Dieter Comhair and Kate Curran are the champions of the Club La Santa Volcano Triathlon 2023, the oldest triathlon event in Spain. The Belgian and the British have achieved victory with times of 01:55:39 and 02:07:38, respectively. More than 500 professional and amateur triathletes participated in the race, which has Olympic distances and counts towards the FETRI national ranking.
At 8 a.m. local time and from the saltwater lagoon of Club La Santa, the Volcano Triathlon started on a mostly sunny morning. In the swimming segment, the British Reece Barclay took the lead in the race, followed by his compatriots Jorge Wilkes and Jonathan Jackson just seconds apart. On the women's side, the current Volcano Triathlon champion Sara Pérez started leading, with Kate Curran and Maja Stage following closely behind.
After overcoming a kilometer and a half in the water, the triathletes faced 40 kilometers on the bicycle on a route that passed through Caleta de Caballo, Soo, Caleta de Famara and Teguise. In this section, there was a total change among the first classified and the Belgian Dieter Comhair proved to be the fastest, with the Italian Nicola Duchi and the Spanish Pello Osoro in second and third place. In the women's category, Sara Pérez continued to lead the race, with Kate Curran and Maja Stage trying to put her victory in trouble.
The last 10 kilometers, corresponding to the foot race, were decisive to elucidate the champions of this Club La Santa Volcano Triathlon. Among the male triathletes, the Belgian Dieter Comhair clung to a first position that he maintained from the last kilometers of this segment. Nicola Duchi and Pello Osoro competed and pushed to snatch the victory from Comhair, but none of them could win. For her part, the British Kate Curran starred in a comeback in the foot race, proclaiming herself the winner of the race with a total difference of three minutes compared to Sara Pérez. Maja Stage, ambassador of Club La Santa, closed the podium with a meritorious third place.
As for the relay race, the winning team was Latitud 29, with a time of 00:19:12 in the swimming segment, 00:57:34 on the bicycle and 00:34:43 in the foot race.
The top ten classified in the Elite male and female categories received an NFT as a prize, within the framework of Club La Santa's commitment to constant innovation and to integrate new supports and types of assets in its events and competitions. This vocation to innovate, to bring new technologies and economic realities to its events, and to set sustainability as an unwavering guide are hallmarks of Club La Santa as a company, as a complex and as an event organizer.
The celebration of this event keeps Lanzarote and the Canary Islands in a position of reference in the national and international sports scene. The Club La Santa Volcano Triathlon is a prominent event on the calendar since its first edition, in 1984, remaining as the longest-running triathlon competition in Spain. In fact, the 2023 National Triathlon Ranking of the FETRI has started with this race. In addition, the support and collaboration of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, Turismo de Lanzarote and European Sports Destination has been key to the success of the event.
After the completion of this Volcano Triathlon, in three weeks the Club La Santa IRONMAN 70.3 Lanzarote will be held, on March 18, and two months later, on May 20, the Club La Santa IRONMAN Lanzarote, two events of absolute reference in the national and international triathlon.
