Four-time Ironman and Ironman 70.3 World Champion Daniela Ryf of Switzerland gave another stellar performance at a legendary venue, crushing the women’s field and finishing 6th overall including the men at the classic Alpe d’Huez Triathlon at Lac du Vernay, France.

Women

Ryf finished in a women’s-record 6:15:57, 13:05 behind men’s winner Romain Guillaume of France and 28:15 ahead of women’s runner-up Carrie Lester of Australia. While her 4:16:28 bike split was 13:35 slower than Guillaume’s mark, her 1:26:32 split for the 22 kilometer run at high altitude was 1:13 faster than the men’s champion.

As the women started 15 minutes ahead of the men, Ryf was first across the finish line, 1:55 ahead of Guillaume.

Ryf led the women's swim in the 61-degrees water of Lac du Vernay with a 30:23 split that gave her a 1:10 lead over Lester, 1:53 over Chantal Cummings of Great Britain and 1:56 over Elisabetta Curridori of Italy.

Once on the rugged bike leg, which includes 3 formidable mountain passes – a 675 meter climb over 16 kilometers at Alpe du Grand Serre, a 671 meter climb over 18 kilometers at Col d’Ornin, and the coup de grace, the 21 sharp curves over 13 kilometers of the legendary Tour de France ascent at Alpe d’Huez – Ryf’s 4:16:28 split was 23:42 faster than the next best women's effort by Carrie Lester and 34:22 faster than the third-best women's split by Elisabetta Curridori.

On the 3-lap run on pavement and mountain trails, Ryf’s 1:26:32 effort on the 22-kilometer leg was 2:54 faster than the excellent effort by Lester and 4:07 better than the next best effort by Alice Meignie of France.

At the line, Ryf’s 6:15:57 time gave her a 28:15 margin of victory over Lester, who finished 3rd last year, and 41:35 over women’s 3rd place finisher Alexandra Tondeur of Belgium, who finished second in 2018. Ryf’s stellar time was 2:25 better than Chrissie Wellington's 2008 standard.

Men

Joan Ruvireta Brufau of Spain led the pro men’s swim wave with a 29:16 split which gave him a 35 seconds lead on Pamphiel Pareyn of Belgium, 36 seconds on Romain Guillaume of France and 39 seconds on Albert Moreno Molins of Spain.

Light and lithe, built more like a Tour de France climbing star, Guillaume took command of the race in the mountains, posting a race-best 4:02:53 split –7:24 better than the next-best effort by serious contender Albert Moreno Molins.

Starting with a comfortable 8-minute lead on the run, Guillaume’s 1:27:45 split surrendered 1:19 to Moreno Molins (who gave up 41 more seconds in transition), but it was enough to preserve a 6:50 margin of victory over Moreno Molins. Kenneth Vandendriessche of Belgium overcame a lot of ground after a 33:00 swim with a 4:11:08 bike split and a second-fastest 1:24:20 run to finish 3rd, 8:44 behind the winner.

Scott Defillipis of the U.S. made up for a 32:56 swim and a 4:17:02 bike split with a race-best 1:20:26 run to take 4th, 11:17 behind the winner.

14th Alpe d’Huez Triathlon
Lac du Vernay, France
July 25, 2019
S 2.2k / B 115k / R 22k

Results

Pro Men

1. Romain Guillaume (FRA) 6:02:52 S 29:53 T1 1:22 B 4:02:53 T2 00:57 R 1:27:45
2. Albert Moreno Molins (ESP) 6:09:42 S 29:55 T1 1:23 B 4:10:17 T2 1:38 R 1:26:26
3. Kenneth Vandendriessche (BEL) 6:11:36 S 33:00 T1 2:13 B 4:11:08 T2 00:52 R 1:24:20
4. Scott Defillipis (USA) 6:14:09 S 32:56 T1 2:08 B 4:17:02 T2 1:37 R 1:20:26
5. Gwenael Ouilleres (FRA) 6:14:39 Other splits N/A
6. Victor Del Corral (ESP) 6:16:52 S 32:04 T1 1:21 B 4:12:43 T2 1:01 R 1:29:41
7. Timothy Van Houtem (BEL) 6:17:38 S 35:49 T1 2:01 B 4:12:33 T2 1:45 R 1:25:38
8. Pamphiel Pareyn (BEL) 6:20:45 S 29:51 T1 1:22 B 4:16:38 T2 1:11 R 1:31:41
9. Joan Ruvireta Brufau (ESP) 6:25:45 S 29:16 T1 1:28 B 4:23:01 T2 1:48 R 1:30:09
10. Arnaud Margot (SUI) 6:29:20 S 33:32 T1 1:34 B 4:18:44 T2 1:03 R 1:34:25

Pro Women

1. Daniela Ryf (SUI) 6:15:57 S 30:23 T1 1:44 B 4:16:28 T2 00:48 R 1:26:32
2. Carrie Lester (AUS) 6:44:15 S 31:33 T1 2:11 B 4:40:10 T2 00:53 R 1:29:26
3. Alexandra Tondeur (BEL) 6:57:32 S 35:22 T1 2:02 B 4:45:01 T2 1:10 R 1:35:55
4. Alice Meignié (FRA) 7:02:11 S 41:08 T1 2:14 B 4:47:15 T2 00:52 R 1:30:39
5. Elisabetta Curridori (ITA) 7:05:11 S 33:19 T1 1:56 B 4:50:50 T2 1:00 R 1:38:04
6. Miriam Van Reijen (NED) 7:18:31 S 36:11 T1 1:55 B 5:04:51 T2 1:01 R 1:34:31
7. Chantal Cummings (GBR) 7:22:10 S 33:16 T1 1:35 B 5:01:22 T2 1:10 R 1:44:45
8. Daniela Kleiser (GER) 7:25:41 S 42:43 T1 2:30 B 5:06:33 T2 1:21 R 1:32:31
9. Sarah Straub (SUI) 7:26:14 S 34:49 T1 1:56 B 5:18:39 T2 00:58 R N/A