Boris Stein stayed hot on the heels of Sebastian Kienle through the swim and bike legs before pulling away on the run while Anja Beranek stayed out front from the start to win Ironman 70.3 Kraichgau.
Men
Stein emerged from the swim barely in the top 20, but just 1 minute back of leader Pieter Heemeryck of Belgium and just 22 seconds behind defending champion Sebastian Kienle.
Once on the bike course, which features several spiked hills topping out at 265 meters, überbikers Kienle and Stein tore away from the rest, finishing with 2:09:27 and 2:09:34 splits. This gave them a 5 to 7 minute lead on a pack of potential contenders including Maurice Clavel of Germany (2:14:18 bike split), Heemeryck, Markus Fachbach, Evert Scheltinga of the Netherlands, Patrick Dirksmeier, Stenn Goetstouwers of Belgium and Julian Mutterer.
Stein, the 2015 Ironman 70.3 European Champion, steadily pulled away from the two-time Ironman 70.3 World Champion and 2014 Ironman World Champion. Stein closed with a 2nd-best 1:11:43 half marathon that brought him to the line in 3:48:28, with a 2:56 margin of victory over Kienle (7th-best 1:14:42 run) and 5:56 over Heemeryck (race-best 1:11:28 run).
Women
Beranek left behind all her serious rivals with a 25:45 swim which gave her a 1:20 lead on Stephanie Kuhnert, 3:10 on Ricarda Lisk and 5 minutes on Yvonne Van Vlerken, Astrid Stienen and Natascha Schmitt.Beranek added a women's-best 2:31:18 bike split that put an additional 1:10 to her 5-minute margin on Van Vlerken, 3 minutes on Schmitt, and 5 minutes on Stienen. Beranek dispatched the field with a women’s 3rd-fastest 1:22:43 run that carried her to the finish in 4:23:07, with a 7:36 margin on runner-up Van Vlerken (1:23:32 run) and 8:25 on 3rd-place finisher Stienen (women’s-best 1:20:21 run).
Ironman 70.3 Kraichgau
Kraichgau, Germany
June 5, 2016
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Boris Stein (GER) 3:48:28
2. Sebastian Kienle (GER) 3:51:24
3. Pieter Heemeryck (BEL) 3:54:24
4. Maurice Clavel (GER) 3:55:36
5. Markus Fachbach (GER) 3:58:10
6. Evert Scheltinga (NED) 3:58:21
7. Patrick Dirksmeier (GER) 3:58:45
8. Stenn Goetstouwers (BEL) 3:58:50
9. Julian Mutterer (GER) 3:59:19
10. Horst Reichel (GER) 4:00:29
Women
1. Anja Beranek (GER) 4:23:07
2. Yvonne Van Vlerken (NED) 4:30:43
3. Astrid Stienen (GER) 4:31:32
4. Stephanie Kuhnert (GER) 4:34:12 *F 25-29
5. Natascha Schmitt (GER) 4:34:28
6. Ricarda Lisk (GER) 4:36:22
7. Martina Kunz (SUI) 4:37:41* F30-34
8. Lena Berlinger (GER) 4:38:29 * F25-29
9. Katharina Abbing (GER) 4:47:25 * F30-34
10. Sophie Chevrier (SUI) 4:49:10 * F35-39
