In what could either be called a repeat of the IRONMAN European Championship in Frankfurt last month or a preview for what's to come on the Big Island, Germany's Jan Frodeno and Switzerland's Daniela Ryf seized today's IRONMAN IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship titles in Zell am See, Austria in characteristic style.
Frodeno takes his first IRONMAN 70.3 title
At the canon blast at 10:45 am, a stacked field of men from both short- and long-course racing fame jumped into pristine Lake Zell for a 1.9-kilometer swim. A group of about 15 swimmers broke ahead, with another group falling just 10 meters behind. Germany's Andreas Böcherer took the early lead, with ITU specialist Javier Gomez, Germany's Jan Frodeno, Australian Jimmy Seear, and Germany's Michael Raelert also in the lead group. Böcherer would exit the water first, and head out onto the scenic and challenging bike course to take the lead of the men's race.
Onto the bike ride through the picturesque towns of the Austrian alps, Böcherer held onto his lead until he was overtaken by the strong German, Andreas Dreitz at the beginning of the long climb all athletes feared. The bike ride today, in fact, belonged to the Germans, who maintained the top five positions well through to the end of the bike: Dreitz, Böcherer, Frodeno, Raelert, and Frommhold.
Dreitz was first into T2 with the fastest bike split (2:07:36) and was able to maintain his 36-second lead over Frodeno until the Olympian passed him at 1.5 km of the run. Frodeno Remained consistent through the 21k run, faltering in form a little in the last 4k of the race as he put the finishing touches on what he would later call one of his toughest races.
Kienle would ultimately run faster than Frodeno, and, with a 1:15:22 half-marathon, would follow the German into the finish chute just a minute and a half back. Gomez used his second-fastest run of the day to overcome a deficit off the bike to take third.
Ryf's consistency lands her the win
In the women's race, the USA's Lauren Brandon led the swim, exiting the water in 22:53 and setting a new IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship record in the process. The Czech Republic's Radka Vodickova trailed just 30 seconds back with defending champion, Switzerland's Daniela Ryf, entering T1 just shy of a minute back.
Onto the bike, Ryf blazed ahead to put her stamp on the day early. She laid down on uncontested bike ride, averaging 38 kph over the hilly, 90km ride. Anja Beranek (GER) moved into second and maintained her spot for the rest of the bike, with Alicia Kaye (USA) and Magali Tisseyre (CAN) making big moves behind the leaders.
Ryf ran into T2 with a very comfortable margin, ready to run the 21 km to victory with nothing to get in her way. Her admirably consistent splits landed her the win in 4:11:34, over 10 minutes in front of her fellow racers.
Further down the lake path, all eyes were on Canada's Heather Wurtele, who ran her way through the field with the second-fastest run of the day to take second. Germany's Anja Beranek came down the finish chute a minute later to take the last spot on the podium.
Top 10 Men
Frodeno, Jan GER 3:51:19
Kienle, Sebastian GER 3:52:48
Gomez, Javier ESP 3:55:05
Aernouts, Bart BEL 3:56:28
Raelert, Michael GER 3:56:34
Böcherer, Andi GER 3:56:52
Van Berkel, Jan SUI 3:57:47
Butterfield, Tyler BER 3:58:44
Dreitz, Andreas GER 3:58:58
Molins, Albert ESP 4:00:11
Top 10 Women
Ryf, Daniela SWZ 4:11:34
Wurtele, Heather CAN 4:23:07
Beranek, Anja GER 4:24:10
Tisseyre, Magali CAN 4:25:33
Kaye, Alicia USA 4:27:39
Gajer, Julia GER 4:29:53
Cheetham, Susie GBR 4:30:31
Lisk, Ricarda GER 4:30:47
Barnett, Lauren USA 4:31:00
Bilham, Emma SUI 4:31:47