German athlete's tenacity rewards him with a maiden IRONMAN World Championship victory.
Germany's Sebastien Kienle and Australia's Mirinda Carfrae shared the highest honors today among a field stacked with former Olympians and IRONMAN champions at today's IRONMAN World Championship presented by GoPro. Hawaii's legendary triathlon course delivered just the kind of hot, windy conditions for which this race is so revered.
At the cannon, the pro men split immediately into a few distinct groups, with Olympic swimmer, American Andy Potts at the helm of the lead one. Potts pulled out before the start last year, and having him here this year definitely influenced swim dynamics characterized by rough conditions. Short-course specialist Jan Frodeno kept Potts from opening up a significant gap, however, and the depth of the field was apparent when over 20 pro men exited the water within 30 seconds of each other. Leaders Potts and Frodeno entered T1 stroke for stroke in 50:56, joined by defending champion Frederick Van Lierde (BEL), defending 2012 champion Pete Jacobs, and American Tim O'Donnell.
American Andrew Starykowicz pushed ahead to the front of the 112-mile bike ride immediately, chasing Normann Stadler's bike record, as he'd stated before the race. Jan Frodeno took the lead at mile 30, flatting shortly after, but losing a mere 30 seconds. As the brutal winds began to blow, uber-cyclist Sebastien Kienle (third here last year) used his strength to take the lead at mile 50. His countryman Maik Twelsiek, who evaded many of the pre-race predictions, joined him in what was compared to the "German freight train" of years past.
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Kienle entered T2 with a race-best 4:20:46 bike behind him and a cushion of over four minutes on his chasers, Twelsiek and Marino Vanhoenacker (BEL). The rest of the top 10 men were spread out over eight minutes back of Kienle, including Van Lierde, American Ben Hoffman, and 2012 runner up, Andreas Raelert.
The 30-year-old German set out on the 26-mile run at a six-minute mile pace, showing strength and good form from the beginning. By seven miles, he'd gained nine minutes on his chasers. A few athletes (including Van Lierde and Andreas Raelert) both made efforts that looked like they might threaten Kienle's lead, but faded in the Energy Lab. Kienle's 2:54:37 marathon gave him the 8:14:18 finish he needed to take the win, five minutes ahead of American Ben Hoffman, who took second for the top American performance since Chris Lieto's 2009 second-place finish.
"I never thought I was going to win this thing," Kienle said at the finish line. "Three weeks ago I was going up to Hilo and … I couldn't even finish the ride. I was so close to just flying home and stopping my career. But never judge your life because of one bad day. Judge it because of the best day."
Jan Frodeno passed Australia's Tim Van Berkel and Van Lierde late in the race, using a race-best 2:47:47 run to cap off one of the hardest-fought battles of the day (he moved up from 13th place at the start of the run).
Top 10 Pro Men
1 Sebastian Kienle DEU 8:14:18
2 Ben Hoffman USA 8:19:23
3 Jan Frodeno DEU 8:20:32
4 Andy Potts USA 8:21:38
5 Cyril Viennot FRA 8:22:19
6 Nils Frommhold DEU 8:22:29
7 Tim Van Berkel AUS 8:23:26
8 Frederik Van Lierde BEL 8:24:11
9 Bart Aernouts BEL 8:28:28
10 Romain Guillaume FRA 8:30:15