The 2019 edition will be remembered for the extreme weather conditions the athletes had to face in each section of the event
On Saturday, May 25, around 1600 triathletes from up to 60 different countries started at the Club La Santa IRONMAN Lanzarote, considered by many athletes as the “hardest IRONMAN in the world”. A test that once again pushed the limits of the participants with adverse weather conditions, in which sea currents, strong winds, sun and heat predominated.
“You’re not a real IRONMAN if you haven’t done the one on Lanzarote, it’s the hardest of all in the world” – Michelle Vesterby
Among the athletes of this edition, there were several important ones, such as Alessandro Degasperi (ITA), winner of IRONMAN Lanzarote 2015 and 2018; Andreas Raelert (GER), 3-time-runner-up of IRONMAN World Championships (2010, 2012 and 2015); Ivan Raña (SPAIN), runner-up in 2018; or Frederik Van Lierde (BEL), champion of IRONMAN World Championships in 2013 and 5-time-winner of IRONMAN France.
The race started at 7:00 in the morning in the tourist town of Puerto del Carmen, with the 3.8 km swimming competition, where Raelert was one of the first to start with a time of 00:49:13, followed by Emilio Aguayo (00:49:15) who surprised in his first participation in an Ironman, while Van Lierde was the third to leave being at 1:11 of the race start. The women also offered a spectacular journey, with Canadian Rachel McBride (00:53:35) coming out first from the water and Maja Stage just over a minute away (00:54:55) in distance.
During the cycling race, Aguayo started to slow down as he passed through Timanfaya National Park, falling to fifth place, while Jaroslav Kovacic (SLO) stayed with the leading duo. At kilometer 132, Raelert was faced with bad news and was forced to abandon the competition due to some physical problems he was having.
Emma Pallant led the women’s race with an impressive pace, but she also had to abandon the competition due to physical problems, and therefore, Bartlett took over and completed the cycling segment with a time of 05:38:00, which allowed her to maintain a considerable distance from her rivals.
German Christian Kramer overtook Van Lierde at the transition zone and was the first athlete to start the race on foot, followed by Jaroslav Kovacic. As the race progressed, positions changed again and Frederik Van Lierde, who was able to stay in first position until reaching the finish line with a total time of 08:51.16, was able to place himself at the head of the race. Kramer arrived second, almost 5 minutes away, with a total time of 08:56.08, while rookie Emilio Aguayo completed an amazing race with a time of 09.00:55.
In the women’s category, Nikki Bartlett was able to manage well the advantage she had at the start of the third segment, crossing the finish line in first place, with a total time of 09.59:10, followed by Maja Staje (10.03:41) and Lenny Ramsey with a time of 10:20:48.
Check the results of the XXVIII Ironman Lanzarote here!
