Sebastian Kienle Looks Back On Kona World Championships

Sebastian, roughly two weeks ago you won the World Championships in Kona. How have your days been since this major success?
The first couple of days were very busy. I stayed in Hawaii for a week of holidays and after that I visited San Francisco with my girlfriend. I’ve always wanted to get to see this city but not just for a few hours to tick all the “must-do” boxes.  I wanted to spend some time there, check out good coffee shops etc. So looking back, I had time to relax and enjoy the victory. Now I'm back in Germany and I experience a growth in media attention, but in a good way. I enjoy talking about Kona, it keeps the memories sort of fresh. There are also a lot of commitments for my sponsors but I’m fine with that, it is the time to give something back.  

Despite the increased attention from media and the public, you’re already preparing for your next race. Can you tell us more about it?
I decided early this year that I wanted to do a race after Kona. I felt very good the last two years after Kona and always had the feeling that I was wasting my good shape by taking a break. That’s why I picked Challenge Bahrain in December as a last race for the year. I still have some open business after the semi-distance Worlds in Mont Tremblant and I feel fresh and motivated to do another race at the highest level. At the same time I know that with all the commitments following my victory in Kona, my preparation will not be as usual. Still, I’ve already fixed dates for a training camp in November so I’ll take it seriously. 

Back to the race in Kona, it looked like you controlled the competition for large parts of the day. Did you feel the same or was the perception totally different on race day?
If that’s the impression I left, then I’ve achieved my goal of trying to look like I’m in total control (laughs). Honestly, I tried to be in control and looking back, my mind and body were on a very high level that day. At the same time, I tried to hold back my confidence regarding a possible victory. In other races I would have started to think about what to say to the press after crossing the finish line. Not in Kona. On the Big Island I’ve seen people struggling who looked unbreakable only one mile earlier. I tried to stay focused until the very end. 

You played an active role in the development of the new Plasma 5. Features like the integrated Aero Drink or the Storage Box have been developed to match your needs and the needs of most triathletes out there. You’ve raced totally different courses on the Plasma 5 this year: Heilbronn, Kraichgau, Frankfurt, Mont Tremblant and now Hawaii. How would you judge the overall performance of the Plasma 5?
Especially for triathletes, the Plasma 5 is a huge step forward. Not just because the bike performs better with regards to aerodynamics but also because the integrated Aero Drink and the Storage Box are very practical and allow to refuel without leaving an aerodynamic position. This alone creates substantial time savings. Although the Plasma 5 is a pure Triathlon/TT bike it still handles almost like a road bike on technical courses. In the past, I’ve often used the Foil on hilly and technically challenging courses. With the Plasma 5 this is out of discussion: it is very stiff in the front and although the brakes are fully integrated their functionality is superb which is essential on difficult courses. 

When the Plasma 5 was first introduced some athletes worried that the increased surface originating from the integrated Aero Drink and the Storage Box could impair the bike’s handling in strong cross wind sections. Kona is  known for strong cross winds, how did the bike perform on this course? 
Here you really have to compare the bikes like they are racked in transition not the way they are sold in shops. Almost all the athletes mount a box or a drinking system or both on their bike. Therefore many bikes feature bigger surface areas than the Plasma 5. The shape of the frame in general, the fact that the center of mass is lower than with other aero drink systems and that both systems are well integrated into the frame results in a minor impact on the bike’s handling even in strong cross winds. In a lot of training sessions prior to the race I wasn’t using the Aero Drink and there was no noticeable difference on how the bike handled in cross winds. In addition, the numbers from the wind tunnel show that the Plasma 5 is faster with the Aero Drink in cross winds than without.  

In a time where power output, heart rate and pace seem to take over, you raced Kona without a power meter on your bike and even without a watch on your wrist. How do you pace yourself during a race or asked differently, do you even pace yourself at all during a race?
The fact that I raced without constantly monitoring my values seems to be a pretty big thing to a lot of people. I'm not old school at all. I use the Sram Quarq in all my training sessions. In racing, I don't like to pace myself by numbers. I don't want to limit myself by setting a specific number or range as a goal. In that regard it’s important to know that in Kona the pro race is different to the age group race: there is a strong tactical component included. Sometimes you have to make an impression on the other competitors. It's not that I turn my brain off in a race but after 20 years riding bikes you get a feeling of what’s possible and what’s not on race day. 

At the 20k mark into the marathon I observed how you yelled at your coach because you weren’t satisfied with the given time information regarding the athletes behind you. You seem like a humble guy outside of racing. How do you build up this kind of aggression before or during the race and what role does this kind of aggression play in your racing?
At that point in the race I hadn’t received any information on time gaps for more than 30 minutes. Even if I looked controlled like you said before, I was scared that some guy behind me was having the run of his life and would catch me eventually. My coach knows me and it’s a good sign if I yell at him. Looking back, I’m happy I didn’t use the words that I sometimes do (laughs). It wasn’t his fault though, he just didn’t have the information I needed at this time. He told me to go faster but I already knew that. You have to push yourself very far in such a race and at a certain point it helps if you build up anger and aggression. As I said before, I just have to be careful which words I choose (laughs). 

Did you pay your coach a beer to make it up after the race?
No no, I don’t have to be sorry for that - he knows me well enough. We opened a bottle of champagne to celebrate. And trust me there’s a payback to come in future training sessions (laughs). 

You’ve been working with Lubos Bilek as your coach for 9 years now. What makes this partnership so successful?
I have an idea of what my training should look like. It is not that I get a plan from him and I work the list step by step, no questions asked. Some people need a coach who pushes them. I don't need that, or only on very few days. Lubos just knows me. He looks at me in the morning and knows if I need a rest day or a training day.  

Have you already had the time to think about your goals for next year?
The biggest goal is always to become better! I would like to defend my title in Kona and get my semi-distance title back. I hope Javier is racing in Zell am See! 

Thank you for your time Sebastian and all the best moving forward!