Three weeks after finishing third at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Mont Tremblant, British athlete (and 220 Triathlon columnist) Tim Don took gold at the first ever Ironman Mallorca last weekend, while Ireland’s Eimear Mullan won the women’s race.
Despite it being his first full Ironman, Don was one of the clear favourites to win. It was Manuel Kueng (SUI) who led the the race for the first six and a half hours however. Don was in second place after the swim, and found himself in a tactical battle when Kueng’s pursuers hit the long uphill section 120km into the bike. "It was like riding the Tour de France, everyone was attacking everywhere,” said Don afterwards.
Kueng came off the bike with a 3:26mins advantage, but after 13km Don took over the lead and never looked back, finishing his first Ironman race in 8:34:02. Behind him, Miguel Angel Fidalgo (ESP) ran a great marathon to finish second in his own debut at the distance, while Switzerland’s Mike Aigroz collected bronze.
Wow what an experience 1st Ironman did not let me down cracking event in Mallorca mental crowds and tough race loved it and hated it !!!