DIEGO VAN LOOY | PRO TRIATHLETE

Taking to cycling in Belgium and later in a French team, he had a talent for the mountains. After 6 years competing, he decided to try some running races during the off-season where he surprised a lot of people, including himself. Progressing to Duathlons and later Triathlons, he is relatively new to the sport and at 29 years of age has a bright future ahead of him.

Diego's best results

• 1st ITU Long DIstance Duathlon World Championships 2019

• 1st Israman Half Distance Triathlon (2018/2019/2020)

• 1st Embrunman 2018

• 1st Lanzarote Marathon 2019

Why did you choose triathlon?

I was a UCI cyclist till 2015 and did it for fun without any running training, a 10km running race where I ended in a 32:24” time . The week after this I did a 15km race where I went sub 49minutes . The sign to think about to make the transition to Duathlon ... I did 5 duathlon and won 2 of them. Because I got some offers when I made changes to triathlon, I decided to start in May 2016 with triathlon and competed in Ironman Lanzarote which was the first triathlon in my life, where I finished in 9th position.

Which is the most important race you took part in so far and why?

Winning Embrunman in 2018 , this race is known as the hardest full distance triathlon in the world ... beating big Ironman champions and finally being on the top step of the podium was a dream come true. Since that day my career was really on the progressive way up. Also as a formal UCI cyclist I’d love to ride in the mountains, this race included the mythical col D’Izoard which made it the perfect race for my body and with my experience... I never needed to push 100% to be fresh on the marathon.

What else are you doing when not training or racing?

My number one hobbie next to triathlon is my dog Rio, he is a 2 year old Belgian Shepherd and he asks a lot of time... he has an enormous will to please. We play with the ball and frisbee and he also joins me on all my recovery Runs. I also like to help others with coaching on training.

Why Compressport?

Back in 2015 I got surgery for compartment syndrome in my calves. For my recovery, I  needed to wear compression items from the hospital. When commencing  training again afterwards, I bought the compressport R2 calf sleeves. It was very fashionable , which I liked a lot , but at the same time it helped me out so I didn’t feel anything in my calves from the operation of this syndrome ...I had the feeling of fresh legs all the time. Since this day I have sworn to everyday wear the Compressport compression socks or R2. Without Compressport I wouldn’t achieve the results I have already made at this point of my career.  Since becoming World champion in 2019 I got the offer to join the compressport global family... this was really a dream come true. Compressport asks a lot of feedback to us about the current products and we are really involved into the production and the developing of new products.

What is your favourite product from Compressport and why?

Since a short time it's by far the newest member of our family : the Compressport Pro Marathon socks. It's really true that they are 100% blister free. I’m a guy that loves to run a lot ... I’m never saying no to a 40km endurance run, not because we need to, but because I love to! I know it's really unlucky if you have a blister on your feet and you are not able to run for a week because of this. So the Pro Marathon Socks are my number 1 training choice for a long run.