Veterans Timo Bracht of Germany and Erika Csomor of Hungary won the men’s and women’s elite titles at Ironman Los Cabos Sunday.
Bracht, who has Ironman victories at Frankfurt, Lanzarote, Arizona and Western Australia, added the Los Cabos title with a balanced attack that included a race-fastest bike split and 3rd-best run to finish in 8:26:48.
At the finish, Bracht, whose personal best at the distance is a 7:59:15 at Ironman Frankfurt in 2009, broke the tape with a 6:38 margin of victory over runner-up Trevor Delsaut of France and 7:09 over 3rd-place finisher Jozsef Major of Hungary.
Because her timing chip was lost, Csomor’s progress during the race was a mystery until Los Cabos media spotters noticed her near the end of the marathon, where she had a 500 meter lead on Michelle Vesterby of Denmark at the 40 kilometer mark. There is no suspicion that Csomor, a multiple duathlon world champion and winner of several Ironman events, did not complete the course and her splits will be determined by data hand recorded by race officials.
The Men
Andres Castillo of Colombia led the swim in 49:25, followed by major contenders Brett Carter of Australia (49:30), Axel Zeebroek of Belgium (49:33), Maik Twelsiek of Germany (49:35) Daniel Fontana of Italy (51:41) and Bracht (53:23).
Bracht gradually overcame his swim deficit and, after his race-best 4:37:34 bike split, entered T2 side by side in the lead with fellow German Twelsiek (4:41:15 bike split) in a race elapsed time of 5:33:27.
Zeebroek, falling further back with a 4:44:56 bike split after his 3rd-best swim, was next into T2 at 5:37:02. Making up time after slow swims, Trevor Delsaut of France [57:43 swim] arrived 9th in T2 after a 5th-best 4:42:25 bike split. Jozsef Major of Hungary, after a 58:42 swim, posted a 2nd-fastest 4:41:03 bike split to arrive 11th in T2. Both men were 10 minutes back of Bracht as they prepared to unleash their swift runs.
Bracht, confident that Twelsiek’s run posted no threat, played his cards conservatively and led the rest of the way with a 3rd-fastest 2:51:39 run that brought him to the finish in 8:26:48. Delsaut charged from 9th to a runner-up finish with a race-best 2:48:02 run to finish 6:38 back of Bracht. Major, who started the run just 8 seconds back of Delsaut, ran 28 seconds slower than the Frenchman and hit the finish 31 seconds back of major for the final spot on the podium.
The Women
Vesterby, who recently finished 3rd at the Abu Dhabi International Triathlon, led the major contenders out of the water with a 55:12 swim. Without an official split, best guess of Csomor’s accustomed time would be just under one hour. Mareen Hufe of Germany followed with a 1:04:03 and Lisa Ribes of the United States was next with a 1:04:23.
On the bike, Huff charged hard to a probable women’s race best 5:09:23 split which led her to T2 in 6:13:26 and gave her a 4:22 advantage over Vesterby (5:22:36 bike split) and 12:38 over Ribes (5:21:41 bike split). While Csomor’s progress was unknown at the time, the multiple Powerman Zofingen and ITU World Champion duathlete would likely have ridden a bike split similar in speed to Hufe.
On the run, Ribes posted a 3:07:15 marathon which moved her past Hufe, who faded to a 3:21:52 split, but fell short of running down Vesterby, who ran 3:14:18.
Csomor finished first in in 9:35:34, just 57 seconds ahead of Vesterby and 3:01 ahead of Ribes. Hufe was 4th, 2:15 back of Ribes.
Ironman Los Cabos
Los Cabos, Baja Sur, Mexico
March 17, 2013
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi.
Results
Men
1. Timo Bracht (GER) 8:26:48
2. Trevor Delsaut (FRA) 8:33:26
3. Jozsef Major (HUN) 8:33:57
4. Jeff Symonds (CAN) 8:37:09
5. Maik Twelsiek (GER) 8:37:43
6. Daniel Fontana (ITA) 8:39:24
7. Thomas Gerlach (USA) 8:47:46
8. Matthew Russell (USA) 8:49:57
9. Brett Carter (AUS) 8:52:35
10. Andres Castillo (COL) 8:57:10
Women
1. Erika Csomor (HUN) 9:35:34
2. Michelle Vesterby (DEN) 9:36:31
3. Lisa Ribes (USA) 9:38:35
4. Mareen Hufe (GER) 9:40:50
5. Kathleen Calkins (USA) 9:46:55
