Vansteelant, Burke win Zofingen
Joerie Vansteelant of Belgium won his second titles while Melanie Burke of New Zealand won her first at the combined Powerman Zofingen-ITU Long Distance Duathlon World Championship in a driving cold rainstorm Sunday in Switzerland.
Vansteelant took absolute control and emerged from the challenging 150k bike leg with an 8 minute lead. The brother of the late duathlon king Benny Vansteelant then powered through the 30k run to a race-record 6:07:15 time and a dominating 9:43 margin of victory over runner-up Thibaut Humbert of France and an 11:13 margin over two-time Powerman Zofingen champion Andy Sutz of Switzerland, who finished 3rd.
Joerie’s second Powerman Zofingen victory (2009, 2011) thus tied him at this legendary Swiss venue with his late brother Benny, who also had two Powerman Zofingen victories (2005, 2006) before he died in 2007 when hit by a car while on a training ride near his home in Torhout.
Melanie Burke, a three-time New Zealand duathlon champion, trailed the 10k run first leg leader Susanne Svendsen of Denmark by half a minute. But Burke then took the lead by 44 seconds on Sweden’s Eva Nystrom and by 1:49 on 7-time Powerman Zofingen winner Erika Csomor of Hungary at the daunting Bodenberg Hill on the first of three 50k laps on the bike.
Halfway through 150k bike, Nystrom held the damage to a 2-minute deficit, while the rest of the field fell further back. At the finish of the bike, Burke carved out a 4:14 advantage on Nystrom, while Csomor, Ulrike Schwalbe and Martina Krahenbuhl trailed by 9:30 with the Netherlands’ May Kerstens 13 minutes back.
After 17.5 km of the run, the margins stabilized as Burke held a 3:59 lead on Nystrom and 11:18 on Csomor, with Kerstens 4th and Schwalbe 5th.
At the finish, Burke’s 7:11:43 fell 7:35 short of Karin Thuerig’s 2002 race record, but it was good enough to top Nystrom by 3:27, Csomor by 10:58 and Kerstens by 15:42.
Powerman Zofingen
ITU Long Distance Duathlon World Championship
Zofingen, Switzerland
September 4, 2011
R 10k / B 150k / R 30k
Results
Overall Long Distance Men
1. Joerie Vansteelant (BEL) 6:07:15 * new course record
2. Thibaut Humbert (FRA) 6:16:58
3. Andy Sutz (SUI) 6:18:28
4. Beat Ritter (SUI) 6:26:46
5. Soren Bystrup (DEN) 6:27:17
6. Anthony Le Duey (FRA) 6:27:50
7. Matt Moorhouse (GBR) 6:29:48
8. Peter Bech (DEN) 6:30:15
9. Marc Widmer (SUI) 6:36:53
10. Stefan Wrzaczek (AUT) 6:37:27
11. Josh Beck (USA) 6:38:58
Overall Long Distance Women
1. Melanie Burke (NZL) 7:11:43
2. Eva Nystrom (SWE) 7:15:10
3. Erika Csomor (HUN) 7:22:42
4. May Kerstens (NED) 7:27:26
5. Ulrike Schwalbe (GER) 7:38:41
6. Karin Gerber (SUI) 7:39:44
7. Tanya Diem (SUI) 7:42:47
8. Jacqueline Uebelhart (SUI) 7:45:00
9. Katrin Esefield (GER) 7:45:19
10. Maja Jacober (SUI) 7:51:12
