Cameron Wurf of Australia and Carolin Lehrieder of Germany took top honors at Ironman Emilia-Romagna in Cervia, Italy on Saturday.

Men

Wurf ended any lingering questions that he might be a one or two-trick Ironman pony with an outstanding 7:46:54 performance at Ironman Emilia-Romagna that gave him a 16:17 margin of victory over Jaroslav Kovacic of Slovenia.

The former professional cyclist and Olympic rower was initially primarily thought of as an überbiker when he started his career as a professional triathlete three years ago. But after today’s 46:39 swim, 4:09:03 bike split and sizzling 2:45:02 marathon, Wurf is nothing but a world-class all-around Ironman triathlete.

The only question Wurf now needs to answer is why would he spend such an heroic effort just three weeks before the infinitely more prestigious and remunerative Ironman World Championship in Kona?

The 36-year-old from Tasmania broke the bike split record at Kona twice, topped by his 4:09:06 bike split last year – 3 seconds slower than today’s performance - which led him to 9th place. His rise in professional triathlon has been steady and strong. In 2017 he won Ironman Wales, and this year he won the Cannes International Triathlon and Ironman Australia in a race record 8:06:17.

While Jan Frodeno’s race record 7:35:39 at Challenge Roth continues to be 5 minutes faster than the best of the Ironman brand results, a check of recent results shows that Wurf’s 7:46:54 performance has been surpassed in Ironman-brand events only by Matt Hanson's 7:39:25 and Ivan Tutukin's 7:39:57 at the Ironman North America Championships in 2018, Tim Don’s 7:40:23 at Ironman Brazil in 2017, Lionel Sanders’ 7:44:29 at Ironman Arizona in 2016, Marino Vanhoenacker’s 7:45:58 at Ironman Austria in 2011 and Brent McMahon’s 7:46:10 at Brazil in 2016.

Due to typically brutally hot and humid weather and characteristically challenging winds, the Ironman World Championship in Kona took much longer for male competitors to break the 8-hour barrier as Patrick Lange of Germany did so with a 7:52:39 mark last year.

Lukasz Wojt of Germany led the swim with a 44:30 split that gave him a 2 minutes plus lead on a pack of nine including Tim Don of Great Britain, Ivan Tutukin of Russia, Giulio Molinari of Italy, Wurf, Daniel Fontana of Italy, Ivan Kalashnikov of Russia and Patrick Dirksmeier of Germany. Kyle Buckingham of South Africa and Jaroslav Kovacic of Slovenia were 11th and 12th at +2:36 and +2:40.

Wurf took little time taking charge on the bike leg, passing Wojt and taking a 35 seconds lead at 30 kilometers. After 100km, Wurf led by 4:06 on Wojt, 6:08 on Mattia Ceccarelli of Italy, 6:10 on Molinari, 7:34 on Don, and 7:35 on Kovacic.

After a race record 4:09:03 bike split – 8:17 better than the next-best effort by Molinari – Wurf arrived in T2 with an 8:23 lead on Molinari, 11:04 on Wojt, 12:50 on Dirksmeier, 13:10 on Ceccarelli and 14:20 on Kovacic.

Don wrote on his Instagram page that an age group competitor ran into his bike near the end of the bike leg and cracked his frame in several places. Unable to continue, Don pulled out of the race.

While back in a time the chasers might have had some optimism, Wurf shut down those dreams as he led Giulio Molinari by 8:09 at the half marathon mark and 12:35 over Dirksmeier.

In a nice moment, Alex Zanardi, a former Formula One and CART race driver who lost his lower legs in a 2001 crash, and who is now a physically challenged triathlete, approached Wurf from the back.

Zanardi, powering his handcycle on the first of two laps of the run loop, came up on Wurf who was on his second and final run lap. When Zanardi passed the race leader, Wurf saluted.

With his 2:45:02 run, Wurf finished in 7:46:54 with a 16:17 margin of victory over Kovacic (2:46:48 run split) and 21:15 over 3rd place Molinari (2:58:22 run).

During a post race interview on IronmanLive, Don said: "That went a little bit better than expected."

Women

Michelle Vesterby of Denmark led the pro women's swim wave with a 54:14 split that gave her an 11 seconds lead on Carolin Lehrieder of Germany, 2:33 over Marta Bernardi of Italy, 2:35 over Mareen Hufe of Germany, and 7:24 over Jenny Schulz of Germany.

By 100 kilometers, Lehrieder opened a 2:43 lead on Vesterby, 5:18 on Hufe, 11:59 on Schulz, 15:55 on Bernardi, and 19:55 on Katharine Grohmann of Germany. At the end of her women’s-best 4:40:42 bike split – 5:17 faster than the women’s next-best bike split - Lehrieder held a 7:54 lead on Mareen Hufe of Germany, 8:31 on Vesterby, and 15:24 on Schulz.

By 22 kilometers of the run, Lehrieder led Hufe by 11:22 and a little more on Schulz.

On her way to a women’s 3rd-best 3:06:38 marathon, Lehrieder fought off leg cramps and finished in 8:48:23 with an 8:13 margin of victory over Schulz (2:59:32 run split) and 13:49 on 3rd place Hufe - making a 1-2-3 German sweep of the women's podium.

Lehrieder's most recent highlight was a 5th place at Challenge Roth this summer.

Ironman Emilia-Romagna
Cervia, Italy
September 21, 2019
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi.

Results

Men

1. Cameron Wurf (AUS) 7:46:54 S 46:39 T1 3:12 B 4:09:03 T2 2:59 R 2:45:02
2. Jaroslav Kovacic (SVN) 8:03:11 S 47:10 T1 3:35 B 4:22:30 T2 3:11 R 2:46:48
3. Giulio Molinari (ITA) 8:08:09 S 46:38 T1 3:19 B 4:17:20 T2 2:32 R 2:58:22
4. Lukasz Wojt (GER) 8:08:52 S 44:30 T1 3:20 B 4:22:08 T2 2:48 R 2:56:08
5. Mattia Ceccarelli (ITA) 8:19:59 S 46:35 T1 3:29 B 4:22:210 T2 3:52 R 3:04:04

Women

1. Carolin Lehrieder (GER) 8:48:23 S 54:25 T1 3:44 B 4:40:42 T2 2:58 R 3:06:38
2. Jenny Schulz (GER) 8:56:39 S 1:01:38 T2 4:37 B 4:47:59 T2 2:55 R 2:59:32
3. Mareen Hufe (GER) 9:02:12 S 56:49 T1 3:56 B 4:45:59 T2 3:21 R 3:12:09
4. Michelle Vesterby (DEN) 9:04:40 S 54:14 T1 3:54 B 4:49:13 T2 3:21 R 3:14:00
5. Joanna Ryter (SUI) 9:05:18 S 1:05:52 T1 3:52 B 4:54:17 T2 3:01 R 2:58:19