We are going to Hawaii !!

Good news: Today, Rutger got his ticket for participating in Ironman Hawaii. The Ironman Nice had 3 tickets for the male pro's, but Zamora(1st) and Bringer(3rd) did not take theirs. As a result, Rutger, who finished 5th, received the 3rd ticket. A little luck, but also a nice reward for the enormous effort at the end of the marathon, which brought him back into the 5th position.

Picture Gallery from Ironman Nice >>>>>>>

Ironman Nice Live
June 22 2008

3.30 Rutger finished 5th in a time of 8.55.11. Zamora got the victory in 8.34.18 before Faure, Bringer and Jeuland, 3 frenchmen.

2.55 Rutger was in 7th position after 35km.Zomara still in the lead , more than 5 min before Faure. Bringer has moved into 3rd position, before Aigroz.

2.10 After 26km into the bike lap, Rutger passed in 6th position. Meanwhile Zamora has taken the lead with 5 minutes on Faure. Aigorz is in 3td, Bringer in 4th and Jeuland in 6th. Rutger's last 5 km were finished in a better time than his previous 5. But he looks very pale.

1.00 Rutger is running in 4th position 1okm nto the bike leg, behind Aigroz, Zamora and Brinker. Aigroz's advance is going down quickly, but Rutger doen't look fresh either. He told pieter that he felt 'empty' during the last 40km on the bike. Wait and see!

12.30 Rutger came into the transition zone as second, more than 9 minutes behind Aigroz and together with the other people in his group. He started running in 5th position and looked quite well.

12.00 After 150km on the bike, Aigroz is now leading with more than 8 minutes. No changes in the group with Rutger. I went looking for Aigroz on the Internet. He is Swiss, not French. Two weeks ago he finished 4th in the half Ironman Switserland, behind winner Ronnie Schildknecht.

11.00 After 120km of biking, Aigroz is still in the lead position, 6min30 in front of a group with Rutger, Zamora, Faure and Bringer.

10.25 I think the spotters working for IronmanLive have been drinking to much! They saw Zamora together with the leader Aigroz. Pieter just called to say that Rutger has joined the group with Zamora, Brinker and Faure. They are still minutes behind Aigroz though.

9.50 The information on Ironmanlive (Rutger at 23 seconds from Zamora) is wrong. Rutger is now at 2 minutes from Zamora and 6 minutes behind leader Aigroz, whom we do not know at all.

9.30 In the middle of the Col de l'Ecre, Rutger came by at 2min20 of a group with Zamora. We are referring to Zamora because he won the previous 2 editions of this Ironman. Aigroz from France is still leading, all alone in front of a group with Zamora.

9.00 After 70km on the bike, Rutger is starting to climb a steep hill 3min behind Zomora and Faure. These 2 are still behinfd leader Mike Aigroz. Initially Rutger has lost some time on the bike, falling back 4 minutes behind Zamora . But now he is catching up again.

7.30 Rutger came out of the water 2min41 behinfd the leader, Aigroz from France

Ironman Arizona Race Report

As mentioned in my previous report, I felt 100% ready for the race. On Sunday, April 13 I have started in Ironman Arizona with much enthusiasm. In hindsight, I should have known better. Three days before leaving Belgium, I had to endure a fever attack while sleeping. The next morning I had gone to the hospital, where the doctors determined I had a bacterial infection on my longs. I had to take antibiotics for a few days and felt completely recovered when >>>>>>>>>

Ready for the race!

Hello,

I have been here in Arizona for over a week now. The race is getting very close. Today the ‘circus’ has really started. This morning I went for registration, together with Claude, my coach. Being the winner of last year, they gave me the #1 BIB number. Cool!

The past week, I have been training here a little bit every day, but compared to what I did in the previous weeks at home, this was only peanuts. As a result, I start to feel really relaxed and almost ready to go. All week the weather has been splendid over here. A little fresher now than earlier. The predictions for the week-end are fantastic though. From now on, it will become a little hotter every day en for Sunday the prediction is 92 degrees Fahrenheit. Really the weather that I like! Yesterday Mike Cox, a bike mechanic, who drives around to help, came by. He gave the final touch to my bike (Cervelo P3C).  My race wheels have been mounted and now my little machine looks very fast.

This morning, I got a very stressing surprise. I wanted to have a swim in Lake Tempe (where the race will begin) with my wetsuit. I started to undress, took my wetsuit and what did I see: stupid Mr. Beke took Sofie’s wetsuit to the US. I was lucky though: 10 minutes later, I already had the right wetsuit in my hands. The local distributor had a stand 10 meters away and was willing to lend me one for the race.

This race is the start of my 2008 season, a season that I am expecting a lot from!

Greetings from Ahwatukee.

Rutger

News at the beginning of the 2008 season

Hello everyone,

It has been too long a time, since I published something on my website. So, with the new season now starting for me too, it’s time that I tell you how I am doing currently. Everything goes quite well. I have been able to train all winter without injuries. That has given me a lot of confidence, especially with regard to my running. I already have two training camps behind me. In January, I spent two weeks in Lanzarote. Afterwards, I went to South-Africa (Potchefstroom) for 3 weeks with other athletes from the Belgian national team. (this is my sixth consecutive year that I go there)
Tomorrow, I am leaving for Arizona, where I will do my first Ironman of the year. This is a very important race for me, my first race after finishing 898^th in Hawaii last year. So, I have to prove something! Moreover, for the first time since my debut in Kona, I have to qualify for next year’s race in Hawaii. That gives more pressure, but I have been training a lot and hard, so I think I am ready for it.

With regard to my sponsoring, almost everything remained unchanged. I am still on the payroll of BLOSO. My main sponsor remains Arinso (actually after being acquired it will become Northgate-Arinso). Oil Service remains a co-sponsor and I also continue running with Nike. I still bike on my ‘little P3C Cervelo’ and my other material sponsors are Zipp, Profile Design, Giro, Fizik, Squeezy and Fuel Belt.

I promise that I will report on a more regular basis for the remainder of the season. (Writing this down is a way to oblige myself.)

Greetings,

Rutger

PS: I still owe you the most important news: Tille will get a little brother or sister soon! I am sooooooooo glaaaaad!

Attention: we are upgrading!

After 4 years in the previous configuration, we decided to refresh the looks of the website a little. On this page, you can see the first result of the upgrade. In the coming weeks, we will, slowly but surely, adapt all old webpages to this new 'look'. Until its all done, it is possible that , while surfing the website, you will end-up with a mixture of ald and new style pages. Sorry for that.
The webmaster
 

New Year
 

I wish everybody a splendid 2008! 2007 cannot be over quick enough for me! I am already in full preparation of the next season and I am longing for the next races.
Here is a little hint already: I will start in the Ironman Arizona on April 13 and afterwards, I will participate in Niederbronn-Les-Bains (France, Half Ironman distance) on may 25th. Furthermore, on August 3, I definitely have the Marc Herremans Classic on my program. I will do more races, but I do not definitely know which ones yet.

See you next year!!
Rutger