PowerUp Tri Podcast Episode 13: Pieter Heemeryck

The PowerUp Tri Podcast is hosted by former pro triathletes Matt Lieto and Jordan Rapp, who lend their in-depth knowledge of the multisport to the Zwift Tri audience.

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At Zwift we spend a lot of time training indoors, but just like most of you, we are training for outdoor events as well. We obviously think Zwift can be the best training option for these events, but clearly racing outside is different than training and racing inside. We take the opportunity to pull the ear of one of the best at transitioning indoor training into outdoor success, Pieter Heemeryck, to give us some “insider” tips on the subject.

Pieter’s name has seemingly come out of nowhere the last few seasons and straight to the top of the results sheets. When his name is read on a start list, his competitors often sigh, knowing he will make them work ALL day for a result. With 70.3 victories and other huge successes, he highlighted his palmares last year with a top 5 at 70.3 Worlds while garnering the fastest bike split en route.

To say Pieter is an avid Zwifter would be a gross understatement. He loves riding indoors and does the majority of his training with us at Zwift. He’s actually a level 47 Zwifter! The big news recently, however, is that he was just passed by Lionel Sanders as the pro triathlete with the most mileage in-game. Get back on it Pieter, it’s not gonna Zwift itself!

Riding on Zwift is amazing for triathletes for many reasons – the controlled environment, the specificity allowed, and the ability to really work on the aero position while riding. Pieter addresses the concern about getting the feel for outside riding before a race by explaining, “I think one or two times outside and I’ve got the feeling back like I never rode inside, so it comes back very quickly.” I agree; it often only takes minutes to get that feel back, but this is course dependent and with a more technical course, more time spent riding outside is better.

We also talk about recent race results, including big results from Sam Appleton and Chelsea Sodaro in Santa Rosa over stellar fields. Fortnite also had a massive impact on the E-Sports realm with their huge dollar World Champs, and Jordan talks us through those details. Lots of other good banter and our Tour de France highlights speckled the show on this week’s Power Up Tri podcast!

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