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 Ryf entered Roth after being unable to finish Ironman Frankfurt due to health reasons.

 “After I unfortunately couldn’t finish the race in Frankfurt for reasons already known, we changed our plan. I’m really looking forward to being on the Roth start line and being able to experience the legendary atmosphere of this race!”



 For Challenge Roth organiser, Felix Walchshöfer, the last-minute entry from the world champion is most welcome. “I can’t put into words how happy I am to have both world champions at this legendary race. Daniela brings even more to our already strong women’s field. The eyes of the triathlon world will be on us as we celebrate triathlon and the 15th anniversary of Challenge Roth on 17 July, together with the best athletes in the world.”

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Are you heading to Roth? Check out  our Challenge Roth race tips

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On the bike she hung on to the top spot but fellow country woman Kimberley Morrison came close and they continued their bike ride shoulder to shoulder. Morrison made it to the transition first—but only three seconds ahead of chasing Swallow who had a faster transition and was first on the run course.

On the half marathon Swallow increased the gap and simply ran away toward the finish line. She took the victory in Jönköping in 04:19:19. Morrison stayed in second position for a while but was unable to keep the pace, she was overtaken by Swedish hope Asa Lundström who slowly but surely came closer from behind. Lundström finished took home a second place finish in 04:24:58, while Morrison rounded out the podium in third with a time of 04:25:20.

The one-lap swim was held in the spectator friendly Lake Munksjön, the flat bike course lead through the beautiful villages and lakes around Jönköping. While the two and half loop run was held in the city centre with crowds of spectators cheering on an exciting race. 

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Jodie Swallow explains how to cope with the crowded open-water race starts

Top 5 Pro Men

1
Dreitz, Andreas
DEU
0:24:27
2:05:59
1:14:22
3:49:45

2
Van Lierde, Frederik
BEL
0:23:38
2:09:32
1:14:47
3:52:40

3
Cunnama, James
ZAF
0:23:41
2:09:02
1:15:54
3:53:01

4
Dirksmeier, Partrick
DEU
0:23:36
2:16:55
1:10:49
3:55:55

5
Seifert, Florian
DEU
0:24:23
2:09:11
1:18:08
3:56:13

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Top 5 Pro Women

1
Swallow, Jodie
GBR
0:24:18
2:24:59
1:24:56
4:19:19

2
Lundström, Åsa
SWE
0:29:57
2:22:33
1:27:25
4:24:58

3
Morrison, Kimberley
GBR
0:26:16
2:22:52
1:30:50
4:25:20

4
Bilham, Emma
CHE
0:26:12
2:33:27
1:21:35
4:26:21

5
Montgomery, Julia
SWE
0:33:27
2:32:10
1:33:54
4:45:14

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The move, declared by Ironman CEO Andrew Messick in an email to all registered Ironman athletes, makes them the only Ironman 70.3 (1.9km swim/90km bike/21km run) triathlons in the world to provide standard age-group qualification slots for Ironman’s flagship 3.8km/180km/42.2km event, held in Hawaii since 1978.

Ironman 70.3 Hefei takes place in an iconic capital city in the eastern China Anhui Province. Hefei boasts a local culture and history that dates back more than 2,000 years. Well known both at home and abroad as a historic site famous for the Three Kingdoms Period, it’s also the hometown of Lord Bao.

Located between the Yangtze River and the Huaihe River and beside the Chaohu Lake, the city boasts an impressive collection of botanical gardens, temples, and other historical sites to help make your visit truly memorable.

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At Ironman 70.3 Xiamen, located on the southeast coast of China, athletes will be treated to the picturesque Island Ring Road and coastal avenues on the mainland that reflect the seaside city. The city’s name means “Garden of the Sea,” and it is both a modern port city and a prestigious tourist destination.

How to qualify for Kona

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Our step-by-step pre-race, swim, bike and run guide is provided by 2015 finisher Janine Doggett (click here to visit Janine’s ‘Triathlove’ blog!) and you’ll find various useful titbits from other finishers, plus stats and a bike course profile too…

PRE-RACE

Lanzarote it isn’t, yet modest Bolton provides an incredible Ironman race. The locality and calm lake swim make it an ideal first-time choice, while the bike course will challenge the toughest of riders. We named Ironman UK 7th in our top 10 European iron-distance races suitable for first timers.

It’s a good idea to recce the course before, and Pennington Flash offers swimming every Saturday morning before the big day. On race day, getting to the start is easy, but leave time to find the nutrition and post-race bag drop area as this isn’t immediately obvious.

THE SWIM

The race kicks off at 6am with a two-lap swim and, despite the quiet nervousness of over 2,000 people in neoprene, the well-organised start pens help to calm you before setting off.

