Stierli, Pooley take Swissman
Switzerland's Markus Stierli grabbed the top spot of the inaugural Swissman Extreme Triathlon in 11:29 in fairly rough conditions but in stunning surroundings. Rafael Wyss was the runner-up in 11:58 and Andrea Zamboni grabbed the final podium spot in 12:05. Brit Emma Jane Pooley who won the 2010 UCI TT World Championships and resides in Switzerland dominated the women's race in 12:39, with runner-up Andrea Huser well more than an hour down and final podium placed Julia Nikolopoulos over 2 hours adrift.
"I went well above the limits which I had set," said Stierli post race.
The Swissman race was inspired by the increasingly popular and mythical Norseman Extreme Triathlon event that also runs over the full distance 3.8k swim, 180k bike and 42k run and has received the blessing from the founders of that event in Norway. Swissman is actually the third event along those lines, last summer the Celtman Extreme Triathlon took place in Scotland and will occur again this year. Each of these races only allows a small starting field of about 250 and each athlete needs to be self supported with a crew, for this inaugural race though Swissman limited the field to 50 athletes. Extreme terrain and stunning views is another thing these 3 extreme triathlons have in common.
Swissman Extreme Triathlon
Ascona, Switzerland / June 22, 2013
Top men
1. Markus Stierli (SUI) 11:29
2. Rafael Wyss (SUI) 11:53
3. Andrea Zamboni (SUI 12:05
4. Andrea Anelli (SUI) 12:30
5. Allan Hovda (NOR) 12:38
Top women
1. Emma Jane Pooley (GBR) 12:39
2. Andrea Huser (SUI) 13:53
3. Julia Nikolopoulos (GER) 14:46
