NATHAN GUERBEUR: PEDALLING IS FREEDOM.
Meet Nathan, our newest ambassador athlete. A former French world duathlon champion and Ironman contender who keeps his Forever Outsiders spirit alive while remaining focused on elite competition.
Nathan has been racing triathlon since he was fifteen, was French world duathlon champion in 2021, and won the infamous Alpe d’Huez Triathlon at L distance in 2023. Increasingly focusing on long-distance events, he came 11th at his first Ironman World Championships in 2025. Welcome Nathan! Tell us a bit about yourself…
Your first full-distance Ironman immediately brought you a second-place finish in Leeds. Did you expect to be competitive so quickly?
A month before Leeds, I went alone on a training camp in the Alps, in Morzine. I love training in the mountains and aiming for new summits every day. That’s my #foreveroutsiders side! My body and mind were ready for the challenge.
Likewise, you finished 11th at your first Ironman World Championships last year. What lessons did you take away from that performance?
Every race brings its own lessons. In Nice, the level and depth of the field were extreme. To be up there, you had to follow the pace set by the very best, even if it meant blowing up… You have to be willing to take risks too!
Did going from a world duathlon title to a new long-distance project feel like starting from scratch mentally? Does it take pressure away, or does it make you want to start winning again elsewhere?
Becoming world champion is the holy grail in duathlon. Once I’d reached that goal, I needed time to enjoy it and find a new challenge. Three months later, I signed a permanent contract as a construction engineer with OTE Ingénierie. Discipline, organisation, responsibility, intensity—in the end, it didn’t feel that different! The spark for the long-distance project came two years later, during some time off.
What are your goals for 2026? How have you started preparing for the season?
The early-season goal is to qualify for the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii. I’ll race in Frankfurt and Lake Placid to secure my slot. If all goes well, then my summer will be fully dedicated to preparing for that race and doing better than I did last year in Nice.
You balanced professional life and high-level sport for a while. Do you think it was a strength or a limitation in your progression?
Sport, construction and life are actually very similar. You begin with solid foundations, then gradually build new levels on top. Sometimes you take the time to tear things down in order to rebuild differently. And the final stage is the finishing touches and the glitter of the finish line. My professional experience brought me a lot of maturity. In long-distance racing, that’s probably the most important quality. There’s no doubt it was a strength in my progression.
You’ll be on the start line of Ironman Aix-en-Provence on May 17. How are you approaching this home race? Are you aiming for a podium?
I have good memories from the 2025 edition in Aix-en-Provence, where I came off the bike in second place before fading a bit on the run. That motivates me to do even better this year! My girlfriend and I moved to the south this winter to find better training conditions than in Strasbourg. We now live near Aix-en-Provence, so it would be a lie to say I don’t know every centimetre of the course.
Outside of competition and triathlon, what do you enjoy about cycling itself?
Pédaler rime avec liberté. [Pedalling rhymes with freedom]
You train every day wearing Café du Cycliste kit. Do you have a favourite piece?
Victoire bib shorts are perfect for accumulating long hours in the saddle. Paired with the Angeline jersey from the new Star Chasing collection, nothing can stop me from chasing local KOMs!
