While Germans Marc Pschebizin and Andreas Wolpert managed to take the top spots at the ultra tough Swiss 2010 Inferno Triathlon, Swiss Nina Brenn grabbed the win in the women's category followed by a bunch of her country women.
The men
Enjoying the only "flat" section of the infamous Inferno Triathlon, German Elmar Schneider was first out of the Thunersee in 46:17, with Swiss Manuel Ribeli about 20 seconds adrift and most of the favorites 2 minutes or more behind the very early leader.
The action though doesn't really start until the first 97 km cycling segment with its 7,000 feet of elevation gain. Marc Pschebizin and Andreas Wolpert seemed to find this road bike segment to their liking and recorded the fastest bike splits there to take over the lead by about 7 minutes over Mike Schifferle, who is also known for his bike prowess, but had lost 3 of those minutes during the swim. As the leaders jumped on their mountain bikes to do the 30 km segment with over 3,800 feet of elevation gain, Pschebizin showed his that his fitness and bike handling skills were a bit better, and managed to gap Wolpert by about 11 minutes, while his lead over Schifferle was now 20 minutes. Schifferle though was no longer in third position, as Samuel Hürzeler had moved into that slot about 14 minutes behind Pschebizin, with a very fine mountain bike ride.
With 25 km of running and over 7,000 feet of climbing as the final portion of the Inferno Triathlon still ahead of them, anything was still possible and early on Wolpert and Hürzeler gained a bit of time back on the leader, but it really was too little and too late. The last few kilometers up to the finish at the Piz Gloria station, a cable car station made famous in the James Bond movie "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," Pschebizin added a bit of time back and crossed the line first in 8:56:49. Wolpert grabbed second place in 9:08:12, and Hürzeler rounded out the podium with his time of 9:10:37.
For Pschebizin this is his 9th title at this event, so it isn't surprising that some folks refer to him as Mr. Inferno.
"It was awesome, everything went according to the plan. Used the MTB to set myself up for the win, just as I had done previously. This course is just perfect for me," said Pschebizin to slowtwitch. "Competition was tough with last year's runner-up Andi Wolpert, local favorite Sämi Hürzeler and Ironman Zürich 7th place finisher Mike Schifferle."
The women
Sonja Gerster was first out of the water in the women's race in 49:44, and while Barbara Bracher and Nina Brenn managed to reach T1 in second and third position, they had already lost 1:36 and 5:25 respectively. But as we had learned from the men's race, the 3.1 km swim in the Thunersee is not really where this race is decided.
Bracher soon passed Gerster during the road bike section, but behind them Brenn was flying along and by the time the leaders reached T2 in Grindelwald to switch to their mountain bikes, Brenn and Bracher were now together, and Gerster about 3 minutes behind them. Brenn extended her lead on the 30km mountain bike section from Grindelwald to Stechelberg and now had a 5 minute lead over Bracher. Gerster though had made some time up on Bracher and was now about a mute behind and still in third position. By that time the gaps to everyone further back were quite large and it was somewhat clear that the podium was decided, the question now was who would finish where?
Brenn though looked very smooth during the run and was clearly faster than the chasers and held on to the top position all the way to the finish at Piz Gloria to win in 10:21:52. Brecher really got away from Gerster during the run and finished in second place about 16 minutes after the winner. Gerster crossed the line in third about 20 minutes outside of second place, but 43 minutes ahead of fourth.
Inferno Triathlon
Murren - Schilthorn, Switzerland / August 21, 2010
3.1 km swim / 97 km road bike / 30 km mountain bike / 25 km run (18,800 feet of elevation gain)
Top 10 men
1. Marc Pschebizin (GER) 8:56:49
2. Andreas Wolpert (GER) 9:08:12
3. Samuel Hürzeler (SWI) 9:10:37
4. Mike Schifferle (SWI) 9:28:32
5. Markus Stierli (SWI) 9:58:30
6. Reto Marti (SWI) 10:03:55
7. Urs Walter (SWI) 10:06:07
8. Christian Hürzeler (SWI) 10:15:03
9. Peter Portmann (SWI) 10:17:55
10. Andi Ettlin (SWI) 10:20:22
Top 10 women
1. Nina Brenn (SWI) 10:21:52
2. Barbara Bracher (SWI) 10:37:58
3. Sonja Gerster (SWI) 10:57:07
4. Martina Donner (SWI) 11:40:08
5. Angela Niklaus (SWI) 11:42:23
6. Sandra Dänzer (SWI) 11:54:02
7. Katrin Tschabold (SWI) 11:53:15
8. Fiola Foley (SWI) 12:05:59
9. Liselore Völlmer (SWI) 12:17:24
10. Michèle Tanner (SWI) 12:22.39
