Marten Van Riel is lucky in the T100 triathlon in Las Vegas

The Belgian triathlete followed a win in Alcatraz last month with another in Ibiza and has now promised he will bet all his winnings on red at this weekend’s event in Las Vegas at one of the city’s many casinos.

While he may already be regretting that promise, Van Riel’s form suggests he could be putting a lot on the line as he looks to achieve a hat-trick of wins ahead of next month’s Grand Final in Dubai.

He said: “After the race we go back to the casino. I still have to see if I keep my promise.

“It’s purely a logistical problem because I don’t think I can get that much cash out of the ATM. Maybe I’ll put my bike on red!”

“I’ve settled in here in Vegas, I’ve been here for more than a week and I’m really looking forward to the race on Saturday.”

On form alone, Van Riel appears to be a strong competitor once again, even on what he calls the most brutal track he has ever seen.

Between his two T100 successes, he was disappointed when he finished outside the top 20 in the men’s Olympic triathlon in Paris, where Alex Yee took gold.

But after refocusing his training on the longer format of the T100, Van Riel was impressive in leaving everyone behind in Ibiza and warned his rivals that he will be even better in Vegas.

He said: “I won both races so there is definitely some pressure building but I think my form is really good. I knew that I wasn’t 100% fit in Ibiza because I wasn’t fully prepared, especially on the run.

“I was really, really happy with the run I did there. After another three weeks I’ll probably be stronger than I was back then and hopefully I can now be stronger heading into the final. “Physically, I feel really good” for this one.

“At the Olympics you train as a big goal. This cycle lasted three years, but when you get a very bad result, I really felt that it didn’t match my training and the state of things, that really hurts. It puts you in a bad place mentally.

“I doubted everything and it was really good that I could look forward to the T100 Ibiza and the series. It was the switch in my brain. It was kind of like a mental reset.

“Ibiza was a great result for me because the bike course there is a little flatter and I’m probably one of the easier guys. I was a little worried about whether I would be able to keep up. I did that there so it was a really good confidence boost.

“This route has an elevation gain of about 400 meters, so it’s going to be a pretty crazy run. It is by far the hardest running route I have ever done. It’s going to be brutal.”