Triathlon: what a race it was – Sebastian Kienle is the new Ironman king! After a strong performance on the bike, he defended his lead in the final marathon. Another German, Jan Frodeno, used this not only to work his way into the top 10, but also to deliver another top result in third place. Second was the American Ben Hoffman.
After the swim, Frodeno had come out of the Pacific second on the heels of Andy Potts. After that he was able to stay in the top group for a long time. Things were going similarly well for Andy Raelert, Maik Twelsiek and Kienle. Above all, however, the latter two turned up the heat towards the end of the 180-kilometre bike test.
Kienle was the first to put on his running shoes after 5:17:25 hours. A little over three minutes later, Twelsiek, who was more than a minute ahead of Marino Vanhoencker and almost five minutes ahead of defending champion Fred van Lierde, followed. Raelert put on his running shoes in tenth place, 12 minutes behind. Jan Frodeno had dropped out of the top 10 at this point, also due to a flat tire and a time penalty. In the final marathon, however, the Olympic champion in Beijing turned up the heat.
While Kienle was circling alone at the front, Ben Hoffman and Frodeno in particular turned up the heat behind them. After running almost ten kilometers, he was back in the top 10, although he was still more than 13 minutes behind his friend Kienle at this point. By the time he reached the finish, however, he had halved it and thus secured bronze in just his second race over the Ironman distance, just under a minute behind Hoffman. At the top, however, Kienle confidently defended his lead over the last kilometers and after 8:14:18 hours after the Ironman European Championship title, he was able to put on the crown in Hawaii for the first time.
With Nils Frommhold in 6th place, another German made it into the top 10. Twelsiek narrowly missed this in the end as 11th. He was followed by the next German, Boris Stein, in 20th place. Raelert was still well on course up to the marathon turn. However, stomach cramps prevented a top result, which is why the Rostocker lost time to the finish.
In the women's race, last year's winner Mirinda Carfrae prevailed after a thrilling race. The Australian won after 9:00:55 hours thanks to a strong marathon ahead of Daniela Ryf from Switzerland and Rachel Joyce from Britain. As the best German, Julia Gajer was a strong sixth.