Daniel Bækkegård and Anne Haug have been proclaimed winners of the ninth edition of the Club La Santa Ironman 70.3 Lanzarote after an exciting race to the end. The Danish and the German were crowned as the great winners of the morning with times of 04:03:30 and 04:30:31, respectively. The event has also awarded 30 places for the World Championship in the different categories, along with the two slots for PRO triathletes.
The competition started at eight in the morning at the Marina Rubicón Marina with a special memory for La Palma and its inhabitants in these difficult times. A total of 670 triathletes jumped into the water to tackle the 1.9 kilometers they had to swim. In this first section, the Slovak Richard Varga grabbed the first place and left the water at Playa Dorada as provisional leader, closely followed by the Danish Bækkegård. The British India Lee did the same in the women's category, although her distance from her main pursuer was even greater.
It was time to get on the bikes to face 90.1 kilometers of hard pedaling. The unevenness of the terrain of Yaiza, a municipality that has hosted the entire route of the race, put the triathletes in serious trouble. The forces were evened out and the most experienced in the cycling segment cut differences with the most advanced. Bækkegård accelerated to snatch the first place from Varga and another Danish, Mandsen, was placed in second position. For her part, Nikki Bartlett overtook her compatriot Lee and came back to take the lead in the women's category.
To culminate this Club La Santa IRONMAN 70.3 Lanzarote and reach the end of the competition, the participants faced 21.1 kilometers of running on foot around the perimeter of Playa Blanca. After getting off the bikes, Daniel Bækkegård remained at the head of the race and no one could take him down from the first place. On the women's side, Anne Haug and Nikki Bartlett left a race to remember in which they fought until the end. The German Haug finished the competition eight minutes before Bartlett, who arrived in second position.
After crossing the finish line, the winner of this edition, Bækkegård, was very happy for the triumph. "It has been the hardest race of my life," he admitted.
