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Interview: Phil Graves to toe the line at Ironman Lanzarote
There had been a couple of rumours that Ironman pro, Philip Graves, was intending on racing at the upcoming Ironman Lanzarote race. This wasn’t in Graves initial race plans this year and might have been just a juicy race rumour… so I caught up with him to find out more.
Hi Philip, there is a rumour doing the rounds that you might be making your long awaited comeback at Ironman Lanzarote… is this true?
Yes, I will be racing at Lanzarote. It was sort of a last minute decision, a throw up between doing Austria 70.3 and this but I thought I would throw myself in at the deep end having spend a fair amount of time in Lanzarote over the winter.
I think it’s a strong course for strong bikers – something you obviously are – what’s your target for this race?
I’ll be honest… I don’t think Lanzarote is a course for strong bikers. I think people are led to believe that but I think, looking back at previous editions of the race, the bike has had very little impact on the entire race.Very rarely has the person who has been 1st off the bike won, which sort of turns the race on its head. I wouldnt really say O have a target, I’m just eager to get in some solid racing after too long not been on the start of a big race.
There are some strong entrants on the list from the British isles – including Dan Halksworth and Stephen Bayliss – do you think this will be a battle of the Brits and what will you need to do to get the result in Lanzarote?
I think there a number of people who can be at the front of the race this year which really makes it all the more exciting.I know Bert Jammer is never one to be discounted and knows the island like the back of his hand, and both Stephen (Bayliss) and Dan (Halksworth) have had strong races already this year so the pressure is on them to go out and perform and live up to the potential they have show at Abu Dhabi and in Futureventura.Ironman is nothing to be taken lightly and I wouldnt be on the start line if I didnt think I had it in me to get a result – we all need a bit of luck of race day but hopefully I can just have a solid race, get round in one piece and recover quickly for Austria and Ironman NYC.
With regards to Ironman Austria, you had previously identified that as an A race – is this still the case or have your priorities switched to Lanzarote?
No – Austria and NYC are still my two main races of the year but I really wanted to toe the start line at Lanzarote this year after getting to know the island so well over the last few months.It will be more or less a home race for me, as I have a huge group of great friends there and I just feel comfortable at Club la Santa – it’s hassle free, I know what happens, and I’ve been on the start line before at Lanzarote, and I believe fimiliarity is the key. I didnt want to turn up at Austria 70.3 never having been there and not knowing the course when the oppertunity came up to race Ironman Lanzarote where I could more or less feel at home and try and do a good performance.
And how has training been going after a frustrating 2011? I notice you’ve been ticking off TT wins – so I guess the cycling must be going well…
Things have been going ok. I made a few major lifestyle changes in March and I’ve been ticking over well, knocking out some good TTs along the way.I was pleased with my 19.08 10mile TT I did in early April and I think that was a good indicator as to how i was getting along and I have just changed bike sponsor to Cervelo so I’m really excited about racing on their bikes this year.I have also been working a lot on the minor things that often get overlooked in my setup, trying out things at TTs and trying to source the best products out there to use those races. I suppose I’m becoming more knowledgable all the time and I’m very happy with my performances so far this season considering the performance upgrades I have avaliable to me that I have been holding off on using. I’m excited to say the least.
Thanks for your time Philip. and best of luck.
Ironman Lanzarote will be raced on the 19th May.
