Sebastian Kienle hammers the bike at Ironman 70.3 Kraichgau 2015

Germany’s Ironman world champion Sebastian Kienle won on home soil yesterday, while Britain’s David McNamee managed to secure bronze at Ironman 70.3 Kraichgau.

German Jens Roth exited the water at the Lake Hardtsee in 24:05mins, nine seconds ahead of the strong swimmer Andreas Boecherer. Kienle was in 10th place and left the water in 24:27mins, lost some time in transition, but then hammered his way back to the front on the hilly bike course.

Boecherer made an early and decisive move but struggled a bit on the run, while Kienle managed to ignore the high temperatures and hard bike ride. After an impressive bike split of 2:08:45 he ran a 1:15:26 half marathon to take a superb win ahead of Boecherer and strong runner McNamee.

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Men’s podium (left to right): Andy Boecherer, Sebastian Kienle, David McNamee

Women

The women’s race was also decided on the bike: Camilla Pedersen (DEN) and Anja Beranek (GER) escaped from a group of four leaders after the swim to nail down a gap for the run, knowing that Germany’s Julia Gajer is always a superb runner.

Beranek had the best bike split in 2:30:07 and reached T2 together with Pedersen, but the race was still very close when it came down to run. Gajer was only 2:06mins behind starting into the run, but she could already feel the heat.

She was able to pass Beranek for second place, but Pedersen had a steady run pace and kept the advantage on her side to take a great win. Through 18km, Beranek got passed by her fellow countrywoman Svenja Bazlen.

Julia Gajer on the bike at Ironman 70.3 Kraichgau

Top 5 men

1. Kienle, Sebastian (GER): 3:51:56
2. Boecherer, Andy (GER): 3:58:06
3. McNamee, David (GBR): 4:00:25
4. Costes, Antony (FRA): 4:01:18
5. Lange, Patrick (GER): 4:02:42

Top 5 women

1. Pedersen, Camilla (DEN): 4:24:56
2. Gajer, Julia (GER): 4:27:16
3. Bazlen, Svenja (GER): 4:29:14
4. Beranek, Anja (GER): 4:30:40
5. Philipp, Laura (GER): 4:32:40

For full results head here.

(Images: Ironman Europe)

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