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Lawn & Doe join record seekers at Roth
“I’m just so excited to be here,” Lawn said, adding that if there’s a chance for a fast time she’ll be working for it.
The top athletes racing the fifth anniversary edition of the Quelle Challenge Roth on Sunday said they’ll be seeking fast times—potentially world-beating times—if the conditions and a fast pace throughout will allow it.
Aussie Chris McCormack, back to defend his two titles (garnered during sub-eight-hour efforts in 2004 and 2005) said he’ll be looking for speed throughout the day and hopes for a good battle with current Kona champion Faris Al-Sultan of Germany and the rest of the class field assembled here. The last time the two faced each other, in 2004, McCormack and Al-Sultan fought it out at the front all day until McCormack took the lead in the last kilometers of the run. The possibility of a new world’s best time—to dip under the 7:50:27 mark set by Belgium’s Luc van Lierde here in 1997—is clearly a tantalizing goal for the top starters.
“I love the way he races,” McCormack said of Al-Sultan. “It’s very similar to me, to just go from the gun. I’m excited about defending my title against the [Ironman] world champion. To win here in Roth is very important. I see this race as my race and I don’t want to give it up to anybody.”
For his part Al-Sultan said he believes he could make up some time over his sub-eight-hour finish in 2004 on the bike and on the run—especially if conditions during the ride are favorable.
“Naturally we’ll have a big battle,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll have a good duel on Sunday.”
McCormack said he agrees with Al-Sultan, that the world’s best time could be within reach if conditions are good. The forecast is for warm temperatures (28 degrees Celsius) and minimal wind, so if that holds true, the course could lend itself to great speed.
“I think you need athletes who are prepared to push—to swim hard, bike hard, and run hard,” McCormack said of what it would take to get the record, and then recalled the year van Lierde broke the record with Germany’s Jürgen Zäck pushing the pace all day on the bike. “Jürgen was off the front and forced Luc van Lierde to run an incredible run.”
“I’d love to have that world record,” he said. “I know Faris would.”
The women will also be seeking fast times. Australia’s Belinda Granger, here to defend her title in her third start in Roth, said she believes this year’s field to be the toughest yet—and with Roth newcomer and hard-charging cyclist Joanna Lawn of New Zealand in the field, Granger knows she will have company all day.
“I definitely only have one goal and that’s to finish first again,” Granger said. “This year is definitely going to be the hardest year. It’s one of the best fields assembled all year in any long-course race around the world, and I think that says a lot about the Quelle Challenge Roth.
I am used to racing from the front on the bike but I’m going to have company with me all along the way. Joanna does not have a weakness, and it’s going to be very, very interesting. The winner will be the person who’s the toughest.”
Lawn said she’s already enjoying her time in Roth and her tours of the course—including some rides with Granger—have shown her it’s an amazing place for a race.
“I’m just so excited to be here,” Lawn said, adding that if there’s a chance for a fast time she’ll be working for it. “I’ve always got a picture in my mind of how I’d like to finish— it’s 8:59:59. This place looks like a very, very fast place. If we can all push each other and get the best out of ourselves, that’s what everyone wants.”
The men’s field includes a host of international stars, including Aussie Jason Shortis (eighth last year); Spain’s Eneko Llanos, a two-time XTERRA world champion whose transition to long-course racing included a second-place finish at Ironman Western Australia last year; former long-course world champion Cyrille Neveu of France; Spain’s Francisco Pontano, who posted a breakthrough eighth-place performance in Kona last year; fearsome cyclist Bjorn Andersson of Sweden and countryman Clas Bjorling (sixth here last year) with great closing footspeed on the run; Aussie Justin Granger, tenth here last year; and rising Kiwi Kieran Doe, who shared the sharp end of the field with McCormack last year until fading on the run.
To vie against those top internationals, Germany’s Bernd Eichorn (seventh last year) and Roth’s own Michi Hofman, 11th last year and the winner of the world firefighters crown, also contested in Roth, will also return. Rising German star Markus Fachbach, who took third at his Ironman debut last year at Ironman Florida, will be making his first start in Roth. Also joining the field, fresh from a third-place finish at Ironman Brazil, is German iron-distance ace and two-time IM Brazil winner Olaf Sabatschus.
Among the women, challengers in the field include Aussie Melissa Ashton, third at April’s Ironman Australia behind Granger and making her Roth debut; and from Germany, Ute Mückel, third in Roth last year, Dagmar Matthes (fourth last year) and Wenke Kujala, a past second-place finisher at Ironman Switzerland who lives in nearby Hilpoltstein. From the U.S. comes Karen Holloway, last year’s winner of Ironman Canada, who is also making her Roth debut; Hungary’s Erika Csomor, a former world duathlon champion and a past Ironman Austria winner, will be making her third start here.
Roth has hosted iron-distance triathlon for nearly 20 years, as the former Ironman Europe and now as the independent Quelle Challenge Roth. The race reached its capacity of 2,700 individual entries and 1,700 athletes in relay teams in late December, making Roth by far the largest event on the ultra-distance calendar. Registration for the 2007 edition of the race will open on July 2.
For more information about the Quelle Challenge Roth, visit www.challenge-roth.com. For live coverage, visit http://www.challenge-live.com starting at 6 a.m. CEST on Sunday, July 2.
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