Andi Boecherer, Michelle Vesterby Win IM Lanzarote
Andi Boecherer of Germany and Michelle Vesterby of Denmark prevailed Saturday on the rugged volcanic hills of Ironman Lanzarote.
Boecherer overcame a 1:21 deficit after the swim with a third-fastest 4:50:26 bike split and cinched a dominating victory with a race-best 2:46:34 marathon. Underlining the daunting difficulty of this classic bike course, Boecherer finished in 8:34:11 with a 7:52 margin over fellow German Boris Stein, who edged fast closing Matt Trautman of South Africa for second place by 57 seconds.
Boecherer’s win adds to the 38-year-old’s stellar record which includes a 5th at Kona in 2016, a 2nd place at Ironman Frankfurt in 2017, plus a raft of 70.3 and half distance wins credited to a powerful bike and swift runs.
By contrast, the women’s race was a nail biter. Vesterby opened a 7:45 lead on Laura Siddall on the swim and bike legs. Vesterby then held on for dear life against Siddall’s women’s second-best 3:07:32 marathon that brought the Englishwoman just 47 seconds short of the win. Taking third was Justine Mathieux of France, 1:25 behind Siddall.
Vesterby’s CV includes a 4th at the Ironman World Championship in 2015, a 3rd at Ironman Arizona in 2017, and 3rd at Ironman Cozumel in 2019.
Men
Boecherer began the day withy a 12th-best 51:37 swim that trailed swim leader Nick Kastelein by 1:22 and 11th-best Matt Trautman of South Africa, who would play a major role at the end by 9 seconds. Überbiker Boris Stein of Germany started his day with a 21st best swim that gave him a 7:15 deficit to work on.
Boecherer advanced to second place with a third-best 4:50:26 time over Lanzarote’s ferocious hills, which put him 2:31 behind Denmark’s Kristian Hogenhaug, who notched a second-best 4:47:47 bike split. Boris Stein’s race-best 4:47:36 landed him third at T2, 5:35 behind the leader.
On the run, Boecherer went on the attack. On the way to a second-best 2:44:43 run, Boecherer passed Hogenhaug at the 10-kilotmeter mark and never looked back on his way to an 8:34:11 finish with a margin of 7:52 over Stein (2:51:28 run) and 8:49 over third place Trautman.
Women
Vesterby, who won this race in 2012, recorded the women’s fastest 59:45 swim split, two seconds ahead of Manon Genet of France and 2:26 ahead of Siddall.
Genet rocketed ahead to a women’s-fastest 5:27:34 bike split that gave her a 7:53 lead on Vesterby, 14:48 on Justine Mathieux and 15:18 on Siddall. Genet extended her lead to 9 minutes early on the run, then faded badly by the 20km mark, eventually out of the race. Vesterby took over the lead and Siddall went into full on chase mode.
Siddall gave it all she had, but her second-best 3:07:32 run cut 5:44 from Vesterby’s lead but left Siddall 47 second short of victory. Siddall had spent two years out of action with injury, but had been encouraged by a recent 4th place at Challenge Sr. Polten.
Men
1. Andi Boecherer (GER) S 51:37 T1 2:56 B 4:50:26 T2 2:40 R 2:46:34 TOT 8:34:11
2. Boris Stein (GER) S 57:30 T1 2:56 B 4:47:36 T2 2:35 R 2:51:28 TOT 8:42:03
3. Matt Trautman (RSA) S 51:27 T1 2:50 B 4:59:39 T2 2:19 R 2:46:47 TOT 8:43:00
4. Kristian Hogenhaug (DEN) S 51:23 T2 3:16 B 4:47:47 T2 2:22 R 3:01:08 TOT 8:45:55
5. Evert Scheltinga (NED) S 51:21 T1 2:47 B 4:59:56 T2 2:34 R 2:53:02 TOT 8:49:39
6. Nils Frommhold (GER) S 50:44 T1 2:57 B 5:00:2 T2 2:35 R 2:58:15 TOT 8:54:50
7. Hans Christian Tungesvik (NOR) S 57:51 T1 2:54 B 5:01:05 T2 2:41 R 2:57:34 TOT 9:01:33
8. Kenneth Vandendriessche (BEL) S 57:25 T1 3:06 B 5:13:48 T2 3:20 R 2:44:43 TOT 9:02:20
9. Maximillian Hammerle (AUT) S 1:01:03 T1 3:23 B 5:05:10 T2 2:47 R 2:51:30 TOT 9:03:50
10. Jaroslav Kovacic (SLO) S 52:08 T1 2:53 B 5:08:02 T2 2:34 R 2:48:40 TOT 8:54:18
Women
1. Michelle Vesterby (DEN) S 59:45 T1 3:12 B 5:35:27 T2 3:29 R 3:13:12 TOT 9:55:04
2. Laura Siddall (GBR) S 1:02:11 T1 3:51 B 5:39:47 T2 2:3`1 R 3:07:32 TOT 9:55:51
3. Justine Mathieux (FRA) S 1:00:01 T1 4:10 B 5:41:08 T2 3:21 R 3:08:37 TOT 9:57:16
4. Simone Mitchell (GBR) S 1:02:02 T1 3:01 B 5:52:51 T2 2:47 R 3:12:02 TOT 10:12:42
5. Maria Gosteva (RUS) S 1:07:20 T1 4:06 B 6:09:04 T2 4:05 R 3:03:33 TOT 10:28:06
