Over the past two years, 26-year-old Leon Chevalier has become one of the world’s best long-course triathletes with two top-10 finishes in last year’s Ironman Worlds and winning some of the toughest iron-distance races on the planet.
With more success at Ironman South Africa in March, he’s firmly established himself as a contender for the 2023 world title in Nice, in September. But chances are, you won’t have heard of him until now. Well, let’s put that right…
220: Your accent is tricky to place. Is it explained by your upbringing?
Leon Chevalier: I was born in Paris and my whole family is French, but just before I turned two, mum got a job offer in New York, so we lived in Long Island for five years. I’d speak American English at school and French at home.
I then spent 15 years in France, but went to an international school where classes were delivered in English, before moving to the UK in 2018.
On his start in triathlon and coaching set-up
220: How did you start in triathlon?
LC: I ran track and cross country as a teenager and was out for six months with Achilles tendonitis, but was allowed to cycle and swim and, because I had a friend who’d just started triathlon, I joined in for sessions.
In my first year I went to the national triathlon championships and just kept going.
220: How did you end up being coached by Cheetham Coaching?
LC: We live closeby and I’d see Susie every day and ask for advice. She could see that I was floating from one idea of a goal to the next, and while I had potential, it wasn’t funnelled in the right direction.
They took me on at the end of 2020, and I was going to graduate in 2022, so I had to show by that point that triathlon was a viable career. We set a goal to qualify for Kona by 2022.
220: How did training change?
LC: Every Sunday I received my training for the week on Training Peaks and felt all I had to do was commit 100% to every session.
The training load was way less than it is now, but it was the first time I was being moulded into performing at a given period. It turned into results.
220: Tell us more about the training.
LC: Well, we don’t do lactate testing! And for a long time I didn’t even have a heart rate monitor. I probably do between 25-33 hrs a week, which I wouldn’t say is high as I know some athletes do 40hrs. It includes quite a lot of intensity.
Pretty much everything is kind of hard, but this means hard efforts feel relatively easy on race day and my endurance power is Ironman power for a lot of people. I spend a lot of time on the turbo but as soon as I’m in the Alps in summer, I can do so much more bike volume.
I finished 12mins behind Kristian Blummenfelt, but he’s been 100% committed to triathlon for 12 years. I was handing in a 100-page dissertation the day before! I was shocked that I was that close in terms of performance
220: Has your chemical engineering degree [at Bath Uni] given you any insights into optimising performance?
LC: Chemical engineering is learning about how to get the best outcome out of all the different inputs and for an 8hr race many different things need to come together for the fastest finish time.
We completed a lot of product management modules with a focus on front loading because what you don’t do at the start usually compounds to a greater negative effect towards the end.
For example, in the first half of the bike leg I go extra on carbs – usually including a Snickers bar – so it has time to settle down and not affect me on the run. I’ve not had GI issues so far in a race.
On his Ironman Worlds' performances to date
220: How do you reflect on your sixth and seventh places in last year’s Ironman World Championships?
LC: Eighteen months ago I hadn’t done an Ironman. Now every time I think about the guys that beat me, it’s a very short list. I had a terrible preparation for the race in St George and finished 12mins behind Kristian Blummenfelt, but he’s been 100% committed to triathlon for 12 years. I was handing in a 100-page dissertation the day before the race!
I felt we were at such different ends of the preparation spectrum, but I was shocked that I was that close in terms of performance. I’ve always thought the best athletes were made of something different, but then I was thrown in the mix and it was very odd. I then came seventh in Kona, so it’s not a fluke.
220: And what about Kona?
LC: It was a four-man race upfront and then the rest of the pack. I had the third-fastest bike split [4:09:04], 1sec off Cam [Wurf] with a 60sec penalty, and the bike felt easy. It was odd to be in a situation where I’m going under the previous bike-course record and felt as if I could have pushed harder.
I almost didn’t want to go to Kona because I was so tired from the rest of the season. Imagine if I’d been fired up following a great training block. I want to go back and hit it really hard.
On his chances in Nice
220: How do you feel about lining up in Nice for this year’s men's Ironman Worlds?
LC: It should suit me, but when it’s new, you just don’t know. I look forward to not having to go all the way to Kona, though. I’m so new to the sport that I’m not unconditionally in love with Kona.
220: What’s your view on the rivalries within the sport?
LC: At the Ironman South Africa awards ceremony, all the pro athletes were chatting and having a good time. The reality is that’s what Ironman athletes do. It’s a pretty solitary existence and you get to see competitors after the race and everyone has a story to tell.
I’d rather be known for being nice than being a d*******! I’ll let the results do the talking, but there’s a reason why I have less than 10k followers on Instagram. I don’t have a YouTube channel, I don’t have my own podcast and I don’t trash talk people. I have a life outside of tri and I’m trying to do my best to balance it.
Top image credit: Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images for Ironman
