In the final edition of Zurich hosting Ironman Switzerland, home country star Jan Van Berkel defended his title over fellow Swiss and 2004 Olympic bronze medalist Sven Riederer, who declared this would be his last race as a pro.
Van Berkel led the swim and the bike by a few seconds, then expanded his lead with a race-best 2:46:41 marathon which gave him a 6:57 margin of victory over Riederer and 13:59 over 3rd place Cyril Viennot of France. Damien Collins of Australia took 4th, 17:39 off the pace, and Swiss star Ronnie Schildknecht, 9-time winner of this race, placed 5th, 20:49 behind the winner.
Van Berkel combined a race-best 51:38 swim, a 2nd-best 4:35:14 bike split and a race-best 2:46:41 marathon to earn his victory over Riederer, who posted the race-best 4:34:50 bike split on Zurich’s bike leg which includes 1500 meters of climbing. After Schildknecht’s long time domination of the Swiss Ironman, Van Berkel has dominated the podium for the last five years, taking 3rd in 2016 and 2017, 2nd in 2015 along with his two recent victories.
This year's edition of Ironman Switzerland was offered for male professionals only.
Race recap
Van Berkel led the swim in Lake Zurich with a 51:38 split that gave him a 2 seconds margin over Christian Kramer of Germany, 6 seconds ahead of Riederer, 9 seconds on Ruedi Wild of Switzerland, 11 seconds on Sy Hsieh of Taiwan, 12 seconds on Cyril Viennot of France, 14 seconds on 2002 ITU Olympic distance World Champion Ivan Raña of Spain, 4:04 on Schildknecht and fellow Swiss Sam Huerzeler, and 6:29 on Australian Damien Collins.
Van Berkel led the first 23 kilometers of the bike leg with Raña, Kramer, Viennot and Riederer close behind. At 33km, Kramer took the lead, followed by Raña, Van Berkel, Viennot and Riederer, with Schildknecht falling 5:25 back. An hour into the race, Wild suffered a mechanical problem and fell out of contention.
At the end of the first lap of two on the bike, Kramer led over Heartbreak Hill, followed by Raña, Riederer, Van Berkel and Viennot with Schildknecht 6:08 arrears.
At 110 km, Raña fell 4:08 off the back, leaving Kramer, Van Berkel, Riederer and Viennot together at the front with Schildknecht holding 5th at a 6:08 deficit. .
At 120km, Viennot took a turn at the front followed by Kramer, Van Berkel and Riederer, while Schildknecht caught Raña. By 148km, Schildknecht fell 7:35 back of the leader, with Sam Huerzeler 2 and a half minutes further back.
After a second-best 4:35:14 bike split, Van Berkel led into T2 by a 5 seconds margin over Riederer, who posted the days-best 4:34:50 split, and 10 seconds over Kramer. Viennot arrived 4th, 53 seconds arrears, chased by Schildknecht (+7:49), Huerzeler (+12:29), Damien Collins (+14:37), Kevin Portmann of France (+15:30) and Raña (+16:23).
After 10.5 km of the run, Riederer and Van Berkel ran side-by-side with a 2:02 lead on Viennot, 3:46 on Kramer and 9:15 on Schildknecht. A few minutes later, Van Berkel made his move and took the lead. At 17 kilometers, Van Berkel led Riederer by 1:26. At the half marathon, Van Berkel led Riederer by 2:26, Viennot by 6:17, Kramer by 7:54 and Schildknecht by 13:09.
At 29km, Van Berkel increased his lead over Riederer to 4 minutes.
After a race-best 2:46:41 run – 6:40 better than Riederer – Van Berkel finished in 8:17:04 with a 6:57 margin of victory over Riederer, 13:59 over 3rd place Viennot, 17:39 over Damien Collins, who closed with the 2nd- fastest 2:49:03 marathon.
After the final race at Zurich's nearby hills and on its elegant streets, Ironman Switzerland will move 90 miles southwest to Thun for 2020.
Ironman Switzerland
Zurich, Switzerland
July 21, 2019
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi.
Results
Pro Men
1. Jan Van Berkel (SUI) 8:17:04 S 51:38 T1 1:51 B 4:35:14 T2 1:40 R 2:46:41
2. Sven Riederer (SUI) 8:24:07 S 51:44 T1 2:14 B 4:34:50 T2 2:00 R 2:53:21
3. Cyril Viennot (FRA) 8:31:03 51:50 T1 1:57 B 4:35:49 T2 1:56 R 2:59:36
4. Damien Collins (AUS) 8:34:43 S 58:08 T1 2:02 B 4:43:11 T2 2:20 R 2:49:03
5. Ronnie Schildknecht (SUI) 8:37:53 S 55:42 T1 2:33 B 4:38:17 T2 1:25 R 2:59:37