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The Flash is a decent temp (19°C in 2015) and there’s plenty of space to find your rhythm, but the water can be choppy. The buoys are easy to spot and the Aussie exit between laps is great for mentally breaking down the swim.

Go to page two to continue reading our mega guide to Ironman UK 

THE BIKE

After a short run to T1, a two-lap course through beautiful Lancashire countryside awaits. With 1,641m of ascent, Sheep House Lane is a tough 3km star of the show. There’s a technical bit at the foot of the descent that can catch people out – it’s marked but stay on guard (and ideally on your bike!).

Some sections are spookily quiet, but there’s sensational sporadic support en route, with locals sporting some outrageous outfits! At the Macron Stadium and T2 (it’s a split transition) there’s no assistance in racking your bike so be ready to find your number. The T2 tent offers a slightly larger privacy screen than T1, so if you want fresh kit for the run you can strip off.

The Bolton Bike course – provided by Veloviewer

A graphic showing the route and elevation profile of the Ironman UK bike course. Click here to see the full breakdown on veloviewer.com

The Ironman UK 180km bike course starts with a 22km ride from Pennington Flash to Anderton, where the first of two bike laps begins. The route flows over Rivington Reservoir before the ‘fun’ starts with the Sheep House Lane climb at 30km, which rises to an elevation of 327m. From 35km there’s a long, mostly downhill section before a tricky ascent at High Moor at 78km before lap two starts at the 100km point. T2 is the Macron Stadium in Bolton.

Go to the last page to find out some invaluable Ironman UK run tips

THE RUN

There’s a 10km point-to-point route before the lapped 8km course, which makes it up to 42.2km. It’s mostly flat but the laps are mentally challenging and, as it’s in a built-up area, there aren’t many nice views. The aid stations every 4km offer bananas, sugary drinks and a bucket-load of cheers!

Lucy Gossage, who stormed to victory in 2015, takes on the Bolton run course. Credit: Getty Images

Having visited it three times already, the finisher funnel will feel like an old inflatable friend by the time you reach it. Ironman UK finishes at 11pm before it’s packed up fast, as if it were all just a beautiful dream of lactic acid, Lycra and ecstatic tears!

Ironman UK stats and figures

Average water temp: 16-19°C
Bike elevation: 1,641m
Run elevation: 290m
2015 DNF rate: 8%
2015 median finish time: 13:44:21

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Ironman UK kicks off on Sunday July 17th 2016, more information can be found on the Ironman UK website. A big thanks goes to Janine, Veloviewer and all our other contributors for helping 220 put this guide together. Do you have some need-to-know tips of your own, or anything else to add? Let us know in the comments!

“I’m really sorry to let you all know that yesterday, when I was just about to finish my bike training, I had one of those silly crashes, no faster than 15km/h. Immediately I felt pain in my elbow so we went to the hospital. Scans have confirmed a displaced fracture in the radial head of my left arm. Going into surgery today to fix it. 

“Unfortunately this has forced me to pull out of competing in Rio. I need to be realistic, there is no time to prepare and to be fit on the start line of the games. The most sensible thing is to open my spot and allow someone else the chance to race. 

“As you can imagine, this is a really tough time, it’s a goal I have been working for over many years. I will keep fighting, I still have many goals in this sport, I’m not done yet. I feel sad and disappointed to give you this news, thanks for the ongoing support.” 

A popular presence in multisport racing, the news comes as a blow to Gomez’s many fans both on and off the course. At time of writing, the Brownlees had yet to comment, but British Triathlon Performance Director Brendan Purcell had this to say to Tri247:

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“That really is terrible news to hear. Javier is such a talented athlete, and you want the best athletes to be racing on the biggest stage. While Javier is perhaps the biggest threat and rival to Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee’s prospects, his presence would also be an asset. As such a strong all-round athlete, having Javier there increases the prospects of a small, breakaway group at the front of the race, making it much harder for some of the slightly weaker swimmers to get back into the race later. Sincere best wishes to Javier on his recovery.” 

Rio would have been Gomez’s third Games, having finished fourth in Beijing and second in London, with many predicting another podium finish for the former 70.3 and Xterra world champ. 

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We wish Javier Gomez all the best at this difficult time and wish him a speedy recovery.

“This was the performance of my life,” Raelert said post-race after perfect conditions, a partisan crowd and an athlete at the top of his game combined to produce an historic day. “I remember Chris McCormack said in an interview that the boys in the future will make 7:45 or sub-7:40hrs, and last week Marino Vanhoenacker [at Ironman Austria] opened this new chapter. It was just a question of time that the men would get to such times.”

