Kienle, Stimpson in Buschhuetten
Sebastian Kienle showed that he isn't just a strong cyclist with his win at the 25th edition of the Buschhuetten Triathlon and Brit Jodie Stimpson bested all the Germans to take the women's title.
The men
Sebastian Kienle had already won this early season German race on 3 occasions and was certainly considered a favorite to win again, but there were plenty of competitors there who had the speed and determination to prevent that from happening.
The race in Buschhuetten starts with a swimskin legal 1,000-meter pool swim, but Kienle's hard work in the pool over the winter seemed to have really made the difference. The tall German only lost 30 seconds to Dirk Bockel, 10 to Faris Al Sultan and a meager 2 to Timo Bracht in the water.
Out on the bike course Kienle put on another show and recorded the fastest bike split in 58:55 but he later said that he tried not to go too hard on the bike to save something for the run. As it was Kienle arrived back in T2 with Boecherer, another German well known for his bike prowess. Boecherer and Bockel were in fact the only Pros other than Kienle who managed to stay sub 1 hour on the bike.
Kienle then put on a running clinic and had the fastest run split among the top 10 men with a 34:41 time. That allowed him to reach the finish first in 1:46:08 and Kienle entertained the spectators with a huge leap across the finish line.
"Buschhuetten is something like a spring classic race in Germany and this year was the 25th anniversary of this race. It is always a battle of the best short distance athletes like Maik Petzold, Ivan Vasiliev etc versus long distance athletes such as Dirk Bockel, Andi Boecherer, Faris Al Sultan, Timo Bracht etc. For me it was the 4th victory in a row and maybe the best race because I could make it to a real 3D action with good performances in all three disciplines," said Kienle to slowtwitch. "Out of the water with Faris and Bockel and the 2nd best run split of the day. So I am pretty happy with that."
Boecherer finished second and Bockel held off a hard charging Maik Petzold for third place.
The women
Jodie Stimpson started her day in Buschuetten with the fastest swim among the female Pros and only Mignon Vatlach was able to stay reasonably close.
The fastest bike split belonged to Julia Wagner in 1:11:46, but Stimpson's 1:12:14 combined with her much faster swim allowed the Brit to reach the bike-run transition first. Vatlach also had a strong bike time and was thus still also in contention.
Stimpson though sealed the deal with the fastest run time and crossed the line first in 2:03:11. Wagner grabbed second place and Vatlach rounded out the podium.
Buschhuetten Triathlon
Buschhuetten, Germany / May 8, 2011
1k swim / 41.7k bike / 10k run
Top men
1. Sebastian Kienle (GER) 1:46:08
2. Andi Boecherer (GER) 1:45:53
3. Dirk Bockel (LUX) 1:48:46
4. Maik Petzold (GER) 1:49:29
5. Horst Reichel (GER) 1:49:32
6. Niklas Bock (GER) 1:49:45
7. Timo Bracht (GER) 1:50:04
8. Faris Al Sultan (GER) 1:50:08
9. Simon Jung (GER) 1:50:35
10. Felix Schumann(GER) 1:51:54
Top women>
1. Jodie Stimpson (GBR) 2:03:11
2. Julia Wagner (GER) 2:07:43
3. Mignon Vatlach (GER) 2:09:37
4. Beate Goertz (GER) 2:11:41
5. Natascha Schmitt (GER) 2:12:37
6. Ilka van Hubatius (GER) 2:16:19
7. Caprice Giehl (GER) 2:17:11
8. Silke Hamacher (GER) 2:17:36
9. Steffi Steinberg (GER) 2:18:31
10. Julia Pikos (GER) 2:19:50
