At age 40, Timo Bracht of Germany is still on top of his game as he earned another Ironman victory, while fellow German Daniela Sämmler outran Emma-Kate Lidbury for the win at Ironman Mallorca.
Men
Carlos Lopez of Spain led the swim in 48:19, 12 seconds ahead of Harry Wiltshire of Great Britain, 22 seconds ahead of Johann Ackermann of Germany and Francisco Alvarez of Spain, 35 seconds ahead of James Cunnama of South Africa, and 38 seconds up on Bracht.
After 40k of the bike leg, Ackermann led by 2 seconds over Lopez, 3 seconds on Wiltshire, 3:07 on Bracht, 3:08 on Horst Reichl, 3:10 on Francisco Alvarez, and 3:11 on Cunnama with Matthias Hecht and Alessandro Degasperi 6 minutes arrears. At the top of the mountain pass at 125km, Bracht led Wiltshire by 1 second, Lopez by 2 seconds, Cunnama by 1:18, Ackermann by 3:57, Degasperi by 6:01, and Ritchie Nicholls by 6:02. After his race-best 4:32:16 bike split, Bracht arrived in T2 with a 2:05 lead on Cunnama, 4:25 on Lopez, 6:17 on Wiltshire, and 7:08 on Degasperi, while Nicholls fell 17:19 back with undisclosed difficulties.
By 17km into the run, Cunnama wrested a 10 seconds lead from Bracht, while Degasperi advanced to 3rd, 5:19 arrears. Halfway through the run, Cunnama ran a sizzling but unsustainable 1:20:18 split, which gave him a 1:10 lead over Bracht and 5:38 on Degasperi, who matched Cunnama’s fearless pace with a 1:20:25 split. Bracht, the canny veteran, stayed steady with a 1:23:39 first half of the marathon.
At 30km into the run, Bracht was 46 seconds down and steadily catching Cunnama. At 32km, Bracht passed Cunnama, and by 34.6km was 1:02 ahead with Degasperi maintaining a 5:05 deficit. By the finish, Bracht’s 5th-best 2:50:59 run was steady and swift enough to finish in 8:17:22 with a 2:14 margin over Cunnama (2:50:52 run), 6:34 over Degasperi (2:49:41 run), 14 minutes ahead of Gwenael Ouilleres of France (2:49:57 run), and 15:25 on Ritchie Nicholls (race-best 2:48:18 run).
Women
Emma-Kate Lidbury led the women’s pro swim wave in 55:11, 7 seconds ahead of Natascha Schmitt of Germany, 2:18 on Sämmler, and 3:36 on Alexandra Tondeur of Belgium.
After a women's-best 5:06:28 bike split, Sämmler led Lidbury (women's 3rd-best 5:09:30 bike split) by 1:02, Martina Kunz of Switzerland (5:07:56 bike split) by 5:03, and Alexandra Tondeur of Belgium (5:14:35 bike split) by 10:09.
After a swift transition, Lidbury trailed Sämmler by just 34 seconds starting the run. But by 3km, Sämmler regained her momentum, led Lidbury by 1:01, and was never challenged again.
Halfway through the run, Sämmler led Lidbury by 2:57, Kunz by 6:38, and Tondeur by 9:14.
After a women’s 3rd-fastest 3:14:44 marathon, Sämmler finished in 9:24:48 with a 7:01 margin of victory over Lidbury (3:21:11 run), 7:29 over 3rd-place finisher Kunz (3:17:56 run), 9:44 over Tondeur (3:14:17 run), and 12:19 over 5th-place finisher Katharina Grohmann of Germany (women’s-best 3:12:26 run).
Ironman Mallorca
Mallorca, Spain
September 26, 2015
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi.
Results
Men
1. Timo Bracht (GER) 8:17:22
2. James Cunnama (RSA) 8:19:36
3. Alessandro Degasperi (ITA) 8:23:56
4. Gwenael Ouilleres (FRA) 8:31:22
5. Ritchie Nicholls (GBR) 8:32:47
6. Chris McDonald (AUS) 8:35:57
7. Christian Brader (GER) 8:44:08
8. Carlos Lopez (ESP) 8:45:35
9. Christian Haupt (GER) 8:52:30
10. Flo Kriegl (AUT) 9:00:59
Women
1. Daniela Sämmler (GER) 9:24:48
2. Emma-Kate Lidbury (GBR) 9:31:49
3. Martina Kunz (SUI) 9:32:17
4. Alexandra Tondeur (BEL) 9:34:42
5. Katharina Grohmann (GER) 9:37:07
6. Svenja Thoes (GER) 9:38:05
7. Corina Hengartner (SUI) 9:40:01
8. Kamila Polak (AUT) 9:45:52
9. Diane Lüthi (SUI) 10:00:21
10. Nina Kuhn (GER) 10:07:44
