Frodeno slugs it out for 2nd place

Manama : Jan Frodeno stamped his ticket to Kona with a second place finish at Ironman Lanzarote in the Spanish Canary Islands on Sunday. The current Ironman World Champion led out of the swim, but a helmet malfunction in transition delayed his entry onto the bike course. 

With the day’s second fastest bike split, Frodeno again put himself into a position to win, taking to the front at five kilometers into the marathon. It was only in the last third of the run leg that eventual winner Jesse Thomas took the lead and then the win.

Frodeno is set to challenge the current full-distance triathlon world record in two months’ time at Challenge Roth. In his return to racing Javier Gomez was placed fourth at the Gran Prix Dunkerque in France participating in tactics on the bike to secure the club win for Sartrouville. 

With his Olympic spot secured, Gomez is focused on staying healthy and fit for a gold medal attempt in August.

Sam Appleton also secured second place at Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga, staying at the pointy end of the field all day. Out of the water in the chase pack, Appleton’s consistent yet strong bike pace saw him get off the bike only 28 seconds behind Sebastian Kienle. He gave the eventual champion a decent run for the money, finishing two minutes back. “The course, atmosphere and city gets a big thumbs up from me,” said Appleton.

Matching Bahrain Endurance’s silver streak was Fredrik Croneborg who was placed second at the Pattaya Triathlon in Thailand.

The 1.5-kilometer swim, 54-kilometer bike, and 13-kilometer run saw the Challenge Taiwan champion prove his versatility across distances by taking the day’s fastest bike split and the second-best run split to finish less than a minute behind the winner. “Fun racing in Pattaya with my favourite competitor Mitch Robins who took the win!,” said Croneborg.

David Plese finished in seventh place and recorded the day’s second-fastest run at Ironman 70.3 St. Polten, part of his build-up to Ironman Austria in a month’s time.