A week after the Belgian Luc van Lierde’s 1997 long-distance benchmark of 7:50:27 was finally broken by Vanhoenacker at Ironman Austria, the 34-year-old Raelert took to the waters of Challenge Roth in Bavaria aiming to create a piece of history of his own. 

ROSTOCK RACER

After exiting the 3.8km Main-Donau Canal swim in 46:11mins, just seconds behind swim legend Benjamin Sanson of France, Raelert tore out of transition to establish an early gap on the 180km bike. By the time of the famed climb up the Solarer Berg at 70km into the ride, the racer from Rostock had a gap of two minutes over the-then-rising German star (and future Ironman world champ) Sebastian Kienle.

“I just have to say thank you to Sebastian because he pushed me absolutely to the limit,” Raelert laughed at the post-race press conference. “On the bike, Sebastian was coming from behind. I had to push as hard as I can just to get in his mind, to destroy him.” And destroy Kienle he would, producing a then world record 180km bike split of 4:11:43 (America’s Andrew Starykowicz would produce a 4:04:39 time at Ironman Florida  in 2012), before exiting T2 with the record in his grasp.

“When I entered T2 I heard we were around five hours and I was thinking a little bit to get under the course record,” Raelert said. “Sometimes you start to think to yourself, maybe it’s this moment, don’t let it slip away and just try to give everything you have.” 

Taking in the advice of his younger brother, fellow world-beating triathlete Michael Raelert, Andreas maintained an even pace before a strong finish. With two Olympic Games appearances in 2000 and 2004, Raelert is no stranger to speed and the German produced a final flourish in front of the watching masses in Bavaria to record a 2:40hr marathon time and enter the history books as the fastest man over 226km of racing.

Over in the women’s race, Chrissie Wellington would also smash the women’s long-distance record on that now legendary day for Iron racing. Chrissie, in what would become her penultimate long-distance race, posted the day’s second fastest overall marathon time of 2:44:35 to set a still-standing time of 8:18:13, coming in fifth position overall and laying down a time that the Ryfs, Carfraes and Van Vlerkens of the Iron world will forever struggle to topple.

Stay tuned for updates from Roth over the weekend as Jan Frodeno targets Raelert’s record from 7:30am (UK time) Sunday morning.

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Image: Getty

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Jorgensen was always the favourite for WTS Hamburg, which was raced over the sprint distance, but both Zaferes and Klamer had a great swim leg exiting in the lead group behind Britain’s Lucy Hall, and from then on never lost their command of the race. 

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They formed a lead group of eight on the bike leg which included Hall, Charlotte Bonin, Mari Rabie, and Caroline Routia and quickly managed to gain a lead of about 30 seconds on the first chase group which contained Gwen Jorgensen.  Initially Helen Jenkins and Jodie Stimpson were in the second chase group, but then the two groups merged and the pair came to the front to try and push the pace.

To have any chance of making the podium Jenkins and Stimpson had to make a break on the bike but just could not dent Zaferes and Klamer’s advantage and they entered the run leg with a 45 second lead. Stimpson and Jenkins entered the run ahead of the running machine Jorgensen who had entered the run leg at the back of the pack, but could just not keep her at bay. 

However despite some some serious running from Jorgensen, which saw her complete the 5km in just 15:43 she just could not catch Zaferes and Klamer and in the final stages Zaferes proved she had more left in her legs and made a move away from Klamer to secure her first WTS victory with Klamer in second.

 “I am so excited! The first part, this beginning of the year was not what I wanted, said Zaferes. “I was not the Katie that I know I am, and today I just raced like me and I got the reward and it was awesome!”

“I just decided to keep it simple, I had been overthinking stuff at the beginning of the year and today I just was going to go as hard as I can in the swim, bike and run and that is what I did and I believed in myself. This is exactly what I needed just going into Rio, is just to see that I was the same person that I was last year.”

“I am really happy, I can’t describe it,” said Klamer.  “The last couple of years I have made progress and this morning I was talking with Richard (Murray) and I was like ‘one day I want to be on that podium’, thought it probably would not be today, but maybe in a year from now. But when we were racing in the swim, which actually I was most worried about, I felt like I had a good position so just had to keep working on it. And then on the bike, the girls were working together, which was really good and then on the run when I looked back I thought, ‘well today must be that day’.”

This is the second time Jorgensen has been beaten this year after Jenkins beat her in Gold Coast

Despite being beaten by Jorgensen Stimpson had a great run leg to finish in 4th meaning she now lies second in the series behind current leader Flora Duffy, while  Helen Jenkins finished in 14th and Lucy Hall finished 20th.

