TRIATHLON – BAHRAIN Victorious 13 triathlete Kacper Stepniak claimed a thrilling win at Ironman 70.3 Krakow over the weekend, making history as the inaugural champion of the event on home soil in Poland.
Though race trackers show he led for the most part across the 1.9-kilometre swim, 90-kilometre bike, and 21-kilometre run, the reality was a tense cat-and-mouse game with Maximilian Sperl of Germany, who never let Stepniak gain more than a 90-second advantage.
Stepniak exited the swim in the Zakrzowek Reservoir in 22 minutes and 15 seconds, just a minute off the lead. He surged to the front by the first timing checkpoint on the bike, with Sperl the only one able to match his pace. The duo broke away from the rest of the field, opening a gap of more than four minutes by the end of the bike leg.
Stepniak was first onto the run course, with Sperl hot on his heels. In this high-stakes pursuit, the Polish star managed to hold his rival off all the way to the finish.
“It was hard to hold on, but it was worth it,” said Stepniak post-race.
“The worst moment was when I had 40 seconds on him for a while and then it dropped to 27.
“When it increased to 40 seconds again, I felt a slight sense of relief that today might be my day, but I still didn’t fully accept the thought…I had to simply give it everything, because I knew Max was a strong competitor.”
Stepniak had a finishing time of three hours 39 minutes 41 seconds, while Sperl finished as the runner-up in 3:41:15. Rostyslav Pevtsov of Ukraine came third in 3:43:20, while completing the top five were Ognjen Stojanovic of Slovenia in 3:44:03 and Tomasz Brembor of Poland in 3:44:40.
As Stepniak takes a well-earned break from racing this weekend, the momentum continues for Bahrain Victorious 13 with India Lee of Britain and Leo Bergere of France lining up at the next stop of the T100 Triathlon World Tour in London.
Lee looks to carry forward her winning form from Ironman Les Sables D’Olonne in June, while Bergere lines up for the first time since his bronze-medal finish at the world Triathlon Championship Series’ Alghero in May.
Elsewhere, Bahrain Victorious 13’s reigning Ironman 70.3 world champion Jelle Geens of Belgium is looking to continue his winning streak in London after his win in Vancouver.
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