Focus on Ironman South Africa
Another big long distance event this weekend is the Standard Bank Ironman South Africa and Belgian Frederik Van Lierde and Brit Jodie Swallow are favorites, but there are many other contenders and very few that athletes can be overlooked or ignored. As the African Championship event it offers a nice purse and many important KPR points, and 50 pro men and 30 pro women are currently listed to start, but sickness has likely already stopped one favorite.
The men
Frederik Van Lierde is not even bib #1 in Port Elizabeth, but the 2013 Ironman World Champion is due another big outing and he looks ready for the task. South Africans James Cunnama, Matt Trautman and Kyle Buckingham will likely have feverish home support and should never be overlooked even when not racing at home. Trautman won 70.3 South Africa in early January and beat several folks competing in the upcoming championship event on Sunday. Belgian Bart Aernouts finished third at the half distance race, but his eyes were all along on the big prize coming up. Spaniards Eneko Llanos and Ivan Rana also need to be watched closely as they can strike fast. American TJ Tollakson is flying a little under the radar in South Africa, but that suits him just fine. Michael Rünz, Till Schramm and Boris Stein will try to represent Germany well and they have 4 more countrymen in Port Elizabeth willing to reach for the top spots. The number 1 bib belongs to Cyril Viennot and he together with fellow French pro Sylvain Sudrie are expected to be in the mix too.
The women
Jodie Swallow is a Brit but is somewhat considered a local and will have full South African support when she races there. Swallow had a strong performance at Challenge Dubai and showed that she is ready for another big day. Linsey Corbin has also been favored for this race and came to South Africa in superb shape, but the Montana made pro fell ill with a lung infection early this week and will very likely not start on Sunday. The final call has not been made but even if she ends up braving it out and coming to the start she will likely be to weak to do well, and is probably best served to save it to fight another day. Camilla Pedersen should also not be overlooked and the Dane has been doing very well since returning from that awful crash in 2013. Brit Lucy Gossage is also looking to score some big Kona points and that is true for German Sonja Tajsich, American Caitlin Snow and Austrian Eva Wutti.
The complete start list for the 2015 Standard Bank Ironman South Africa can be found here
