Thomas Steger enjoyed a close home country win and Daniela Bleymehl enjoyed a more comfortable margin on a sunny day in scenic Zell-am-See Zaprun.
Men
Steger emerged from the water in 15th place and 3 minutes arrears then went to work with decent bike skills and a formidable run for a hilly outing on the Austrian hills. After 35 kilometers of the ride, Steger pulled into 3rd place, 1:47 behind new überbiker contender Ruben Zepuntke and 6 seconds behind an all-rounder named Frederic Funk (NOT the roly poly U.S. Senior pro golfer Fred Funk). By the end of a 4th-best 2:10:04 bike split, Steger arrived at T2 in 4th place, 6:28 after Zepuntke who carved out a big lead with a race-best 2:05:05 split on the challenging, hilly bike.
In the first 3 kilometers of the run, Funk cut 30 seconds from his 3:44 deficit to Zepuntke, while Steger pushed hard to catch up to Angert. After 7k of the run, Angert and Funk closed to within 1:37 of Zepuntke. After 10k, Angert and Funk closed to within seconds of the leader. At the 13k mark, Funk passed Zepunkte for the lead, and Angert was ready to pounce for 3rd place. With 5k left, the top four men ran 15 seconds apart – Funk, Steger, Zepuntke, Angert. With 2 kilometers to go, Steger flew into the lead.
After a race-best 1:14:55 run, Steger crossed the line in 3:55:02 with a 49 seconds margin of victory over Funk, who ran 1:18:18. Angert, who ran 1:19:04, took 3rd place, 46 seconds behind Funk and 45 seconds ahead of 4th place Zepuntke, who fell to 4th with a tapped out 1:22:56 run split.
Women
Bleymehl left the swim in 5th place, 1:40 behind Anna-Lena Pohl of Germany and Margie Santamaria of Italy, 16 seconds behind Anja Ippach of Germany, 2 seconds back of Lisa Hütthaler of Austria and 1:17 ahead of Els Visser of Netherlands.
After the biggest climb of the bike leg, halfway through the ride, Visser led the field by 1:08 on Santamaria, 1:12 on Bleymehl and Ippach and 1:21 on Cummings. After 57k, Bleymehl pushed to with 45 seconds of Visser while Santamaria stood 3rd (+1:40), Ippach 4th (+1:30) and Hütthaler 5th (+3:26).
After a race-best 2:22:53 bike split, Visser trailed Bleymehl by just under a minute with Ippach 2:30 down in 3rd. Hütthaler was 4th 4:32 arrears and Cummings 5th, 5:33 astern.
After 12 km of the run, Bleymehl led Visser by 2:25 and Hütthaler by 5:50.
After a race-best 1:26:45 run, Bleymehl finished in 4:23:49 with a 3:50 margin of victory on Visser (1:30:35 run) and 7:21 on Hütthaler (1:29:44 run split).
Ironman 70.3 Zell-Am-See Kaprun
Salzburg, Austria
September 1, 2019
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Thomas Steger (AUT) 3:55:02 S 25:28 T1 2:42 B 2:10:04 T2 1:55 R 1:14:55
2. Frederic Funk (GER) 3:55:51 S 23:37 T1 2:52 B 2:09:01 T2 2:06 R 1:18:18
3. Florian Angert (GER) 3:56:37 S 23:40 T1 2:43 B 2:09:07 T2 2:06 R 1:19:04
4. Ruben Zepuntke (GER) 3:57:22 S 23:43 T1 2:59 B 2:05:05 T2 2:41 R 1:22:56
5. Jan Stratmann (GER) 3:57:26 S 23:15 T1 2:53 B 2:12:11 T2 2:29 R 1:16:39
Women
1. Daniela Bleymehl (GER) 4:23:49 S 27:23 T1 3:01 B 2:24:02 T2 2:40 R 1:26:45
2. Els Visser (NED) 4:27:39 S 28:40 T1 3:03 B 2:22:53 T2 2:31 R 1:30:35
3. Lisa Hütthaler (AUT) 4:31:13 S 28:37 T1 2:44 B 2:27:38 T2 2:34 R 1:29:44
4. Chantal Cummings (GBR) 4:34:46 S 27:21 T1 2:54 B 2:29:45 T2 2:34 R 1:32:15
5. Margie Santamaria (ITA) 4:37:22 S 25:43 T1 3:05 B 2:33:30 T2 2:33 R 1:32:33
