Susie Cheetham of Great Britain and Kristian Hogenhaug of Denmark won the pro titles at Ironman Hamburg.

Women

After the bike leg, Cheetham held a 10:11 lead over her chief rival of the day, Sarah Piampiano of the U.S. Cheetham then held on for dear life against Piampiano’s sizzling run. With a women’s-best 2:56:21 marathon, Piampiano bested Cheetham’s run by 7:35 but fell 2:40 short of the victory.

Cheetham clocked a women’s third-best 1:00:58 swim, seized the lead with women’s-fastest 4:46:57 bike split and clinched the win with a women's second-best 3:03:56 run split to finish in 8:58:02 with a 2:40 margin of victory over Piampiano.

Julia Gajer of Germany, who trailed Cheetham by 2:52 at T2, fell to 3rd place, 11:37 behind Cheetham and 8:57 behind Piampiano after a 3:12:31 run.

Caroline Steffen of Switzerland led the swim then fell to 4th place with a 3rd-best 4:53:30 bike split and 4th-quickest 3:19:35 marathon to finish 21:27 behind the winner.

The win earned Cheetham entry to the Ironman World Championship and improved on her 2nd place finish at Astana 70.3 earlier this year. Last year, Cheetham placed 2nd at the Ironman African Championship and the Ironman South American Championship, and placed 4th at Ironman Austria.

Men

Kristian Hogenhaug of Denmark started his day with an 11th-best 52:03 swim that put him 2:03 behind swim leader Michael Raelert of Germany, 2:01 behind Horst Reichel of Germany, 1:58 behind Paul Schuster of Germany, 1:53 behind Andreas Raelert of Germany, 1:50 behind Ruedi Wild of Switzerland and 7 seconds behind Ivan Tutukin of Russia.

By 64 kilometers into the 180km bike leg, Wild, Schuster, Reichel, and Raelerts Andreas and Michael formed a lead pack of five, with Hogenhaug 1:34 arrears. By 117km, Andreas Raelert led Wild by 2 seconds, Reichel by 5 seconds and Schuster by 7 seconds. Hogenhaug joined the party at the front 8 seconds behind while Michael Raelert fell a minute back.

By 155km, Hogenhaug completed his surge, taking a 1:33 lead on Andi Raelert, 1:36 on Wild, 3:01 on Schuster and 3:48 on Reichel while Michael Raelert dropped to 8th, 11:51 behind Hogenhaug.

After a race-best 4:17:29 bike split, Hogenhaug hit T2 with a 3:09 lead on Andi Raelert, 3:50 on Wild (2nd-best 4:24:16 ride), and 4:31 on Schuster (4:25:32 bike split).

After 14km of the run, Hogenhaug led Wild by 1:26, and Andi Raelert by 1:47. At 19km, Andi Raelert passed Wild, who accelerated to stayed with the German and they ran together 1:34 behind Hogenhaug.

At the half marathon mark, Hogenhaug maintained a 1:34 lead on Andi Raelert, while Wild fell 15 seconds further back and Schuster stood 4th, 8:31 behind the lead.

At 29km, Andi Raelert slowed to a walk and Wild regained second place, 3:08 behind the leader.

After a race-best 2:54:03 marathon, Hogenhaug finished in 8:11:26 with a 5:08 margin of victory over Wild (2:55:37 run) and 12:59 over 3rd place Paul Schuster.

Hogenhaug’s win comes after a 4th place at the 2019 ITU Long Distance World Championship, a second place at the 2018 Ironman Copenhagen, and 3rd place at the 2018 Challenge Almere-Amsterdam.

Ironman Hamburg
Hamburg, Germany
July 28, 2019
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi.

Results

Women

1. Susie Cheetham (GBR) 8:58:02 S 1:00:58 T1 3:17 B 4:46:57 T2 2:57 R 3:03:56
2. Sarah Piampiano (USA) 9:00:42 S 1:06:27 T1 4:01 B 4:50:54 T2 3:01 R 2:56:21
3. Julia Gajer (GER) 9:09:39 S 56:57 T1 3:36 B 4:53:30 T2 3:07 R 3:12:31
4. Caroline Steffen (SUI) 9:19:28 S 55:56 T1 3:33 B 4:56:16 T2 3:09 R 3:19:35
5. Martina Kunz (SUI) 9:29:03 S 1:06:26 T1 3:43 B 4:53:54 T2 3:54 R 3:21:09

Men

1. Kristian Hogenhaug (DEN) 8:11:26 S 52:03 T1 4:30 B 4:17:29 T2 3:22 R 2:54:03
2. Ruedi Wild (SUI) 8:16:34 S 50:13 T1 3:24 B 4:24:16 T2 3:06 R 2:55:37
3. Paul Schuster (GER) 8:24:25 S 50:05 T1 2:56 B 4:25:32 T2 3:16 R 3:02:37
4. Arnaud Guilloux (FRA) 8:29:14 S 52:07 T1 3:55 B 4:34:20 T2 3:50 R 2:55:05
5. Philipp Mock (GER) 8:35:11 S 1:00:51 T1 4:02 B 4:29:13 T2 4:14 R 2:56:54