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 • ITU Copenhagen goes to Henning, Forrester |
ITU Copenhagen goes to Henning, Forrester July 1, 2002, Copenhagen, Denmark From Mads Krogh Nielsen in Denmark comes this report about the International Triathlon Union Copenhagen International race on Saturday. "The beautiful surroundings around the Pier of Charlottenlund and the spectator-friendly seven-lap bike course followed by a four-lap run course formed a perfect frame for the first Scandinavian ITU race held Saturday. The race also served as the official Danish championships. "The female elite race had Great Britain's Stephanie Forrester as winner after having led the race all the way. After exiting the water closely followed by the Czech Republic's Lucie Zelenkova, the two held the gap down to a nine-athlete group. The gap was closed after just one lap primarily because of the strong riding of Denmark's Marie Overbye, racing for the first time since the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. "None of the riders managed to move away from the group, and the favorite from the UK totally blasted the group with a phenomenal 10k in 35:55. "Fellow Brit Annie Emmerson had the second fastest run and managed to limit the loss to Forrester in the front. Overbye was after 7.5k only 20 seconds from the fast-swimming Zelenkova but did not manage to close the gap, and the Czech succeeded in holding on to third place. Overbye's overall fourth place gave her the Danish championship in front of fast-swimming Charlotte Kolters (sixth overall) and Julie Bollerup (tenth). "It was expected that Danish ITU World champion on the long course, Lisbeth Kristensen, would participate. She also traveled from Switzerland to Copenhagen the day before, but a minor foot injury kept her away from racing on the day. "The men's race had Simon Lessing on the start list but he never arrived in Copenhagen. The two-time European champion, Great Britain's Andrew Johns, signed in as the very last entry in the registration, taking over the favorite status from Denmark's Rasmus Henning. "After 1000m of swimming the race field was gathered pretty much in one large group, but the pace was then drastically enhanced in the front group, leaving the participants in spectacular small groups of athletes. The leading nine-man group after T1 had Johns, Marko Albert of Estonia and Lieuwe Boonstra of South Africa as prominent members. "Henning just managed to get in the nine-man front bike group, leaving countryman and recent Ralphs California Half-Ironman winner Torbjörn Sindballe on his own struggling alone with talented young Dane Rasmus Ahlfors on his wheels. Sindballe showed immense strength on the bike by closing the hole to the front group in only one lap. "On the second lap Spain's Fernando Cabellos and Germany's Michael Raelert managed to break free with about 100m from the leading pack. On the way to third lap the spectators got full value for the money when Henning joined forces with Sindballe in what would be the crucial move. The Danish duo only needed half a round to reach the leaders, and the arrival of the two strong bikers made a great difference in the speed. "Great drama continued to occur when Sindballe shortly after unfortunately fell off the bike and had to leave the competition. About the same time the Spaniard lost his breath in the very hard attack from Henning. "At T2 Henning had a 1:45 gap to the pursuers after clocking the fastest bike split on the day with 56:45 for the 40k. Given Johns' footspeed, though, the race still appeared open. But Henning managed to hold the lead all the way through and finished the run in 31:52. Johns and Albert managed to gain 20 seconds on Henning, with Johns outrunning Albert in a sprint over the finish line." (RESULTS) ----- Sandvang makes it three in Fredericia August 5, 2001, Fredericia, Denmark There are two organizations offering "World Championship" titles at this distance. Fredericia hosted the International Triathlon Union’s (ITU) version, and the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC)––owners of the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon––offers the other. While Peter Sandvang has not yet shown an ability to get it done in Hawaii, he’s got a lock on the ITU’s championship. While his prior two long course world titles have come at shorter-than-Ironman distance, at Fredericia athletes did go the vaunted "full" way. And Sandvang now has a third title to add to his collection. The race took place in Fredericia, in central Jutland, Denmark. It is not an "official Ironman" but is popular in equal measure to most of the races that buy a license from WTC, and, with 