Funk, Pallant-Browne Win IM 70.3 Zell am See-Kaprun
Mastering the climbs and challenging Alpine descents, Frederic Funk of Germany outpaced Italian Gregory Barnaby by 44 seconds to take top honors at 70.3 Zell am See-Kaprun in Austria.
Funk started his day with a men’s sixth-best 23:49 swim that left him 1:41 arrears. Funk then obliterated all opposition with a race-best 2:08:01 bike split he managed despite a rain-slick surface that gave him a 2:04 lead on fellow German and 2021 champion at this race Jan Stratmann. With a solid lead in hand, Funk was able to hold on for the victory with a sixth-best 1:13:24 run split that gave him a 44 seconds margin on Barnaby and 1:39 on third-place finisher Stratmann.
Emma Pallant-Browne gave up 57 seconds on the swim, charged hard on the bike leg to whittle her deficit to one single second, then smashed home a women’s-best 1:19:12 half marathon to finish in 4:21:43 with a 1:24 margin on Grace Thek of Australia and 3:17 on third-place finisher Giorgia Priarone of Italy. Pallant-Browne’s win was her fifth of a red-hot season.
Men's Race Recap
Germans Hannes Butters and Magnus Manner as well as Sven Thalmann of Switzerland opened a minute and a half lead in the swim over a pack of chasers including David Breinlinger of Germany, 2021 Zell am See champion Jan Stratmann, Frederic Funk and Gregory Barnaby of Italy and another minute on Sebastian Kienle of Germany.
Halfway through the bike leg, Funk broke through and made it to T2 with a 2-minute lead on over Stratmann, Lukas Kocar of Czechoslovakia, and Barnaby. Four minutes out of contention were Kienle, Nicolas Mann, Germans Magnus Männer, Andreas Dreitz and Ruben Zepuntke, Lukas Hollaus of Austria and Marc Eggeling of Germany.
Barnaby closed his gap to 44 seconds with a 4th-fastest 1:12:08 that brought him to second place, and Stratmann’s 5th-best 1:13:04 split brought him to third place, 1:39 behind the winner.
The win added to Funk’s 2022 previous highlights including a 3rd at the World Triathlon Long Distance Championship at Samorin and a win at European Triathlon Middle Distance Challenge at Walchsee.
Women's Race Recap
Coming off a 7th place at last week’s World Triathlon Long Distance Championship, Rebecca Clarke of New Zealand led the swim with a 25:54 split that gave her 54 to 59 seconds lead on the trio of Grace Thek of Australia, Pallant-Browne of Great Britain and Katharina Krüger of Germany. Trailing were a pack of six who were 2 minutes back including Els Visser of Netherlands, Lisa-Maria Dornauer of Austria and Giorgia Priarone of Italy.
Pallant-Browne quickly moved up and passed Clarke for the lead. Aided with wet weather climbing skills, Laura Addie of Great Britain led a large, chase pack that included Thek, Visser, Priarone and Dornauer.
Visser arrived in T2 with a one second margin on Pallant-Browne, 2 seconds on Dornauer, 3 seconds on Addie, 5 seconds on Clarke, 19 seconds on Priarone and 22 seconds on Thek.
With her superior run, Pallant-Browne unleashed a women’s-best 1:19:12 split that brought her to the tape in 4:21:43 which gave her a 1:23 margin on Thek, 3:17 on third place finisher Priarone, 4:08 on fast closing 4th-place finisher Daniela Kleiser of Germany and 5:43 on 5th place finisher Clarke, and 6:56 on 6th place Els Visser.
Ironman 70.3 Zell am See-Kaprun
Zell am See, Austria
August 28, 2022
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Men's Results
1. Frederic Funk (GER) S 23:49 T1 2:25 B 2:08:01 T2 2:47 R 1:13:24 TOT 3:50:24
2. Gregory Barnaby (ITA) S 23:52 T1 2:19 B 2:10:10 T2 2:41 R 1:12:08 TOT 3:51:08
3. Jan Stratmann (GER) S 23:46 T1 2:13 B 2:10:20 T2 2:42 R 1:13:04 TOT 3:52:03
4. Lukas Hollaus (AUT) S 24:21 T1 2:23 B 2:11:41 T2 42:58 R 1:11:26 TOT 3:52:47
5. Nicolas Mann (GER) S 23:58 T1 2:20 B 2:12:10 T2 2:45 R 1:11:42 TOT 3:52:53
6. Sebastian Kienle (GER) S 24:53 T1 2:17 B 2:11:15 T2 3:01 R 1:11:45 TOT 3:53:09
7. Lukas Kocar (CZE) S 23:55 T1 2:21 B 2:10:06 T2 2:54 R 1:14:18 TOT 3:53:32
8. Ruben Zepuntke (GER) S 24:17 T1 2:47 B 2:11:21 T2 2:53 R 1:15:55 TOT 3:576:11
9. Andreas Dreitz (GER) 24:24 T1 2:44 B 2:11:15 T2 2:53 R 1:17:06 TOT 3:58:21
10. Magnus Männer (GER) S 22:07 T1 2:22 B 2:14:00 T2 2:56 R 1:18:54 TOT 4:00:17
Women's Results
1. Emma Pallant-Browne (GBR) S 26:22 T1 2:23 B 2:31:01 T2 2:48 R 1:19:12 TOT 4:21:43
2. Grace Thek (AUS) S 26:19 T1 2:24 B 2:31:23 T2 2:53 R 1:20:10 TOT 4:23:07
3. Giorgia Priarone (ITA) S 27:40 T1 2:31 B 2:29:52 T2 2:56 R 1:22:03 TOT 4:25:01
4. Daniela Kleiser (GER) S 33:22 T1 3:26 B 2:28:46 T2 3:42 R 1:16:38 TOT 4:25:52
5. Rebecca Clarke (NZL) S 25:24 T1 2:40 B 2:31:46 T2 2:59 R 1:24:40 TOT 4:27:27
6. Els Visser (NED) S 27:36 T1 2:38 B 2:29:30 T2 43:12 R 1:25:46 TOT 4:28:40
7. Lisa Gerss (GER) S 28:15 T1 2:34 B 2:33:01 T2 3:06 R 1:23:29 TOT 4:30:23
8. Lisa -Maria Dornauer (AUT) S 27:34 T1 2:42 B 2:29:30 T2 3:34 R 1:27:45 TOT 4:31:03
9. Franziska Reng (GER) S 28:14 T1 2:36 B 2:33:02 T2 3:38 R 1:25:48 TOT 4:33:16
10. Katharina Krüger (GER) S 26:23 T1 2:19 B 2:35:08 T2 3:14 R 1:26:43 TOT 4:33:46
