He wanted to be present despite the galleys and physical glitches encountered this season. Vincent Luis, double world triathlon champion, bronze medalist at the Tokyo Olympics in the mixed relay event, will take part in the “Test Event” this weekend in Paris. Not completely recovered from an injury contracted at the beginning of May, the Frenchman hopes above all to take his bearings for 2024. The start of his race is scheduled for Friday at 8 a.m.
How are you approaching this Test Event?
VINCENT LUIS. I didn’t have the ideal preparation, that’s for sure. But I’m coming back from ten weeks at altitude where I started running again, even if, well, it didn’t go as well as I would have liked. The objective a few weeks ago was to be at the start of this race, and normally it should be good so the objective should be fulfilled. Now, I don’t have any particular objective for this race and above all I don’t pretend to say that I could make the podium and validate my ticket. But I really wanted to be there to get some bearings, to see how the race was going, to take risks and have fun.
Can you come back to this injury?
At the beginning of May, I contracted a stress fracture at the neck of the femur, where the psoas inserts. It’s a muscle that we triathletes use all the time, whether swimming, cycling or running. It took a long time to heal, already because the femur is the biggest bone in the body so inevitably when you fracture it, there is something wrong. I spent a month on crutches. And when I resumed it was really very light, without great intensity.
Not 100% fit today?
No. Honestly, I think I’m pretty much 70.75% fit. The swimming-cycling sequence should be fine, but running is really not up to par. I’m lucky to have been able to get a place on the starting pontoon so I’m not going to waste it. It’s been a few weeks since I was able to work properly again. I already had to lose the weight that I had gained and come back to the level a little. In Font-Romeu, I was able to run on a carpet in weightlessness to really try to “unload” my bones, it really helped me a lot. It saved me a few weeks but still not enough to qualify for a podium on Friday.
Is there a particular explanation for this injury?
It may be thought that there is an imbalance between the left leg and the right leg, which is often the case with stress fractures. We will do a lot more tests as soon as the season ends. The objective for me is to arrive next season in good shape, to do the season without physical problems. I know that if I arrive at the start of the races without having had any, I will necessarily be one of the contenders for the medal in Paris.
