The 2023 triathlon season continues with more professional athletes converging to battle it out for IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 Triathlon bragging rights. This time the focus shifts to Austria and Luxembourg with exciting start lists announced for IRONMAN Kärnten-Klagenfurt, Austria and IRONMAN 70.3 Luxembourg-Region Moselle with both events taking place on Sunday, June 18th.
IRONMAN Kärnten-Klagenfurt, Austria
Known as one of the most beautiful races in the world, IRONMAN Kärnten-Klagenfurt, Austria has become legendary among athletes. This year we celebrate the 24th edition of the event, with over 3 000 athletes taking part. This much anticipated Austrian event also offers men’s and women’s Qualifying slots to the VinFast IRONMAN World Championship in Nice, France on September 10, 2023 (men), and Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i on October 14, 2023 (women).
The professional men’s field features two-time Olympic Games gold medallist, Alistair Brownlee (GBR), who will be looking for his first IRONMAN win of the season against defending champion, Ivan Tutukin (KAZ), who finished sixth at this year’s Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Texas North American Championship, part of the VinFast IRONMAN North America Series. The start list will also feature professional triathlete and cyclist, Cameron Wurf (AUS), who is coming off a third-place podium finish at IRONMAN Lanzarote and a fifth-place early season finish at the Isuzu IRONMAN African Championship in South Africa. The professional men’s field will also feature Michael Weiss (AUT), Lukasz Wojt (DEU), Arnaud Guilloux (FRA), Mathias Petersen (DNK) and Dylan Magnien (FRA).
The women’s field is a lot smaller yet promises to be exciting with Laura Zimmerman (DEU), who finished fourth at this year’s Isuzu IRONMAN African Championship, taking on the likes of Lotte Wilms (NLD), Alexandra Tondeur (BEL), Simone Mitchell (GBR) and Jade Nicole Roberts (ZAF).
Ahead of travelling to Europe in preparation to take on this year’s IRONMAN Kärnten-Klagenfurt, Austria, Jade Nicole Roberts (ZAF) shares, “The reason I signed up for IRONMAN Austria is that I saw how beautiful the course looked and knew that it would suit my racing style. I’ve also never been to Austria before so it’s a beautiful opportunity to see a new country and culture. If I manage to get a qualification slot to race in Kailua-Kona, I’ll definitely take it. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to race an IRONMAN World championship and it’s a huge honour and privilege.”
She continues, “The race day plan doesn’t really change much if it’s a smaller field. You just don’t have anywhere to hide, and this is when you have to race smart. The pressure is on, and the smaller field will ensure a very tough and honest race, which is exciting. The field is looking competitive, I don’t underestimate anyone because we’ve all worked extremely hard, made sacrifices, and put in the hours to be ready for an IRONMAN. I am looking forward to racing these strong girls and putting a strong performance together.”
Here is the full 2023 IRONMAN Kärnten-Klagenfurt, Austria professional start list:
1 Tutukin, Ivan, Kazakhstan
2 Weiss, Michael, Austria
3 Wojt, Lukasz, Germany
4 Guilloux, Arnaud, France
5 Brownlee, Alistair, United Kingdom
6 Petersen, Mathias, Denmark
7 Wurf, Cameron, Australia
8 Magnien, Dylan, France
9 Engelhardt, Adriano, Switzerland
10 Plese, David, Slovenia
11 Brons, Milan, Netherlands
12 Ferreira, João, Portugal
13 Vistica, Andrej, Croatia
14 Van De Walle, Vincent, Belgium
15 Aguayo Munoz, Emilio, Spain
16 Enzenberger, Georg, Austria
17 Goetstouwers, Stenn, Belgium
18 Angerer, Thomas, Austria
19 Kandutsch, Florian, Austria
20 Hammerle, Maximilian, Austria
21 Rother, David, Germany
22 Guyon, Franck, France
23 Soukup, Petr, Czech Republic
24 Drachler, Tobias, Germany
25 Schouten, Daan, Netherlands
26 Nybo Riis, Jesper, Denmark
27 Van Hemel, Tim, Belgium
28 Schreiner, Gregor, Germany
29 Hohlrieder, Matthias, Austria
30 Deak, Zsombor, Romania
31 Guhr, Sebastian, Germany
32 Birngruber, Christian, Austria
33 Türk, Matthias, Germany
34 Trakic, Strahinja, Serbia
35 Badar, Gergő, Hungary
36 Andersen, Benjamin Mar, Denmark
37 Meyer, Tim, Germany
38 Markusse, Marijn, Netherlands
39 Scheltinga, Evert, Netherlands
40 De Vos, Quentin, Belgium
41 Höing, Jan, Germany
45 Wilms, Lotte, Netherlands
46 Zimmerman, Laura, Germany
47 Obmann, Gabriele Maria, Austria
48 Tondeur, Alexandra, Belgium
49 Iemmolo, Julie, France
50, Mitchell, Simone
