If there have been any doubts before, the Sparkasse IRONMAN 70.3 Kraichgau. powered by KraichgauEnergie can be taken as a final evidence how fit Sebastian Kienle is. Four weeks out of the IRONMAN European championship, Kienle wanted to have a hard final test for the showdown in Frankfurt. The result was a dominating win. In the water, he was only 1:40 down, and after about 20 kilometers of the bike he took over the lead. Although Germany’s Markus Rolli was working hard in runner-up position to keep the gap small, Kienle had a 6-minute-lead when he started the run. Third-placed Marc Duelsen was almost 10 minutes behind. Kienle had to deal more with the hot conditions on the run then with any athlete. He took his time to celebrate with the fans before Rolli and Duelsen battled hard in a sprint finish for second place.
Similar to the men’s race, Laura Philipp stormed to the front in women’s competition early. Like she had done at her wins at the IRONMAN 70.3 Mallorca and at the IRONMAN 70.3 Austria, she sailed away on the bike after a solid swim and didn’t slow down on the run. Philipp put almost 9 minutes on Dutch Yvonne van Vlerken on the bike and added another 2 minutes during the run. Surprisingly, Germany’s Lena Berlinger could stay next to van Vlerken all day long to round out the podium.
Top 5 Pro Men
1 Sebastian Kienle GER 0:25:03…2:10:36…1:16:37…3:56:00
2 Markus Rolli GER 0:23:23…2:18:24…1:21:47…4:07:04
3 Marc Duelsen GER 0:25:03…2:20:35…1:17:53…4:07:06
4 Markus Liebelt GER 0:24:57…2:22:27…1:18:11…4:09:16
5 Bas Diederen NED 0:24:58…2:22:54…1:20:55…4:12:33
Top 5 Pro Women
1 Laura Philipp GER 0:27:20…2:29:04…1:23:08…4:23:05
2 Yvonne Van Vlerken NED 0:27:23…2:37:54…1:26:27…4:35:10
3 Lena Berlinger GER 0:27:23…2:38:19…1:28:06…4:37:13
4 Jenny Schulz GER 0:29:03…2:43:13…1:32:25…4:49:01
5 Laura Zimmerman GER 0:31:59…2:48:23…1:27:11…4:51:24