Ryf Repeats, Frodeno Wins at 70.3 World Champs

Unless you’ve been hiding under an internet-less rock for the past week, you know that Ironman 70.3 Worlds was happening in Zell Am See, Austria this weekend. Check out TRS’s Race Preview for some excellent analysis of the athletes on deck and the course.

A smooth Lake Zell promised fast swim times this morning. The men hit the water and quickly separated into two packs with 10m between them, but then became a single 25m long line of swimmers (too much pool habituation following the black line?), with one unlucky soul 100m off the back. Andi Boecherer took an early lead, with Gomez, Frodeno, Michael Raelert, and Jimmy Seear following. Ultimately, Gomez was first out of T1, with Boecherer, Tim Don, Seear, Sam Appleton, and Terenzo Bozzone also amongst the lead group.

Lauren Brandon swam at the front of the women’s race, setting a new IMWC record with a 22:53 swim. Radka Vodickova exited in 2^nd, with Daniela Ryf in 3^rd. Alicia Kaye and Jodie Swallow weren’t far behind, and a big pack followed.

With a challenging bike course that included a 15km climb with an average 5% grade, and a speedy descent after, we expected to see things shake up on the next leg – first, Andreas Dreitz took over the lead from Boecherer, with the men seeing 50+kph averages at the front of the race. Frodeno stayed 25 seconds back, followed by Kienle and Ty Butterfield. At the 34.5km mark, 4 seconds separated Dreitz and Boecherer, with a group including Raelert, Frodeno, Frommhold, Ciavatella, and Gomez within 1:30. By 59km, Dreitz had created some additional space up front, with Boecherer falling 38 seconds back. With 25km to go and mostly flat roads, Frodeno and Dreitz were both hitting 53 kph. Looking at the 77km standings, it’s clear that if you want to ride a bike well, you should go to Germany:

Frodeno passed Boecherer to move into 2^nd, and came into T2 right on the heels of Dreitz.

On the women’s side, Magali Tisseyre made a major move to the lead group, while Daniela Ryf wasted no time moving out in front – no sitting back the first half of the bike this time for her. At 35km, Ryf had a 1:22 lead over Anja Beranek, while Alicia Kaye was 3:00 back in 3^rd, Tisseyre 3:55 back in 4^th, and Pedersen and Meredith Kessler 4:00 off the lead. Ryf showed no sign of slowing down, averaging 38kph. More big moves on the back half of the course: Tisseyre moved up past Kaye and into 3^rd, and Heather Wurtele jumped past Kessler to 5^th. Ryf came off the bike with over a 3 minute lead on Beranek and was out of T2 in a flash.

As the men and women hit T2, Ironman Live Coverage provided us with up-to-the-minute coverage on which athletes were wearing socks and which weren’t. Dreitz hit T1 and put on socks. Kienle did not put on socks. Gomez put on socks. #socks

Jan Frodeno took off at a smoking pace, quickly passing Dreitz, who ultimately finished in 9^th. Gomez, however, was initially running the fastest of the lead men, moving into 3^rd past Boecherer. But Gomez wasn’t able to hold off Kienle; the pair finished in 2^nd and 3^rd behind Frodeno. An impressive 1:14 run brought Bart Aernouts up past Raelert and Boecherer to take 4^th, with the latter two finishing in 5^th and 6^th.

After coming off the bike in 4^th, Alicia Kaye moved up past Tisseyre into 3^rd, but the biggest push came from Heather Wurtele – running all the way from 5^th to a 2^nd place finish. Ryf, however, was unstoppable, making her the first woman to successfully defend her 70.3 World Championship title.

For some athletes predicted to finish at the top, it just wasn’t in the cards today.

Jodie Swallow crashed while training on the bike course Saturday when her front wheel blew out on a descent; she finished the swim this morning but then pulled out of the race.

Tim Don spent some time in the penalty box after receiving 2 blue cards, and also did time roadside with a flat. Terenzo Bozzone also received a penalty early and cramped up during the break, causing him to drop out of the race. Jesse Thomas’s otherwise stellar bike split was hampered by a 5 minute blocking penalty. Meredith Kessler ran into mechanical issues on the bike that left her stuck in her big ring, beating up her legs and leading to a med tent trip.

Men’s Results:

	Swim	Bike	Run	Finish	$$$	Points
Jan Frodeno	22:14	2:09:04	1:16:32	3:51:19	$45,000	3000
Sebastian Kienle	24:04	2:09:54	1:15:22	3:52:48	$20,000	2700
Javier Gomez	22:12	2:13:38	1:15:35	3:55:05	$15,000	2430
Bart Aernouts	25:38	2:12:07	1:14:55	3:56:28	$10,000	2185
Michael Raelert	22:15	2:13:19	1:17:17	3:56:34	$7,500	1970
Andi Boecherer	22:12	2:09:00	1:21:44	3:56:52	$6,500	1770

Women’s Results:

	Swim	Bike	Run	Finish	$$$	Points
Daniela Ryf	23:46	2:21:10	1:22:51	4:11:34	$45,000	3000
Heather Wurtele	26:33	2:27:39	1:24:56	4:23:07	$20,000	2700
Anja Beranek	24:32	2:24:18	1:31:17	4:24:10	$15,000	2430
Magali Tisseyre	24:55	2:27:56	1:28:45	4:25:33	$10,000	2185
Alicia Kaye	24:03	2:28:58	1:30:35	4:27:39	$7,500	1970
Julia Gajer	24:46	2:33:06	1:27:33	4:29:53	$6,500	1770