Jan Frodeno and Daniela Ryf put on commanding performances to take their respective Ironman European Championship crowns on a hot summer Sunday in Frankfurt.
It is their second victory in tandem at this race. The first was in 2015, en route to their dual maiden wins at the Ironman World Championship. Now with multiple world championships under their belts, the two Bahrain Endurance athletes are looking fit to repeat the feat.
With the water temperature at 23 degrees Celsius, it was a non-wetsuit swim for the pros. Josh Amberger got the jump on the rest of the men’s field, emerging from the 3.8-kilometre swim with a clear lead ahead of Frodeno and the chase pack which included reigning Ironman world champion Patrick Lange.
Frodeno took his time, only putting the hammer down in the last eight kilometres of a 185-km cycle course to come into the transition area on Amberger’s heels and just ahead of Lange. Here Frodeno took control, blasting into first place and never relinquishing the lead through the marathon, setting a new run course record of 2:39:06. He jogged across the finish line in 8:00:58.
Meanwhile, Ryf was in a league of her own. After exiting the swim in second place to Sarah True, Ryf began pushing the pedals to build a lead of almost half an hour ahead of her nearest competitor. Despite the new bike course adding five kilometers to the traditional 180 of an Ironman, Ryf clocked in at 4:40:55, nearly five minutes faster than the old record set by fellow Swiss Natascha Badmann.
At this speed, she also overtook all but seven of the men’s field on the bike. She then passed one more male athlete on the marathon to place seventh overall and top the women’s podium with a time of 8:38:44.
With three months to go before the Ironman World Championship, the two champions have locked in their spots on the Kona pier and are in peak shape to put in the last block of work for the Big Dance.