Dant, Vandendriessche Earn First IM Wins at Lanzarote
Lydia Dant of Great Britain and Kenneth Vandendriessche of Belgium took top honors and first-time Ironman wins at the challenging Lanzarote course in the Gran Canarias island.
Women
Dant took the lead on her way to the women’s fastest bike split, then held off Els Visser’s women’s-best run to take the victory in 9:37:26 with a 1:44 margin on Visser and 25:25 on third-place finisher Elisabetta Curridori of Italy.
Dant overcame a 1:27 deficit after the swim by the 37-kilometer mark of the bike, then arrived at T2 after a women’s-best 5:19:22 split with a 6:14 lead on Visser. While Visser made up 3:35 with a women’s-best 3:06:21 marathon, Dant held on for a 1:44 margin of victory over Visser.
Dant’s maiden Ironman win came after a half distance victory last June at Outlaw Nottingham. She was the ninth British women’s full distance triumph at the rugged, hilly, windy volcanic island since 2008. Previous British women winners at Lanzarote were Bella Bayliss (twice), Catriona Morrison, Rachel Joyce, Lucy Gossage (twice), Lucy Charles-Barclay and Nikki Bartlett.
“I was a bit worried on the run – Els is a top-class athlete – and I’ve never run more than 33km before so I had no idea how that extra 10k was going to feel,” Dant told Tri247. “It felt surreal crossing the line. Literally 12 months ago I’d just finished my job in the corporate world and hadn’t even got my PRO license.”
Men
Kenneth Vandendriessche set the men’s-best bike and run splits to finish in 8:39:56 with a 2:49 margin over Matthias Petersen of Denmark and 11:17 over third place finisher Philipp Bahlke of Germany.
The Belgian emerged from the swim near 20th place, about 8 minutes back of Petersen. After a men’s-fastest 4:56:04 bike split, Vandendriessche advanced to third place, 5:43 behind Petersen, and 4:29 behind T2 runner-up Philipp Bahlke of Germany.
On his way to a race-best 2:40:37 marathon – 8:10 faster than Petersen – Vandendriessche caught and passed Petersen at the 30-kiloometer mark of the run and cruised to a 2:49 margin of victor over Petersen and 11:17 over third place Bahlke, who ran 2:55:50.
Vandendriessche took third place early this month at the World Championship MIddle Distance Duathlon in Viborg.
Ironman Lanzarote
Lanzarote, Islas Canarias, Spain
May 21, 2022
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi./ R 26.2 mi.
Men's Results
1. Kenneth Vandendriesscshe (BEL) S 57:10 T1 3:12 B 4:56:04 T2 2:54 R 2:40:37 TOT 8:39:56
2. Matthias Petersen (SUI) S 50:46 T1 3:01 B 4:56:57 T2 3:17 R 2:48:47 TOT 8:42:45
3. Philipp Bahlke (GER) S 51:08 T1 3:35 B 4:57:14 T2 3:27 R 2:55:50 TOT 8:51:13
4. Dominik Sowieja (GER) S 57:07 T1 3:11 B 5:05:03 T2 3:22 R 2:43:54 TOT 8:52:35
5. Samuel Huerzeler (SUI) S 52:44 T1 3:11 B 5:03:12 T2 3:33 R 2:51:04 TOT 8:53:41
6. Michael Weiss (AUT) S 57:01 T1 3:44 B 4:58:11 T2 3:04 R 2:58:19 TOT 9:00:17
7. Maximillian Hammerle (AUT) S 57:06 T1 3:35 B 5:01:20 T2 3:58 R 2:57:39 TOT 9:03:35
8. Jordi Montraveta Moya (ESP) S 57:14 T1 3:15 B 5:02:58 T2 3:17 R 2:57:53 TOT 9:04:35
9. Tobias Drachler (GER) S 52:46 T1 3:50 B 5:16:42 T2 3:16 R 2:48:58 TOT 9:05:30
10. Bart Aernouts (BEL) S 57:08 T1 3:26 B 5:00:29 T2 3:01 R 3:05:12 TOT 9:09:14
Women's Results
1. Lydia Dant (GBR) S 1:00:55 T1 3:14 B 5:19:22 T2 4:01 R 3:09:56 TOT 9:37:26
2. Els Visser (NED) S 1:02:03 T1 3:10 B 5:24:32 T2 3:06 R 3:06:21 TOT 9:39:11
3. Elisabetta Curridori (ITA) S 59:27 T1 3:10 B 5:45:16 T2 3:04 R 3:11:56 TOT 10:02:52
4. Jenny Schulz (GER) S 1:03:45 T1 3:57 B 5:51:45 T2 3:34 R 3:13:42 TOT 10:16:41
