related to cycling?

I have two! Number one is my first time riding my bike outside of the Netherlands. I was 16 years old, weighing 94 kg. It was a 100 km hilly loop finishing on top of the Puy de Dôme in France. My first mountain! I walked more that day than I was cycling. Number two is the bike part in my first full-distance triathlon. Racing 180 km, with a swim done and a marathon still to run. I nailed my nutrition, paced myself to perfection, and could hold my aero position for 4.5 hours. One of my best days on the saddle racing an Ironman.

The bike part in long-distance triathlon is massive. So bike hard and you’ll be in the front of the race. But bike too hard and you can’t run a fast marathon off the bike! Finding that balance is one of the most beautiful of this sport. My goal is to ride as close as possible to the 4-hour mark for the 180 km. Ánd still, be able to run well.

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