Diana Riesler and Ebsen Hovgaard win the ?inaugural TriStar222 Sardinia

TriStar222 Sardinia took place for the first time in history this weekend

Published: October 14, 2010 at 8:45 am

TriStar222 Sardinia took place for the first time in history in the Italian island. The race entailed 2km of swimming in the clear waters of the Emerald Coast, 200km of cycling on a selective bike course with a demanding profile and changing conditions, and a 20km run done in four loops along the coastline of Cannigione.

The start for the 2000m swim in two loops was given at the Cannigione beach at 7:00 in the morning. Björn Andersson (SWE) pulled away right from the first strokes and exited the water first, after 24:20 of swimming. He was followed by Esben Hovgaard (DAN) in 26:07 and Markus Unsleber (GER) in 27:00. Joel Jameson (GBR) and Jens Groenbek (DAN) were the only other men before the female race favorite Bella Bayliss (SCO) finished the swim in 27:22. Close behind came Diana Riesler (GER), Susanna Skylv (FRO) and the national favorite Martina Dogana (ITA).

After a quick change to the 200km bike leg, Andersson pulled away and built a decent lead early along the rolling circuit. 80km into the race, 11 minutes separated Andersson from his chasers Hovgaard, Jacob Frandsen (DAN), Jameson and Andreas Fuchs (AUT). Once getting into the hillier section of the race, Andersson still kept the lead but the chasers could make up some time. Frandsen had to drop out after 112km due to technical problems. By 125km, the group of Fuchs, Hovgard and Jameson had made up 4 minutes and were only 7 minutes behind Andersson who was the first to change for the run after 5:35:36 of cycling.

The female cycling race was thrilling as many of the competitors discovered the circuit while riding it for the first time. Diana Riesler took the lead at 60km of the bike leg and would cycle that lead home. She came in on the bike 5 minutes before her competition Karin Gerber and Bella Bayliss.

While the bike section was very demanding, the run part was showdown time for today’s race. Andersson, who has been pushing hard all day, had to leave the lead to Hovgaard 8km into the run. Hovgaard won the inaugural TriStar222 Sardinia in 07:26:43. Anderson managed to keep the second place with a Finish time of 7:32:16. Joel Jameson finished third in 7:34:33.

On the female side, Diana Riesler ran the lead home and finished in 8:16:47. Bella Bayliss finished second in 8:25:32. Karin Gerber from Switzerland completes the podium with a finish time of 08:33:56.

Results and filterable Rankings on www.TriStarLive.com.