Europe played host to three of the six global IRONMAN® and IRONMAN® 70.3® triathlon events this weekend, with IRONMAN Kärnten-Klagenfurt in Austria, IRONMAN 70.3 Luxembourg-Region Moselle and MDE IRONMAN 70.3 Sandnes in Norway all taking place today.
IRONMAN Kärnten-Klagenfurt, Austria
At IRONMAN Kärnten-Klagenfurt, Austria, Petersen took the win in a time of 07:57:39, the only one to finish under 8 hours, overtaking uber cyclist, Cameron Wurf (AUS) on the run. Georg Enzenbrer (AUT) completed the podium in a time of 08:08:28. Last year’s winner, Ivan Tutukin (KAZ) finished ninth in a time of 08:19:04.
Similarly, Lotte Wilms (NED), winner of the women’s pro race, was the only woman to break nine hours, with a finishing time of 08:56:51. She stormed to victory in front of Gabriele Maria Obmann (AUT) and Laura Zimmerman (DEU), who finished fourth at this year’s Isuzu IRONMAN African Championship.
Petersen commented, “I’m a little bit tired, but most of all I am happy. It is something you dream about for a long time. When I caught him [Cameron Wurf] I knew ‘okay if I don’t give this up, I am going to win’. Shortly after I caught Cameron, I had a little crisis as we were running the same pace. But luckily I picked up the pace again.”
Wurf said: “I tried to break Peterson, but I could not as he was so strong…I absolutely loved everything about this race…I’ll be back, you can count on that.”
Athletes started the day with a one-loop 3.8 km swim in the clear waters of Lake Wörthersee. A unique swim course which saw massive crowds line the shores as athletes entered the narrow Lendkanal. The newly created 180.2 km one-loop bike course lead athletes from the transition area near the University of Klagenfurt through the villages and towns surrounding Klagenfurt. The second part of the course then led along the world-famous Wörthersee. Lastly, the athletes finished the day with a flat fast two-loop 42.2 km run course. Athletes run out to the town of Krumpendorf and then turn around towards the centre of Klagenfurt where spectators lined the streets cheering athletes home.
Professional women
1. Lotte Wilm (NED), 08:56:51
2. Gabriele Maria Obmann (AUT), 09:02:55
3. Laura Zimmerman (DEU), 09:04:04
Professional men
1. Mathias Petersen (DEN), 07:56:39
2. Cameron Wurf (AUS), 08:02:42
3. Georg Enzenberger (AUT), 08:08:28
Full swim-bike-run results for IRONMAN Kärnten-Klagenfurt, Austria can be found here
IRONMAN 70.3 Luxembourg-Region Moselle
Across Europe, Mikki Taagholt (DNK) took his first IRONMAN 70.3 win at IRONMAN 70.3 Luxembourg-Region Moselle, a big confidence boost following his DNF at Athletic Brewing IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside in April. He comfortably pipped Christophe de Keyser (BEL) to the post by 01:27 minutes, and Filipe Azevedo (POR) completed the podium with Germany’s Jan Stratmann less than a minute behind.
Fellow German Rico Bogen (DEU), finished in sixth after his impressive win at IRONMAN 70.3 Kraichgau powered by KraichgauEnergie last month.
Men’s professional race only meant that female age-grouper, Karen Schultheiss (SUI) was the first female over the line in a time of 04:36:12.
Taagholt commented: “Swim was good, nice river, warm water…Came out of the water, in a good little group and the guys were setting a high pace on the bike, I was almost just hanging out for dear life. It was tough on the bike; I was not feeling too good. Coming onto the run, I went out a little conservatively, I didn’t know what to expect given that I raced last weekend. But I mean I found a good rhythm and just kept to my own pace and came forward to my own plan and yeah it worked out well. Me and Christophe had a great run battle, basically running 20 seconds in front of me for the first 15km and then I managed to close the gap and we ran together for a little bit until he luckily for me dropped off the pace and I could continue and take the win. A win today is really good”.
De Keyser added: “Pretty happy with my second place. I was focusing the first laps [of the run] on my pace and trying to stay as relaxed as possible and just enjoy the crowd, because there were a lot of Belgian supporters here today in the crowd and I really felt like I would win because of it. But, yeah mentally of course the moment that Mikki passed me, I think I got a little hit on the head and it started to get really tough on that last lap.”
With the race live broadcasted on Outside TV, viewers could be as close as possible to the action of this unique race which sees athletes swim in Germany through the Mosel River, bike in France taking in the beautiful vineyards, and a run in Luxembourg, finishing centre of Remich on Place Dr. Fernand Kons.
Professional men
1. Miki Moerck Taagholt (DEN) – 3:49:20
2. Christophe De Keyser (BEL) – 3:50:47
3. Felipe Azevedo (POR) – 3:51:43
IRONMAN 70.3 Luxembourg-Region Moselle results can be found here
MDE IRONMAN 70.3 Sandnes, Norway
MDE IRONMAN 70.3 Sandnes, Norway saw an all age group field with Joanna Soltysiak-Vrebac (POL) having a blinder of a race, finishing in 04:26:54, over 35 minutes faster than the second female. Marius Bkerkeset (NOR) took the men’s age group overall win in a time of 4:06:07.
The race kicked off with a two-loop 1.9 km swim course which took place in Vågen & Gandsfjord, right in the city centre of Sandnes. Followed by a 88,5 km bike course leading athletes through the open farmland of Jæren, along the North Sea coast line and across rolling hills. Finally, the age groupers took on a fast flat four-loop 21.1 km run course that led athletes along the harbour and in loops through the city centre, before finishing at Rutenparken, right in the city centre of Sandnes.