30,000 spectators and a large age-group field, more popular than most. Fredericia offered fine weather for the 66 men who entered the 63F water, but the blue skies wouldn’t last all day. Three athletes, Gianpietro De Faveri of Italy, Charly Loisel of France and Rasmus Henning of Denmark stole a two-and-a-half minute lead from the chase pack. That was bad news to pre-race favorite Sandvang, as Henning won this event last year, though it had no championship title attached to it. On the bike Loisel took the lead early as De Faveri began to slip back through the field. The Frenchman consistently extended his lead during the first 60k of the 180-kilometer bike leg, eventually gaining a margin of almost four and a half minutes. Four riders who exited the water together cycled in close proximity, including Sandvang, fellow Dane Torbjorn Sindballe, Patrick Vernay of France and Jonas Colting of Sweden. It was a disappointing start to the race for Sandvang, who can usually claim the swim as a strength. But Sandvang was just finding his rhythm, and as conditions began to deteriorate he pulled in the leading athletes. Working his way from seventh place, the tall Dane took the lead by the 120-kilometer mark, reveling in the constant showers. "The last 30 kilometers of the bike was a bit like riding in a river," Sandvang joked later. "It helped me. I didn’t get cold because I am a big guy and I am quite used to the tough conditions." By the bike to run transition, Sandvang had established a 3:28 lead over Henning. Sindballe, who had ridden in close proximity to Sandvang throughout the race, also improved his position in the latter stages of the race, entering the marathon in third. Early leaders De Faveri and Loisel slipped to 14th and 18th respectively and were no longer factors. Already out on the run, Sandvang was to run an additional 400 meters out of transition as a drafting penalty. The additional distance didn’t faze the popular Copenhagen athlete, as he powered out onto the rolling run course that features long gradual hills and an out-and-back format of four laps. After a 2:56:41 marathon Sandvang crossed the line to claim the world long course champion title for a third time. Henning edged closer during the run, but his 2:54:42 marathon was not quite enough to haul in his countryman. But his 8:25:46 was more than 13 minutes faster than the 26-year-old went in his victory on this course last year. Colting ran a blistering 2:49:16 to bridge a four-minute deficit and pick up the bronze medal for Sweden. Only 2:15 separated the first three finishers. The ITU’s long course championship has always played second fiddle to the ultra-popular Hawaii Ironman. With the Fredericia race, though, the ITU may be starting to bridge that gap. For those long course athletes––both pro and age-group––not wanting to race a full Ironman just to qualify for another, the ITU Worlds is an attractive alternative. (RESULTS) ----- Lisbeth Kristensen saves her best for when it counts August 5, 2001, Fredericia, Denmark Lisbeth Kristensen of Denmark has won an Ironman-distance race in nearby Almere, in the Netherlands. But a less spectacular more recent race in Lanzarote in May meant that she was not the favorite in the race—she wasn't even the favored Dane. That was veteran pro Susanne Nielsen. But Kristensen bounced back in impressive style in her fourth-ever race of this distance. The women hit the water 15 minutes after the men, a refreshing change from many long distance races—and something commonly requested by the women pros. A solid swim by Nielsen, Jane Fardell of Australia, and Kristensen separated them from chasers Sophie Delmer of France, Lori Lynn Leach of Canada, and Swedes Lena Wahlqvist and Karin Forsberg. Fardell quickly retired on the bike, and Nielsen pushed on despite mechanical problems. Kristensen relinquished her lead to the powering Forsberg, who was to lead for much of the first half of the race. But Kristensen reestablished her authority in the closing stages, taking a 2:38 lead into the bike to run transition. Meanwhile, the lithe Kristensen had set out on the run with Forsberg, Wahlqvist and Nielsen the only real challengers to her position. Further back, Anna Swardstrom of Sweden, Robyn Roocke of Australia and Estelle Patou of France were running a race of their own. Kristensen led the run from wire to wire. "I had a good swim and my bike was awesome," Kristensen said after the race. "But I was really scared of the marathon. I could feel the girls behind me. It wasn’t until the halfway mark that I started to feel better and it wasn’t until there were three kilometers to go that I realized that I could win!" Wahlqvist ran a