Magnus Ditlev of Denmark and Anne Haug of Germany posted decisive victories at the 20th edition of Challenge Roth on a hot day in Bavaria.
Men
As Jan Frodeno pulled out at 3 kilometers of the run due to aggravating his Achilles injury, Ditlev inherited the lead and finished in 7:35:48 with a 9:04 margin over defending champion Patrick Lange and 16:48 over 3rd-place finisher Reinaldo Colucci of Brazil.
Ditlev at age 24 thus became the youngest winner of Challenge Roth, and only the second Danish man (Rasmus Henning did so in 2010) to win the prestigious historic home of the many of the fastest men’s and women’s Ironman-distance times. On his way Ditlev set a new men’s bike record, and while his overall time was admirable, he fell 9 seconds short of Jan Frodeno’s 7:35:39 2016 course record.
Ditlev came into this famed race on a hot streak – a close 2nd place to Ben Hoffman at Ironman Texas.
Perhaps due to an extended recovery from a February bike crash that left him with a weakened arm, defending Roth champion Patrick Lange of Germany could not make up for his swim deficit. Despite setting a new course record 2:35:10 marathon, Lange fell 9:04 short of Ditlev’s finish.
Women
While Anne Haug ably defended her 2021 Challenge Roth title, it took her from the swim start to halfway through the run to wrest the lead from Fenella Langridge of Great Britain. Langridge led the swim, then maintained it with a sizzling fast bike split, and gave her best on the run before surrendering to the home country favorite generally recognized as the Ironman women’s fastest runner.
Haug started with a non-wetsuit swim that left her 7 minutes back of the leading 51:44 splits of Langridge and Rebecca Clarke of New Zealand. To put Haug’ disastrous swim in perspective, Haug’s wetsuit-legal swim at the Ironman World Championship in St. George was just 2:21 and her swim deficit at Challenge Roth last year was just two seconds behind Langridge.
In top form on the bike, Langridge posted a second-best 4:35:51 split. After the first of two laps on the bike, Langridge had a lead of 7:48 on Haug, who kept plugging away at her deficit and whittled her disadvantage to 5:18 after the second loop. Pushing hard, Laura Siddall moved into third, 16:29 behind Langridge. Judith Corachan and Rebecca Clarke stood 4th and 5th, two minutes back of Siddall.
Haug then made up ground with a women’s race-best 4:33:45 bike split and closed with a women’s-best 2:46:04 marathon to finish in 8:22:42 with a 9 minutes lead on Langridge and 23:47 better than third place finisher Judith Corachan Vacquera of Spain.
Date V Challenge Roth
Roth, Germany
July 3, 2022
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi.
Men
1. Magnus Ditlev (DEN) 7:35:48
2. Patrick Lange (GER) 7:44:52
3. Reinaldo Colucci (BRA) 7:52:36
4. Bradley Weiss (RSA) 7:53:56
5. Robert Kallin (SWE) 7:59:35
18. Cameron Brown (NZL) 8:40:21 (age 50)
Women
1. Anne Haug (GER) 8:22:42 Run 2:46:04
2. Fenella Langridge (GBR) 8:31:41 +8:59
3. Judith Corachan Vacquera (ESP) 8:46:29
4. Laura Siddall (GBR) 8:53:31
5. Rebecca Clarke (NZL) 9:08:37
