He would rather become world champion in Nice than to end up high in the PTO Ranking: that is exactly why Sam Laidlow will not race this Saturday at the PTO European Open on Ibiza. After it already became clear last week that Laidlow would not start due to ‘personal circumstances’, numerous speculations arose about those circumstances, but actually the reason for not starting is quite simple.
Yet in the How They Train podcast, Sam Laidlow does not elaborate on those ‘personal circumstances’ – somewhat striking given the teaser that host Jack Kelly published earlier – except to say that he is in the midst of moving houses. However, Laidlow does explain that long-distance races are his priority, he is someone who can push high wattages for long periods of time and Ibiza’s course is not suitable for that and he would rather become world champion in Nice than achieve a high ranking within the PTO Ranking. Laidlow is the first athlete to speak openly about the fact that the PTO Ranking is not the main goal.
Laidlow is making a conscious decision not to start in Ibiza, although many fans are balking at that. The Frenchman points out that the Norwegians (Blummenfelt and Iden, ed.) proved earlier that the combination between long distance and short distance is doable, but that they too had at least six weeks between their races. Just last week, Laidlow won Challenge Gran Canaria.
