Belgian Kenneth Vandendriessche and British Lydia Dant have been the absolute winners of the thirtieth edition of Ironman Lanzarote, the oldest of those held in Europe, a race that was marked by the strong heat that occurred throughout Saturday.
One of the toughest triathlon events in the world began at 07:00 hours in Puerto del Carmen, where just over a thousand triathletes jumped into the sea to complete the 3.8-kilometer swimming segment.
Then, they cycled through a good part of the island, with a 180-kilometer route, and finished again in Puerto del Carmen after a 42.2-kilometer run.
Danish Mathias Petersen dominated the swimming and cycling segments, gaining a significant lead as the kilometers passed.
The more than five-minute difference at the conclusion of the cycling route was not an impediment for Belgian Kenneth Vandendriessche to perform a masterful run, surpassing the leader at kilometer thirty of the marathon.
Kenneth Vandendriessche crossed the finish line as the winner of the thirtieth edition of Ironman Lanzarote, clocking a final time of 8 hours, 39 minutes, and 56 seconds.
The second place on the podium went to Mathias Petersen (08:42:45), recovering in the last kilometers and retaining the silver medal. Third place went to German Philipp Bahlke (08:51:13).
The women's category was full of emotion until the final meters, with British Lydia Dant seeing her lead reduced as the kilometers passed. She had a lead of more than six minutes over Dutch Els Visser, who came close to jeopardizing Dant's victory. Finally, the British athlete crossed the finish line as the absolute winner with a time of 9 hours, 37 minutes, and 26 seconds.
Els Visser was only 1 minute and 44 seconds behind the first place in the women's general classification, performing a great race from less to more and being the second classified (09:39:11).
The podium was completed with the third position of Italian Elisabetta Curridori (10:02:52)
ADVANCE PENDING EXTENSION
