Frenchman Arthur Horseau and British athlete Lydia Dant were the overall winners of the thirty-first edition of Ironman Lanzarote, the longest-running in Europe, an event that enjoyed excellent weather conditions throughout Saturday.
One of the toughest triathlon events in the world kicked off at 07:00 in the morning in Puerto del Carmen, with just over a thousand athletes taking to the sea to complete the 3.8-kilometer swimming segment.
They then cycled across a good part of the island, with a 180-kilometer route, and finished back in Puerto del Carmen with a 42.2-kilometer run.
Dutchman Niek Heldoorn was in the top positions of the race from the start, leading the swimming. In the cycling section, he was overtaken by Cameron Wurf, with the Australian showing himself to be very strong in this segment, which allowed him to be more than eight minutes ahead of his pursuers.
As often happens, the 42.2-kilometer run along the Avenida de Las Playas in Puerto del Carmen dictated the outcome. Frenchman Arthur Horseau, with a strong pace, gradually reduced the gap, reaching the lead at kilometer 28. From that moment on, he paced himself and maintained a lead of about two minutes over the rest of the pursuers.
Arthur Horseau crossed the finish line as the winner of the thirty-first edition of Ironman Lanzarote, with a final time of 8 hours, 22 minutes and 21 seconds.
The second place on the podium went to Niek Heldoorn (8:24:48), and third place went to Australian Cameron Wurf (8:30:17), who had to settle for the bronze medal after leading the race for many kilometers.
In the women's category, Lydia Dant repeated her triumph in Ironman Lanzarote and, for the second year in a row, crossed the finish line as the winner of one of the toughest triathlons in the world. The British athlete dominated the race from the start and it was in the running section that she perfectly managed the wide gap she had acquired in the previous two segments.
Lydia Dant had a total time of 9 hours, 59 minutes and 13 seconds, almost 22 minutes slower than her time in the last edition. The women's podium was completed with the second place of the Belgian Liesbeth Verbiest (10:06:10) and the third position of the Frenchwoman Jeanne Collonge (10:20:53).
Spaniard Jodi Montraveda was just off the podium at Ironman Lanzarote, finishing the race in fourth position with a time of 8 hours, 43 minutes and 59 seconds, improving on his eighth place in the last edition.
For his part, Spaniard Gonzalo Fuentes crossed the finish line as seventh classified.
