Rico Bogen topped a list of shocks as he headed an all-German podium in the men's Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Finland.
The 22-year-old broke away at the start of the half-marathon in Lahti to take the tape ahead of compatriots Fred Funk and Jan Stratmann.
France's Mathis Margirier just missed out on the podium in fourth and there were breakthrough British performances as Guernsey athlete Josh Lewis held on for fifth and Cambridge-based James Teagle ran through for seventh.
It was a day to forget for defending champion Kristian Blummenfelt and the popular Lionel Sanders, who both started the run more than 10min adrift.
The Norwegian seemingly feeling the ill-effects from last weekend's winning trip to Singapore eventually came in 36th, with Sanders picking up a penalty on the bike leg that would see him disqualified post-race.
What happened in the swim?
There was little to separate the field in the 1.2-mile swim in Lake Vesijärvi with yet another German, Justus Nieschlag, who has successfully stepped up to non-drafting racing in the past two years, leading the way.
It was the third time in four Ironman 70.3 races that the 31-year-old had led into T1, having gone on to win his first two outings in Kraichgau and Lanzarote before a DNF in Swansea last month.
Another former short course racer, Norway’s Jorgen Gunderson was just behind Nieschlag, followed by USA’s Marc Dubrick, Bogen and last year’s 70.3 worlds runner-up Ben Kanute.
Lewis exited the swim in 12th, and Teagle in 25th, while Blummenfelt was surprisingly far back in the field in 27th but still only 76sec adrift, with Sanders and Sam Long in 40th and 41st just over 2min from the front with all to play for.
What happened on the bike?
There was calamity for Dane Miki Taagholt as he collided with Margirier running out of transition and damaged his bike sufficiently to end his race.
The early miles were frantic as the densely-packed field jostled for position while trying to avoid picking up drafting penalties.
Eventually a line of seven broke clearly including Margirier, five Germans – Nieschlag, Funk, Bogen, Stratmann and Max Sperl – and Lewis in the mix after finishing third in Challenge London early this month.
Sanders and USA's Sam Long were pushing hard to make inroads, but were struggling to hold pace with the leaders, as Blummenfelt’s heavy schedule over the past weeks including two PTO Opens and the Paris test event looked to be taking its toll as he slipped back through the field.
Sanders and South African Matt Trautman were among the athletes picking up penalties to dent their chances, as Funk and Margirier broke clear to reach transition first, followed just a few seconds later by Bogen, Nieschlag, Stramann and Lewis.
Long reached T2 in eighth place almost 4min behind the leaders and just a few seconds ahead of Teagle and Canada’s Jackson Laundry, but both Sanders and Blummenfelt had slipped to more than 10min back and were out of contention.
What happened on the run?
It was Bogen who made his move early on the run, surging to the front and establishing a gap over Margirier and Funk that he refused to relinquish.
Nieschlag started to fall away, but Teagle, who finished 14th as the lone British male pro in St George last year, had made his way up to sixth having overtaken Long.
Funk and Stratmann pushed past Margirier in the final miles to take the podium as Lewis held strong for a superb fifth place and the surging Dane Youri Keulen just nipped ahead of Teagle. Long faded over the closing stages to eventually finish 12th.
Out front Bogen ran a 1:11:02 to back up his 22:52 swim and 1:56:17 bike leg to finish in a rapid 3:32:22, claiming $50,000 in prize money and becoming the youngest men's 70.3 world champion, following a 23-year-old Gustav Iden taking the 2019 title in Nice.
2023 Ironman 70.3 World Champs top 10 men's results
- Rico Bogen
- Fred Funk
- Jan Stratmann
- Mathis Margirier
- Josh Lewis
- Youri Keulen
- James Teagle
- Marc Dubrick
- Thor Bendix Madsen
- Menno Koolhas
Image credit: Nigel Roddis/Getty Images
