Jan Van Berkel, Daniela Ryf win Ironman Switzerland
Editor's Note: This story has been corrected to reflect that there was a professional women's field.
Swiss star Jan Van Berkel added to his 2018 and 2019 victories to capture his third Ironman Switzerland in 7:39:41, a time decreased by a shortened swim leg.
Van Berkel combined a 7th-best 38:14 swim split (the course was 800 meters short of a standard 3.8-kilometer leg), a third-fastest 4:20:14 bike leg and a race-best 2:37:42 marathon to finish in 7:39:41 with a 1:25 margin over Joe Skipper of Great Britain and 9:53 over third place finisher and fellow Swiss Ruedi Wild.
Daniela Ryf, meanwhile, stormed to victory. Using the event as a tune-up for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in two weeks, Ryf was timed in 8:32:36 — 36 minutes in front of second placed Petra Eggenschwiler. The battle for second and third was much tighter, as second through fourth finished within three and a half minutes of one another.
Andreas Jung of Germany led the swim with a 38:00 leg that gave him an 8 seconds lead on Kyle Buckingham of South Africa, 10 seconds on Daniel Besse, 38:12 on Adrian Haller, 12 seconds on Samuel Huerzeler and 14 seconds on Van Berkel. Top threat Joe Skipper of Great Britain was 12th in 38:23 and 9-time Ironman Swiss winner Ronnie Schildknecht was 17th out of the water.
William Mannesson of France charged to a race-best 4:18:07 bike split to take a 2:06 lead on Van Berkel (4:20:14 split), 2:07 on Skipper, 5:28 on Wild and 5:29 on Buckingham.
Van Berkel seized the day with a race-best 2:37:42 marathon – 2:06 faster than Skipper – that brought Van Berkel to the line in 7:39:41 with a 1:25 margin on Skipper (2:39:36 run split) and 9:53 on Ruedi Wild (2:44:22 run split).
For the women, it was the Ryf show from the gun, establishing a four minute lead on the swim that she would only continue to build throughout the day. Her gap extended to over 30 minutes by T2, and would wind up at over 36 minutes by the end of the marathon.
Ironman Switzerland
THUN Switzerland
September 5, 2021
S 1.9 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi.
Pro Men
1. Jan Van Berkel (SUI) S 38:14 T1 21:569 B 4:20:14 T2 1:34 R 2:37:42 TOT 7:39:41
2. Joe Skipper (GBR) S 38:23 T1 1:53 B 4:20:13 T2 1:05 R 2:39:36 TOT 7:41:04 +1:25
3. Ruedi Wild (SUI) S 38:19 T1 2:09 B 4:23:22 T2 1:25 R 2:44:22 TOT 7:49:35 +9:53
4. William Mennesson (FRA) S 38:17 T1 1:57 B 4:18:07 T2 1:35 2:51:02 TOT 7:50:57 +11:15
5. David Plese (SLO) S 38:24 T1 1:56 B 4:23:21 T2 1:35 R 2:49:17 TOT 7:54:31 +14:50
6. Kyle Buckingham (RSA) S 38:08 T1 2:01 B 4:23:41 T2 1:55 R 2:51: 02 TOT 7:57:18 +17:36
7. Samuel Huerzeler (SUI) S 38:12 T1 1:48 B 4:33:41 T2 1:34 R 2:47:52 TOT 8:03:05 +23:23
8. Kevin Rundstadler (FRA) S 38:13 T1 1:52 B 4:23:48 T2 1:26 R 2:58:12 TOT 8:03:29 +23:47
9. Maximilian Hammerle (AUT) S 44:23 T1 2:24 B 4:28:55 T2 1:15 R 2:49:21 TOT 8:06:16 +26:35
10. Andreas Jung (GER) S 38:00 T1 1:52 B 4:24:08 T2 1:29 R 3:01:46 TOT 8:10:20 +30:38
Women
1. Daniela Ryf SUI S 39:45 T1 2:10 B 4:43:44 T2 1:50 R 3:05:09 TOT 8:32:36
2. Petra Eggenschwiler SUI 9:08:44
3. Kristin Liepold GER 9:10:25
4. Joanna Ryter SUI 9:12:07
5. Corina Hengartner SUI 9:29:47
