Ryf dominates, Boecherer edges Dapena Gonzalez
Daniela Ryf of Switzerland won her 5th Ironman 70.3 Switzerland with a wire-to-wire performance, while Andi Boecherer of Germany overcame an 11th-best swim with a dominating bike split and then held off fast rivals on the run.
Women
Coming off wins at Oceanside 70.3 and Ironman Texas, Daniela Ryf added a home country victory to her 2019 season at Rapperswil-Jona. Ryf led the pro women’s swim with a 25:12 split that gave her a 1:14 lead on fellow Swiss Sara Baumann, 1:20 and 1:24 on U.S. competitors Amber Ferreira and Skye Moench, 3:42 and 4:00 on Germans Svenja Thoes and Anne Reischmann and a whopping 10:35 on duathlete Petra Eggenschwiler of Switzerland, who would eventually work her way into the top five.
At 18km at the top of the singularly rough hill known as The Beast, Ryf had a 2:57 lead on Moench, 5:57 on Baumann, 6:16 on Ferreira, 7:21 on Reischmann and 7:39 on Thoes. At 61km, Ryf extended her lead to 6:16 on Moench, 11:51 on Thoes, 12:28 on Reischmann, 14:25 on Kunz, 14:53 on Ferreira and 15:02 on Baumann.
After a smashing 2:15:44 bike split – 6:44 better than the next best effort by Moench – Ryf had an unassailable 8:40 lead on Moench and double digits plus on the rest.
Ryf then cruised home with a second-best 1:24:23 half marathon to finish in 4:08:34 with a 7:05 margin of victory over Moench, who closed strong with a women’s-best 1:22:32 run. Svenja Thoes of Germany ran 1:25:17 to finish 3rd, 8:04 behind Moench.
Men
Michael Raelert of Germany began the day with echoes of his double Ironman 70.3 World Championships, leading the swim with a 22:50 split that gave him a 3 seconds lead on Pablo Dapena Gonzalez of Spain, 5 seconds on Nils Frommhold of Germany, 9 seconds on Sven Riederer of Switzerland, 16 seconds on Adrian Haller of Switzerland, 17 seconds on Manuel Kueng of Switzerland, 21 seconds on Boecherer and 1:59 on Markus Thomschke of Germany.
By 15km, a pack of six including Küng, Frommhold, Haller, Raelert, Dapena Gonzalez and Riederer had a 40 seconds lead on Boecherer. By 43km, Boecherer took the lead, followed closely by Frommhold, Haller and Kueng, while Riederer and Dapena Gonzales followed 1 minute behind and Raelert fell 2:40 back.
After a men’s-best 2:05:32 bike split, Boecherer led into T2 by 18 seconds on Frommhold, 2:53 on Riederer, 2:54 on Haller, 2:55 on Dapena Gonzalez and 4:27 on Küng, while Raelert withdrew.
After a 3rd-fastest 1:16:21 half marathon, Boecherer finished in 3:48:30 with a 59 seconds margin of victory on Dapena Gonzalez (race-best 1:14:25 run split) and 2:27 on Riederer (second-best 1:15:56 run split).
Ironman 70.3 Switzerland
Rapperswil-Jona, Switzerland
June 2, 2019
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Women
1. Daniela Ryf (SUI) 4:08:34 S 25:12 T1 1:51 B 2:15:44 T2 1R 1:24:23
2. Skye Moench (USA) 4:15:39 S 26:36 T1 2:13 B 2:22:28 T2 T1 1:52 R 1:22:32
3. Svenja Thoes (GER) 4:23:43 S 28:54 T1 2:30 B 2:25:34 T2 1:30 R 1:25:17
4. Anne Reischmann (GER) 4:29:16 S 29:12 T1 2:11 B 2:27:57 T2 1:30 R 1:28:28
5. Petra Eggenschwiler (SUI) 4:31:13 S 35:47 T1 3:01 B 2:21:48 T2 1:48 R 1:25:50
Men
1. Andi Boecherer (GER) 3:48:30 S 23:11 T1 2:00 B 2:05:32 T2 1:28 R 1:16:21
2. Pablo Dapena Gonzalez (ESP) 3:49:29 S 22:53 T1 1:57 B 2:08:48 T2 1:28 R 1:14:25
3. Sven Riederer (SUI) 3:50:57 S 22:59 T2 1:59 B 2:08:38 T2 1:27 R 1:15:56
4. Adrian Haller (SUI) 3:55:22 S 23:06 T1 2:02 B 2:08:30 T2 1:40 R 1:20:07
5. Nils Frommhold (GER) 3:56:28 S 22:55 T1 1:45 B 2:06:21 T2 1:25 R 1:24:04
