Bart Aernouts charged into the lead on the bike and then ran to the win at the Ironman 70.3 European Championships in Wiesbaden, Germany. Daniela Ryf with a similar performance stormed to the women's title in 4:26:12 and thus successfully defended her title ahead of Leanda Cave.

An estimated 120,000 spectators lined the course in Wiesbaden to follow this popular race in Germany. With water temps in the lake Raunheimer Waldsee at 23 degrees Celsius it was a wetsuit legal affair. But next year the swim might go back to the Schiersteiner Hafen so the whole race can take place in Wiesbaden. Raunheim is 23 kilometers from Wiesbaden and is also about an equal distance away from Frankfurt.

The men

Swiss Pro Manuel Küng led Belgian Pieter Heemeryick, fellow Swiss Ruedi Wild and Germany's Maurice Clavel out of the water in 22 minutes flat.

The early pace was set by Clavel and Heermeryck and the two opened up a sizable advantage over the chasers. Bart Aernouts initially moved into third position as Küng drifted back with an apparent mechanical issue, but Dutch Evert Scheltinga pushed very hard to take over the third position. About 50k into the bike segment Heermeryck dropped Clavel and tried to charge alone towards T2, but behind the 2 athletes Aernouts was inching closer and closer and at the 57k mar the 3 athletes were virtually together. Aernouts then moved into the lead and got away from the other 2. After a race best 2:22:23 bike split, the Belgian Uplace-BMC athlete reached the bike-run transition with a 3:11 lead over Clavel, and somehow Küng had managed to grab the third position back 2 seconds behind the German. Heermeryck was next 3:52 down, and he was followed by Aussies Peter Robertson and Tim Van Berkel who were over 5 minutes behind Aernouts.

The Belgian ran well too and closed out his day with a 1:15:25 run to give him the 70.3 European Championships in 4:05:27. He had won Ironman France in Nice this summer already and this was another fine feather in his cap.

"I had a great day, which I did not expected only 6 weeks after the Ironman of Nice, although I had the same preparation as last year, but then I couldn't start due to insufficient recovery," said Aernouts. "This is a beautiful race that suits me with a lot of attention and a strong field of contenders."

Peter Robbo Robertson had a fantastic 1:13:15 run to capture second place, and Maurice Clavel was rewarded for his efforts all day with the final podium spot.

The women

Leanda Cave and Liz Blatchford were the first two female Pros out of the water in 23:23 and 23:26, and they had an almost 1 minute advantage over Daniela Ryf, and around 1:45 ahead of Camilla Pedersen.

About 10k into the 90k bike segment Ryf made contact with Cave and Blatchford and shortly after pulled away from them. Behind them Pedersen was keeping pace with the frontrunners but at the distance she had after the swim, and German Laura Phillip was next. Ryf pulled away further and further and at km 52 her advantage was 3:40 over Cave, and Cave also managed to distance Blatchford. It was Pedersen how now rode in third position but at the 63k mark she was 5:17 adrift behind the fast Swiss Pro. Blatchford and Philipp however were not far behind the Danish Pro. Ryf had done a similar stunt at Ironman 70.3 Switzerland in early June, and looked now to come way with another win and a defense of her title. When Ryf reached T2 she had amassed more than 7 minutes over the chasing 4.

Leanda Cave managed to pull away from Blatchford and Pedersen, but Philipp was tenacious and did not let the 2012 Ironman World Champion get too far way. Eventually though Cave did manage to break the stranglehold, but no one would catch Ryf again. The Swiss Pro ran 1:21:44, which was best among the front runners and gave her a relatively comfortable win in 4:26:12. Cave was next in 4:34:50 and Philipp finished third in 4:36:23.

Ironman 70.3 European Championships
Wiesbaden, Germany / August 10, 2014
1.2m swim / 56m bike / 13.1m run

Top men

1. Bart Aernouts (BEL) 4:05:27
2. Peter Robertson (AUS) 4:08:15
3. Maurice Clavel (GER) 4:08:34
4. Ruedi Wild (SUI) 4:09:33
5. Tim Van Berkel (AUS) 4:10:07

Top women

1. Daniela Ryf (SUI) 4:26:12
2. Leanda Cave (GBR) 4:34:50
3. Laura Philipp (GER) 4:36:23
4. Camilla Pedersen (DEN) 4:36:57
5. Liz Blatchford (GBR) 4:41:07


All images © Karsten Täschner / slowtwitch.com