Max Neumann’s candid post-race interview pulled no punches
Moments after winning the PTO European Open Australian Max Neumann gave a post-race interview that has got a lot of people talking...
It may not have been part of the script, but Max Neumann didn’t care.
Ahead of the first-ever PTO European Open all eyes were on the battle between Alistair Brownlee, Jan Frodeno and Kristian Blummenfelt, with the trio lining up on the same start line for the first time.
If you believed the hype, a winner surely had to come from those three, but the truth is that this was no three-way shootout. Every athlete knew that.
And so it came to pass. Aaron Royle led the swim, closely followed by Brownlee and Frodeno. Brownlee pushed the pace on the bike while Magnus Ditlev dragged Blummenfelt through the field with a masterful bike leg.
But then, as Brownlee started to fade after a fast start to the run, Neumann emerged from his shadow and paced the end of the race to perfection.
Read our full men’s race report to recap on the action, but for now, here’s what today’s winner had to say moments after crossing the finish line.
Max Neumann quotes at the PTO European Open
“I just think you don’t get many chances to race these guys. It’s just a privilege to go up against Jan, Ali, Kristian. They literally made the sport for us guys.
“It’s quite emotional, but I love racing. To race like that with Kristian breathing down your neck is literally what you live for. I couldn’t have asked for more really.
“Me, my brother, my girlfriend – it’s just literally a family project almost – and a masseuse, shout out to Wayno – that’s literally it. No bull***t science, just a power meter, mighty hard work and being smart.
“This is for just going back to the basics, none of the crap, just the basics. No s**t really.”
Asked if he thought about how he was leading Blummenfelt during the race the Australian said: “Oh 100%, the entire time. I never ever expected to be winning. You always want to win, but you never say you’re going to win. You’d just be an idiot if you did that.
“You can put yourself in that position. There was a couple of moments on the bike where I saw Kristian and Jan were struggling a little bit, and Kyle [Smith] and Ali really pushed the pace on the bike.
“I aced my race and paced it well on the run.”
Asked about flying under the radar, despite some impressive results over the past 12 months, Neumann said: “I just hate Instagram. I never post. I despise it. Look, you don’t have to be putting your training up, you don’t have to be saying everything you’re doing every day to be the world’s best.
“We keep it small. We keep it exciting, fun, that’s just what we do.”
Top image credit: PTO
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Rob Slade