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For full results of WTS Hamburg click here

Mola finished the swim in 13th place but not to far from the leaders and fellow training partner Murray, who was racing for first time after breaking his collarbone. However a mistake from Murray in transition when he threw his swim cap into the wrong box cost him a ten second penalty to take on the run.

Wet conditions gave tricky and slippery conditions for the bike leg and the pack of about 25 knew that if they had any chance of beating Mola and Murray they had to try and make a break and several were tried by USA athlete Ben Kanute and Andreas Schilling.  However these were unsuccessful and with transition in sight Mola and Murray hit the front and after a clean transition started the run in the lead and from then on a win for Mola was never in doubt.

Murray didn’t realise he had a penalty until the final lap and when entering the penalty area could be seen asking the official furiously what he had done wrong.  He then sprinted out and  still managed to take second, thanks to a 17 second lead, with Jake Birtwhistle just taking 3rd from Fernando Alarza after the Spaniard sprinted for the line.

But the drama hadn’t finished as Murray’s fury was evident to all and he could be seen arguing with officials  who then made the decision to disqualify him for unsportsmanlike behaviour. This meant Birtwhistle finished in second and Alarza took third. 

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Mola has won WTS Abu Dhabi, Gold Coast, and Yokohama this year and is now the current leader in the series

Elsewhere, Joe Skipper became the first British Iron man to go sub-8hr after finishing in second and Daniela Ryf came within touching distance of Chrissie Wellington’s Iron record time (more of which later).

It’s been the talk of the region for weeks, but Sunday 17th of July finally arrived and with it Jan Frodeno’s attempt to break Andreas Raelert’s Iron-distance world record. Raelert’s time of 7:41:33 has stood since a classic day of racing in 2011 (when Chrissie Wellington also broke the Iron record), and with calm, dry and overcast conditions gracing the Bavarian skies, Frodeno may never have had a better chance to break his compatriot’s record.

The 15th edition of Challenge Roth (the race has been held under various guises since 1984, including under the Ironman banner) kicked-off at 6:30am with a 3.8km swim leg in the Europakanal. As hot-air balloons lifted and 50,000 spectators graced the river banks, the reigning Ironman and 70.3 world champ, Frodeno, instantly stamped his authority on the race, opening up a 30m lead by the midway stage. 

That’d increased to over a minute over defending Roth champ Nils Frommhold by T1, where Frodo boarded his Canyon Speedmax after a 45:22 swim split, nearly a minute faster than Raelert’s 2011 effort. The lead chasing pack  – including Tyler Bufferfield – were 5mins down on Frodeno (and three on Frommhold) by the time of the Solarberg.

ENTER SOLARBERG

Located in Hilpoltstein town, the Solarberg is surely triathlon’s most iconic climb, with five-deep crowds numbering over 50,000 producing a cacophony of rattles, cowbells and singing (‘Seven Nation Army’ mostly). Frodeno surged up the hill in front of the raucous crowds, followed by Fromhold and Butterfield before Britain’s Joe Skipper – clearly loving the experience and grinning his way up the hill – had broken free from the lead pack. Top Brit Ironman Skipper himself was hoping to break records today, beating Paul Amey’s British Iron record time of 8:01:29 and becoming the first British man to go sub-8hr on the 226km circuit. 

Cut to 100km on the bike and Frodeno had over a seven minute lead over the chasers, and that had extended to 12:30mins by the time of T2 when Frodeno rocked up with a 4:08:07 bike course record, smashing Andrew Starykowicz’s 2015 record by over a minute (and 3mins faster than Raelert’s 2011 time). Next up was the Iron record, but with the temperatures rising in Roth and plenty of solitary stretches on the canal-side run, the German wouldn’t have it easy.

Skipper was also on course for his British record breaking, exiting T2 in sixth after storming back into contention with a 4:21:12 bike split. That position would become fourth by 12km on the run as Skipper moved past Tyler Butterfield and Cyril Viennott.

But all eyes both locally and internationally were now on Frodeno, with a 2:45hr marathon (or faster) run the target. Frodeno never seemingly struggled throughout the 42.2km run, and he’d re-enter Roth to an ecstatic stadium to cross the line in 7:35:39, beating Raelert’s five-year record by a stunning 5:56mins.

Following Frodeno home was expected to be defending champ Frommhold, but Skipper had edged past him with less than a kilometre to go to enter the packed stadium to incredible scenes. Seconds later, Skipper became the first British man to break the magical eight hour barrier in 7:56:23 after the day’s best run of 2:38:52, a time that’s eluded such UK greats as Spencer Smith and Tim Don. And, Skipper’s dad tell us, it could’ve been even faster were it not for an extended toilet stop in the woods early on the run…

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Stay tuned for more reaction from Roth and the pro press conference. Image: Challenge/Getty

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