solid race to move into second place ahead of a strong-finishing Nielsen. (RESULTS) ----- Fredericia––aka Long Distance Worlds––a very popular "(non) Ironman®" August 2, 2001, Fredericia, Denmark (www.slowtwitch.com): Some 60,000 spectators are expected to flock to Fredericia Sunday in hopes of witnessing a double Danish victory as Susanne Nielsen and Peter Sandvang contest the ITU Long Distance Triathlon Championships. The championships are to be raced over the traditional ironman distances of a 3.8-kilometer swim, 180-kilometer bike and 42.2-kilometer run for the first time. On a flat and technical course based around the heart of Fredericia, 100 elite competitors from 25 countries will race for a world crown. Danish athletes Nielsen and Sandvang will carry the hopes of the crowd for the duration of the race. Nielsen, 35, a former national representative in Olympic distance triathlon, has a solid career record coming into the race, with technical bike abilities and speed the strengths that make her favourite. An unknown threat to the field comes from long distance debutante and former Olympic distance world championship medalist, Erika Molnar of Hungary. The run specialist has focused on the Olympics until this season and has now stepped up to long distance. Long distance racing is incredibly unpredictable, however, and other athletes who could figure include Lisbeth Jorgensen of Denmark, Lori Lynn Leach of Canada, Robyn Roocke of Australia, Sophie Delemer of France, Katja Mayer of Germany, Marijke Zeekant of the Netherlands and Lene Wahlqvist of Sweden. The U.S.' elite representative is nueva pro Alexis Waddel of California, who raced her first Ironman in New Zealand this year. Meanwhile, Sandvang, 33, will start as favorite in the men's race. As a member of the Fredericia Triathlon Team, a double world champion at Nice and Sater and a former winner of this race, the Copenhagen resident has been preparing all year for the event. However, the contingent of challengers who hope to upset the local include countrymen Torbjorn Sindballe and Rasmus Henning, Mark Herremens of Belgium, Frenchmen Cyrille Neveu and Gilles Reboul, Rainer Muller-Horner of Germany, Guido Gosselink of the Netherlands and Gianpietro De Faveri of Italy. U.S. hopes are pinned on Chuckie Veylupek, who has shown good form at the half-Ironman distance races he's done this year. Starting at 7 a.m. local time on Sunday morning, a live webcast will be streamed from www.triathlon.org. (Thanks to the ITU for this report.) ----- Great Danes: Kristiansen, Sandvang are year's best November 24, 2000, Copenhagen, Denmark (www.slowtwitch.com): Lisbeth Kristiansen, who started the season as an age-grouper, and Peter Sandvang, who repeated as the ITU Long-Distance Triathlon World Champion, were named "Triathletes of the Year" by the Danish Triathlon Association. Sandvang beat out Rasmus Henning -- who collected three Danish titles in 2000 -- for the men's honor. He finished first in three races (the ITU Long-Distance Triathlon Championship at Nice; the Lanzarote International Duathlon; and the Mexico Half-Ironman). He was second in three other races (Danish Duathlon Championship, Danish Sprint Triathlon Championship, and Maizuru International Duathlon in Japan), and took third in the St. Croix International Triathlon. Kristiansen's high point came in her last race of the season, the Ironman-distance Triathlon Almere on 3 September. There, in her first-ever race over the distance, she won in 9:08:23, a tremendous time for a rookie. She had started her season as an age-grouper, winning the overall age-group race. In her first race as a pro, on 24 June in Italy, she finished seventh. She also was 13th in the European Triathlon Championship. Henning is Denmark's new Ironman discovery August 7, 2000, Fredericia, Denmark (www.slowtwitch.com): Rasmus Henning, who has already surprised most of the Danish elite by winning the national duathlon title in May and the national triathlon (Olympic-distance) title in June, has added a third title in just his third season in the sport: long-distance triathlon champion. The 24-year-old won the Ironman-distance Fredericia Triathlon on Sunday -- formerly called the International Newline Triathlon Fredericia 2000. Next year, the race will be known as the ITU World Long-Distance Triathlon Championships. Racing his first ever Ironman race, in a field made slightly easier by the last-minute withdrawals of Peter Sandvang (injury) and Allan Mansson (illness), Henning won in 8:38:55. The women's winner was Germany's Nina Kraft (9:48:53) for her first-ever Ironman victory. Noted race director Ole Nikolajsen: "She was very pleased with her race