Lawrence, Von Berg triumphant at 70.3 European Championship
Holly Lawrence won the Ironman 70.3 European Championship wire-to-wire for her fourth 70.3 victory of the year while Rodolphe Von Berg edged 9-time World Champion Javier Gomez by 11 seconds at Elsinore, Denmark.
Women
Lawrence combined a women’s-best 23:2 swim, a women’s-fastest 2:15:10 bike split and a women’s second-quickest 1:19:45 half marathon to finish in 4:03:16 with a 2:58 margin of victory over fellow Briton Fenella Langridge and 4:12 over 3rd place finisher Radka Kahlefeldt of the Czech Republic.
The victory adds to Lawrence’s red hot 2019 résumé which includes 70.3 wins at Dubai, St. George and the Asia-Pacific Championship, as well as a runner-up finish to Daniela Ryf at Oceanside 70.3.
Men
Still-rising U.S. star Von Berg overcame a 7th place 39 seconds deficit after the swim with a race-best 2:01:36 bike split – 1:38 better than the next-best effort of his rivals – that gave him a 1:29 lead over German Florian Angert and 3:34 over Gomez at T2. On his way to a 4th-fastest 1:11:23 run split, Von Berg withstood a race-best 1:07:45 half marathon by Gomez to finish in 3:39:31 with an 11 seconds margin of victory over Gomez and 1:18 over 3rd place finisher and Gomez’s countryman Pablo Dapena Gonzalez.
The win continued Von Berg’s 2019 hot streak which includes a win at St. George 70.3, a 2nd at Oceanside 70.3 behind Ben Kanute, and 3rd at Challenge the Championship behind Sebastian Kienle.
Gomez, who has an Olympic silver medal, 5 ITU Olympic distance World Titles, two Ironman 70.3 World Championships, an XTERRA World championship and an ITU long distance World Championship in his surely Hall of Fame career, continued a busy and successful 2019 which includes victories at ITU long distance Worlds, Geelong 70.3, 2nd at WTS Bermuda, 3rd at WTS Leeds, 4th at WTS Yokohama and 5th at the New Plymouth World Cup.
KMD Ironman 70.3 European Championship
Elsinore, Denmark
June 23, 2019
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Women
1. Holly Lawrence (GBR) 4:03:16 S 23:21 T1 3:49 B 2:15:10 T2 1:14 R 1:19:45
2. Fenella Langridge (GBR) 4:06:14 S 24:12 T1 3:58 B 2:18:04 T2 1:14 R 1:18:47
3. Radka Kahlefeldt (CZE) 4:07:28 S 23:24 T1 3:47 B 2:19:02 T2 1:13 R 1:20:04
4. Helle Frederiksen (DEN) 4:08:02 S 23:24 T1 3:54 B 2:18:55 T2 1:16 R 1:20:35
5. Sara Svensk (SWE) 4:09:26 S 25:34 T1 4”12 B 2:17:12 T2 1:26 R 1:21:04
Men
1. Rodolphe Von Berg (USA) 3:39:31 S 21:41 T1 3:42 B 2:01:36 T2 1:11 R 1:11:23
2. Javier Gomez (ESP) 3:39:42 S 21:02 T1 3:58 B 2:05:32 T2 1:27 R 1:07:45
3. Pablo Dapena Gonzalez (ESP) 3:40:59 S 21:03 T1 4:00 B 2:05:32 T2 1:18 R 1:09:08
4. Patrik Nilsson (SWE) 3:42:52 S 21:52 T1 3:46 B 2:04:49 T2 1:17 R 1:11:10
5. Florian Angert (GER) 3:43:05 S 21:34 T1 3:41 B 2:03:14 T2 1:20 R 1:13:19
