Sam Dickinson finished 2nd at the IM70.3 European Championship in Jönköping. The BMC athlete produced an excellent allround performance and raced in front all day long. With a very strong final push on the run, he was able to take that 2nd place and cross the line in a time of 3:37:06. Fabian Kraft (DUI; 3:35:37) came home victorious as Gabriel Sandör (SWE; 3:37:23) rounded out the podium.
Very consistent
After finishing 4th, just few seconds short of the podium not once, but twice earlier this season, Sam Dickinson toed the line in Jönköping looking to snatch that first podium of the year. The day started perfectly as Sam exited the water in 3rd place, well inside the big leading group. After a fast transition, he jumped on his BMC Speedmachine in first place. Together with 6 athletes, Sam formed the front group early on the bike as they opened up a gap of one minute. Only Robert Kallin managed to bridge that gap. A little later, Kallin put in an attack, but Sam decided to stick to his pace. He settled inside the chase group, trying to conserve as much energy as possible for the run. Reaching T2, Dickinson pulled off a rapid transition once again and took off for the run in 2nd place, trailing the lead by 1’20. With 8 athletes following in his footsteps, a battle throughout the entire run was in the making. Sam controlled his pace in the early stages of the run. He was battling for 3rd place, 30 seconds back of the lead at the 7k mark. After 13k, the BMC athlete shortly dropped back to 5th position, but that’s where he turned on the jets. He kept 2nd place in his sights and ran down the 20 seconds deficit he had. With 5k to go, 4 athletes, including Sam, ran almost shoulder-to-shoulder while fighting over 2nd position. Just before the last 2k, the battle came down to Sam and Sandör as they dropped the other two competitor. With a fantastic final surge, Dickinson managed to open up a gap over Sandör. Absolutely giving his all, he crossed the finish line in a time of 3:37:06, earning himself the title of IM70.3 vice-European champion.
Afterwards Dickinson reflected on his performance: "I had a very solid race all day. I was at the front coming out of the water and well positioned in the lead group until Kallin came past. I took control and kept him at 1'30 entering T2. Then we had a run race with the rest of the lead pack. I had a bad patch from km 7 to 15 on the run but came through it and carry on to race for second. Happy to podium but really want to win again soon".
Sam's BMC Pro Tri teammate Thor Bendix Madsen toed the line in Jönköping as well. After a tough swim, the Dane managed to move up through the field on the bike. He started the run in 12th place. In the closing half marathon, he managed to move up some more spots to cross the finish line in 10th place in a time of 3:41:51.
In the women’s race, the BMC Pro Tri colours were defended by Laura Madsen. After a difficult first part of the season, Laura had a solid swim. A very strong performance on the bike saw her close down the 2’20 gap towards the leaders around the 75k mark. With the fastest bike split under her belt, she took off for the run to cross the finish line in 7th place at the end. A performance to build on for the second part of the season.
