Laurent Vidal is one of the breakthroughs of 2009, the Frenchman proving that his third place at the Huatulco World Cup in Mexico towards the end of 2008 was no fluke by contesting six of the seven rounds of the Dextro Energy Triathlon – ITU World Championship Series with three top five results, including one podium finish.

Profile
Name: Laurent Vidal
Age: 24
Born: Sète, France
Lives: Sète, France
Website: www.laurent-vidal.com

So far Vidal’s best finish has been third in Kitzbühel. Against a strong field and in tough conditions he charged for the line, nearly catching the defending world champion, Javier Gomez. Fifth place in London followed, despite Vidal falling in second transition, and a week later he recovered sufficiently to place fourth in Yokohama. His fourth result, counting towards his ranking of fifth place, was a seventh place finish in Washington DC where he clocked the second fastest run time behind Olympic champion Jan Frodeno.

Dextro Energy Triathlon – ITU World Championship Series Rankings
1. Alistair Brownlee, GBR. 3200pts
2. Javier Gomez, ESP. 2849pts
3. Kris Gemmell, NZL. 2559pts
4. Maik Petzold, GER. 2493pts
5. Laurent Vidal, FRA. 2404pts

How Vidal Can Win the Dextro Energy Triathlon – ITU World Championship:
The European trio of Petzold, Vidal and Justus remain in the picture having collected a handful of podium finishes between them. Petzold is the best placed; a win for the German will mean that Brownlee has to finish worse than 12th and Gomez worse than fifth whilst Vidal can only afford the top two to finish slightly lower down the results.

We will be running down the profiles of the top five ranked athletes leading up to the Dextro Energy Triathlon - ITU World Championship Series Grand Final. Stay tuned tomorrow for the number four ranked athletes, Maik Petzold and Daniela Ryf.