The Ironman 70.3 World Championships venue in Zell am See / Kaprun was stunning and challenging, and here are first images from the day. Jan Frodeno and Daniela Ryf captured the titles but there were many other stellar performances and efforts.

Germans dominated the bike segment in Austria, but no one managed to stay with Andreas Dreitz.

Andrew Starykowicz had a rough day. He told me “High heart rate, low power and I feel like crap.”

On the long climb 2014 Ironman World Champion Sebastian Kienle looked like he was suffering too, but he paced himself well.

Lauren Brandon was first out of the water and onto the bike, but on the difficult course the competition was catching up fast.

Alicia Kaye also had a good swim and was near the front all day.

Heather Wurtele was not happy with her swim, but she got better and better as the day progressed.

Magali Tisseyre on the way to 4th place.

Anja Beranek and Alicia Kaye right in front of Lauren Brandon as the big climb got steeper.

Anja Beranek was riding in second place not far behind race leader Daniela Ryf, but after the halfway point of the bike segment Ryf pulled away from all competitors.

Daniela Ryf looked confident all day.

The third group on the road was the largest.

With about 2k to go on the climb, the views were spectacular.

Javier Gomez was near the front all day and that group of 4 led by Nils Frommhold descended rapidly.

The course was undulating and challenging, but as we noted, very scenic.

Andreas Dreitz had his head down and pushed hard.

Jan Frodeno caught Andreas Böcherer late on the bike to move into second place on the road.

Not much later, the Olympic champion was in the lead.

Sebastian Kienle looked superb on the run and thus earned his second place.

Javier Gomez was chasing hard but could not match Sebastian Kienle's run speed, and neither could Jan Frodeno.

Daniela Ryf had a massive lead when she started the run.

Anja Beranek started the run in second place and held on for a long time.



Behind her though, Heather Wurtele was charging hard and took the 2nd place.



Alicia Kaye was rewarded with 5th place for her efforts.



Here comes the new Ironman 70.3 World Champion - Jan Frodeno.



Daniela Ryf repeated her title from 2014 and said she felt much better this time around.



Images 1-24 © Herbert Krabel slowtwitch.com and images 25-26 © Kerry Yndestad / slowtwitch.com

More galleries to follow.