Baekkegard, Pallant-Brown Take Elsinore 70.3
Daniel Baekkegard of Denmark edged training partner and fellow Dane Miki Taagholt by 1:01 and Emma Pallant-Brown of Great Britain outran Ashleigh Gentle of Australia on the strength of a women’s-fastest 1:16:17 half marathon to take top honors at Ironman 70.3 Elsinore.
Baekkegard combined a 4th-best swim that left him 3 seconds behind leader Lennart Sievers of Germany, an equal time race-best 2:00:27 bike split with rival Miki Taagholt, and a 5th-best 1:12:18 half marathon to finish in 3:40:11 with a 2:01 margin over Taagholt and 4:14 over third-place finisher Pablo Dapena Gonzalez of Spain.
Pallant-Brown took her fourth win of the season with a women’s 5th-fastest 24:36 swim that left her 9 seconds behind rival Ashleigh Gentle, a women’s 3rd-quickest 2:20:57 bike split that left her 5 seconds behind Gentle, and secured the victory with a decisive 1:16:17 run split that gave her a 1:37 margin over gentle and 3:26 over third place finisher India Lee of Great Britain.
Men
Lennart Sievers of Germany led the swim in a 21:58 split that was 2 seconds faster than Miki Taagholt and 3 seconds better than Baekkegard and former ITU Long Distance World Champion Pablo Dapena Gonzalez of Spain – and a pack of 15 men within a minute of the leader.
Training partners Baekkegard and Taagholt made a decisive breakaway on the bike on their way to equal 2:00:27 splits that gave them a 3:35 lead on Thor Bendix Madsen of Denmark, 4:55 on Youri Keulen of the Netherlands, and 6:35 on Filipe Azevedo of Portugal.
While others had faster runs, Baekkegard’s 5th-best 1:12:18 half marathon, combined with his tied for race-best bike split, brought him to the line in 3:40:11 with a 2 minutes margin on Taagholt (1:14:39 run split) and 4:14 ahead of third-place Pablo Dapena Gonzalez (race-best 1:09:43 run). Youri Keulen of Netherlands posted a second-best 1:11:09 run to take 4th place, 4:55 behind the winner.
Pro Women
CLASH Miami winner Ashleigh Gentle led the swim in 24:26, trailed closely by fellow Aussie Ellie Salthouse, Sarissa De Vries of Netherlands, Katherine Krüger of Germany, and Britishers Pallant-Brown and India Lee.
After a women’s second-fastest 2:20:48 bike split, Ashleigh Gentle led the field into T2 by 3 seconds over India Lee, 5 seconds on Pallant-Brown, 10 seconds on De Vries, and 11 seconds on Ruth Astle of Great Britain, who posted the women’s-best 2:17:30 bike split.
Two kilometers into the run – and unchanged to the 19 kilometer mark – Pallant-Brown led followed by Gentle, Lee, de Vries and Astle.
After her stellar 1:16:17 half marathon, Pallant-Brown finished in 4:07:07 with a 1:37 advantage on Gentle, 3:26 on third-place finisher India Lee, 5:47 on De Vries and 9:15 on Astle, whose 1:25:02 run could not match her sizzling fast bike split.
Ironman 70.3 Elsinore
Elsinore, Denmark
June 26, 2022
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Men's Results
1. Daniel Baekkegard (DEN) S 22:02 T1 2:55 B 2:00:27 T2 2:31 R 1:12:18 TOT 3:40:11
2. Miki Taagholt (DEN) S 22:00 T1 2:54 B 2:00:27 T2 2:13 R 1:14:39 TOT 3:42:12
3. Pablo Dapena Gonzalez (ESP) S 22:02 T1 2:46 B 2:07:41 T2 2:16 R 1:09:43 TOT 3:44:25
4. Youri Keulen (NED) S 22:23 T1 3:00 B 2:06:13 T2 2:24 R 1:11:09 TOT 3:45:07
5. Thor Bendix Madsen (DEN) S 23:09 T1 3:03 B 2:02:45 T2 2:29 R 1:14:07 TOT 3:45:31
6. Filipe Azevedo (POR) S 22:12 T1 2:52 B 2:06:53 T2 2:12 R 1:12:23 TOT 3:46:30
7. Antony Costes (FRA) S 22:32 T1 2:55 B 2:07:02 T2 2:17 R 1:12:08 TOT 3:46:53
8. Fabian Reuter (GER) S 22:33 T1 3:01 B 2:06:53 T2 2:18 R 1:12:26 TOT 3:47:08
9. Bastian Peitersen (DEN) S 25:24 T1 3:11 B 2:07:21 T2 2:35 R 1:11:09 TOT 3:49:38
10. Jesse Hinrichs (GER) S 22:20 T1 3:02 B 2:07:11 T2 2:24 R 1:15:34 TOT 3:50:30
Women's Results
1. Emma Pallant-Brown (GBR) S 24:36 T1 3:04 B 2:20:57 T2 2:15 R 1:16:17 TOT 4:07:07
2. Ashleigh Gentle (AUS) S 24:26 T1 3:18 B 2:20:48 T2 2:18 R 1:17:57 TOT 4:08:44
3. India Lee (GBR) S 24:34 T1 3:08 B 2:20:53 T2 2:31 R 1:19:29 TOT 4:10:33
4. Sarissa De Vries (NED) S 24:30 T1 3:12 B 2:20:59 T2 2:43 R 1:21:31 TOT 4:12:55
5. Ruth Astle (GBR) S 27:42 T1 3:32 B 2:17:30 T2 2:38 R 1:25:02 TOT 4:16:22
6. Aleksandra Jedrzejewska (POL) S 27:35 T1 3:18 B 2:21:12 T2 2:52 R 1:22:38 TOT 4:17:24
7. Laura Jansen (GER) S 27:40 T1 3:15 B 2:25:38 T2 2:53 R 1:21:26 TOT 4:20:50
8. Ellie Salthouse (AUS) S 24:29 T1 3:10 B 2:22:15 T2 2:58 R 1:29:06 TOT 4:21:56
9. Tiina Pohjalainen (FIN) S 29:51 T1 3:33 B 2:24:59 T2 2:45 R 1:22:43 TOT 4:23:49
10. Katharina Krüger (GER) S 24:43 T1 3:11 B 2:27:59 T2 2:52 R 1:25:52 TOT 4:24:34