and made a loong speech to the audience about this and that." The Danish title -- this was the Danish national long-course championships, after all -- went to third-finishing Karin Jørgensen (10:10:12). Jørgensen had won the race, along with Sandvang, for the last two years. (RESULTS) ----- Injured Sandvang pulls out of Fredericia August 4, 2000, Fredericia, Denmark (www.slowtwitch.com): World No. 1 long-distance triathlete Peter Sandvang, the favorite and defending champion for Sunday's Ironman-distance Fredericia Triathlon, will not start after all. An ankle injury, which he incurred while winning the ITU World Championships in Nice, France, in June, is the reason. The injury was hampered again at the European Championships in Stein, Netherlands. There, when he took part in the team time trial, his teammates had to help him to the finish. He said afterward that he felt he was racing with just one-and-one-half legs. Said race director Ole Nikolajsen: "We are very sorry that Peter is not racing in Fredericia, but we fully understand that he cannot risk a long-term injury. We are very much looking forward to seeing him back in Fredericia next year for the ITU World Long-Distance Championships." The race -- which features a stronger field, even without Sandvang, than the same-day Ironman Switzerland -- will be broadcast live on the Internet. Starting at 6:30am (Central Europe Time), the live transmission will be in English. The link to the live coverage: The link to the race website: ----- The field for Fredericia July 31, 2000, Fredericia, Denmark (www.slowtwitch.com): The really big race in Fredericia doesn't happen until next year, but the 5th International Newline Triathlon Fredericia, which happens this Sunday, is pretty big in itself. The Ironman-distance race is a practice run for the 2001 race, which will be the ITU Long-Distance Triathlon World Championships. (Never mind the small point that the annual Hawaii Ironman World Championships is already conducted each year over the Ironman distance). Several top European triathletes are lining up for Fredericia and its $45,000 prize list -- on the same weekend that they could be racing for Hawaii-qualifying slots in Ironman Switzerland in Zurich. England's Matt Belfield, for example, would be seemingly desperate for a chance to return to Hawaii in October -- especially after he dropped out of Ironman Austria two weeks ago. But instead of licking his wounds and lining up for Ironman Switzerland, he is heading for Fredericia, where his aim is simply to prove himself over the distance again. The winner of the Ironman Lanzarote, he is looking to show that he is not a one-race wonder -- in spite of DNFing (with mechanical problems) in his last three Ironmans: Austria two weeks ago, Hawaii last October and, before that Ironman Switzerland. Joining Belfield are a number of big names out of Europe: Germany's Andreas Niedrig, Olaf Sabatschus, Rolf Lautenbacher and Lutz Bauer; Finland's Anssi Lehtinen; Sweden's Jonas Colting; and Belgium's Jean Moreau. Also, Chile's Cristian Bustos is in the race. The Danes will include Peter Sandvang, winner of the race a year ago; Bent Andersen, Allan Månsson, Per Nilsson, Michael Krüger, Alex Petersen; and Johnny Pedersen. Denmark's Rasmus Henning is also in the field, most interestingly. In just his third season in the sport, and competing over the Olympic-distance with the best in Europe for the first time this year, he is trying his first Ironman. He already has won Danish titles this season in both triathlon and duathlon. The women's race could be led by Denmark's own Karin Jørgensen, who, like Sandvang, won last year' race. Top foreign athletes include Germany's Nina Kraft, nina Fischer and Stephanie Arndt; Netherlands' Marijke Zeekant; and Hungary's Judit Spiegl. Notes Danish coach Gabor Klöczl: "Last year, both titles were won by Danish world champion Peter Sandvang and Karin Jørgensen, both from here. And once again they must both be rated as the greatest favourites. Sandvang in particular, for having recently repeated as world champ by winning his title in Nice. "My personal view is that things would have to go awfully wrong to keep Sandvang from the victory again this year, but it will not be without a fight. The hardest fight will probably be by German star Andreas Niedrig who, among many brilliant results, can boast a No. 3 placement in the Ironman Europe on July 9. There is also Belfield and Moreau, both very strong on the bike. "So I expect a dramatic pace up front by Sandvang, Månsson, Belfield, Niedrig and Moureau, leading up to the final elimination race on the last 42 km."
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