Denmark’s Henrik Hyldelund and Swiss star Daniela Ryf outbiked the field at KMD IRONMAN Copenhagen.
Henrik Hyldelund had a simple tactics for KMD IRONMAN Copenhagen: Swim fast and then outbike everyone. In the inaugural KMD IRONMAN Copenhagen last year the 29-year-old Dane got caught on the final kilometers of the run by Jens Petersen-Bach. To avoid that fate this year Hyldelund trailed Span’s Clemente Alonso-McKernan (45:58) by 11 seconds with German favorite Timo Bracht just a few seconds behind. Just 60 km into the bike, though, Hyldelund was three minutes ahead of Bracht and Alonso-McKernan. By the end of the ride the gap was even bigger: 10:51 to Bracht, while Alonso-McKernan was 13:51 behind. While everyone expected a battle in the marathon, the strong runners seemed to suffer early thanks to the windy, cool and rainy conditions. While Bracht made up a minute in the first three km, he was not able to gain more time on the Danish leader. While Hyldelund kept a steady pace in front, the German favorite had to deal with tired legs and a strong Spaniard coming from behind. Clemente-Alonso eventually moved into second at the 25 km point. Hyldelund’s solid run (2:56:59) meant a second consecutive win for Denmark at KMD IRONMAN Copenhagen in 8:03:39.
“This race was far above my own expectations,” said the winner. Behind him it was a close race for second, with Alonso-McKernan getting to the line in 8:10:53 thanks to the day’s best marathon (2:49:25), with Bracht just a few seconds behind in 8:11:32.
Ryf races men’s field
In the women’s race Daniela Ryf had to wait a little longer at the finish line to greet the runner up. She not only finished the race in under nine hours, but showed she will likely be a contender at both the Subaru IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship Mont-Tremblant and as well at the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona.
Ryf came out of the water fifth overall (48:37) after she had set the pace behind the lead group of the men. “I had a brilliant swim,” said the 27-year-old, who didn’t see any of her competition throughout the day. “I really wanted to push hard on the bike today,” said Ryf. When she jumped off the bike after a 4:44:09 ride, she was 18:10 ahead of Belgium’s Sofie Goos, who had technical issues and could not shift gears over the second half of the bike course. The rest of the women’s pro field was already far behind. Ryf’s solid run (3:16:16) gave her a second IRONMAN title in four weeks after she won her debut at IRONMAN Switzerland in Zurich. “I was 20-minutes faster than in Zurich,” Ryf pointed out after the race. Goos took silver in 9:06:08 ahead of German Marleen Hufe (9:25:18).
Top 5 Women
1 Daniela Ryf SUI 8:53:33 (48:37/4:44:09/3:16:16)
2 Sofie Goss BEL 9:06:08 (54:30/4:56:39/3:10:36)
3 Marleen Hufe GER 9:25:18 (58:44/4:58:39/3:22:35)
4 Tamsyn Hayes NZL 9:34:42 (54:22/5:02:41/3:32:57)
5 Maria Lemeseva RUS 9:38:42 (1:06:26/5:15:22/3:10:59)
Top 5 Men
1 Henrik Hyldelund DEN 8:03:39 (46:09 / 4:16:41 / 2:56:59 )
2 Clemente Alonso-McKernan ESP 8:10:53 (45:58 / 4:30:30/ 2:49:25)
3 Timo Bracht GER 8:11:32 (46:21 / 4:27:17 / 2:53:54)
4 Mads Vittrup-Pedersen DEN 8:16:03 (54:21/4:32:14/2:45:06)
5 Jens Petersen-Bach DEN 8:25:37 (48:41/4:41:59/2:50:26)