The Ironman brand is synonymous with success, and this was once again demonstrated with the premiere of the Ironman 70.3 in Lanzarote. More than 700 triathletes took the start in a race that took place in the vicinity of Club La Santa de Tinajo and brought together about fifty professional athletes. Galician Iván Raña, who was making his debut in the half distance, was the absolute winner of the race. In the women's category, the victory went to the Danish Danne Boterenbrood.
The swimming event took place in the Lake of La Santa, with the professional triathletes being the first to start. A 1.9-kilometer course that was dominated by the Danes Rasmus Petraeus and Michelle Vesterby, being the first to leave the water leading the Ironman 70.3 Lanzarote.
The triathletes faced a tough 90.1-kilometer bike course, a segment that began to select the leading group and the big favorites to win the final victory. Rasmus Petraeus lost the lead, with the Swiss Ronnie Schildknecht taking the lead, followed by the French Toumy Degham. Behind the escapees was a powerful group that included the Spaniards Iván Raña and Víctor del Corral, among others.
The hardness of the course and the ascent to Tabayesco, allowed more triathletes to join the group of pursuers, although they were not able to reach the two who were marching alone ahead. Iván Raña was the one who arrived with more strength to the final part of the race, with a 21.1-kilometer run. On the first lap he reached the Swiss Schildknecht and the French Toumy Degham, and took the lead in the race.
Iván Raña's good race pace allowed him to open a significant gap with respect to the rest of the competitors as the kilometers passed. In his first experience in a half-distance race. Iván Raña had very good feelings in his legs, which allowed him to cross the finish line in first place. The Galician triathlete invested a time of 4 hours, 7 minutes and 36 seconds, to complete the Ironman 70.3 Lanzarote. Second place went to Ronni Schildknecht (4:11:28) and third would be the German Boris Stein (4:13:00).
In the women's category, the Danish Michelle Vesterby, first classified in the swimming segment, was surprised by the strength of the Dutch Danne Boterenbrood, who took the first place in the bicycle sector. Boterenbrood needed 4 hours, 40 minutes and 6 seconds to achieve the victory in the Ironman 70.3 Lanzarote. The Belgian Sophie De Groote (4:41:56) and the German Sonja Sajsich (4:44:04) completed the first three positions of the women's classification.
