LANZAROTE 2009

[ironturtle]

Bert and Bella Blast Lanzarote
Defending Champions take the day at the world's toughest Ironman writes Kevin Mackinnon

Published Saturday, May 23, 2009
Both defending champions returned to win Ironman Lanzarote today, but Bert Jammaer and Bella Bayliss did so in dramatically different styles - Bayliss ran away from the rest of the women's field for a comfortable 20-minute win, while Jammaer had to run "harder than he ever has in his life" to take the men's title.
The day started out with perfect conditions for the two-loop swim in the Atlantic Ocean off the beautiful beach in Puerto Del Carmen, which made for a flat and fast swim. Stephen Bayliss and Scott Neyedli led the way out of the water, but the two men from the UK were only seconds ahead of Jammaer.
Bayliss did his best to hold off last year's winner, but eventually the Belgian hammered to the front and started to pull away from the rest of the early leaders. Behind him, though, two-time Ironman Lanzarote champion Ain-Alar Juhanson was hammering through the course. As the winds ramped up to their typical “Ironman Lanzarote stop-you-in-your-tracks” intensity, Juhanson rode his way towards the front of the race. Jammaer held the Estonian off until the top of the second of the two mountains that makes this the toughest course in the world, but then had to relinquish the lead on the downhill section after the picturesque climb up Mirador Del Rio. (At 100 kg, or 220 pounds, Juhanson certainly has a gravitational advantage over almost every other triathlete when it comes to descents!)
Jammaer wouldn't lose too much ground over the last part of the bike, though, and started the run within minutes of Juhanson, who he passed within the first five km of this four-loop course. Behind those two, former Tour de France cyclist Kai Hundertmarck rode his way to third position starting the run, but struggled through the marathon – he's still getting over a tendon injury that sidelined him for most of 2008. That left Olaf Sabatschus and Stephan Vuckovic to keep things interesting – as Juhanson steadily faded, the two Germans quickly gained ground on Jammaer.
“At 30 km I thought I was going to come third,” a relieved Jammaer said after the race. “I ran as hard as I could for 5 km, then pushed harder than I've ever pushed in my life” to finish the final loop.
Vuckovic, who had suffered from back issues during the bike, ran an impressive 2:49 marathon to get close to the eventual champion, but Jammaer would hold on for a win of just over three minutes. Sabatschus finished third, local favorite Gregorio Caceres Morales (he's from the Canary Islands) improved by one position over a year ago to claim fourth, while Stephen Bayliss managed to hang in after “pushing too hard early on the bike to stay with Bert” to round out the top five.
Despite her huge winning margin, Bayliss pushed herself to the limit for her win here today. After winning four official Ironman events last year (South Africa, Lanzarote, UK and Florida), taking the Ironman 70.3 UK title, winning an Ironman distance race in France and racing to an impressive 8:51:17 runner-up finish in Austria (not to mention an impressive seventh in Kona), the former Bella Comerford got married to Stephen Bayliss last November. The two took a bit of a break from training, which Bayliss thinks might have affected her early season fitness.
After two disappointing Ironman showings in New Zealand and South Africa, she was beginning to worry that her Ironman winning days might be over. Today's win proved nothing could be further from the truth.
American Hillary Biscay was first out of the water, but it didn't take long before Great Britain's Rachel Joyce took the lead on the bike. Joyce wouldn't relinquish that lead until just before the end of the first loop of the run. Fifth off the bike, Bayliss took a few minutes to collect herself in transition, then tore out and decimated the rest of the women's field.
No other woman would run within 16 minutes of Bayliss' marathon split, which left the battle for second to fall between Joyce, Switzerland's Michaela Giger and Germany's Paetzold. The three were within minutes of each other with 10 km of running to go. In the end it was Joyce who got to the line ahead of Giger by just 36 seconds. Paetzold followed in fourth, while swim-leader Biscay ran her way to fifth. (Biscay rode part of the climb up the infamous Mirador de Haria with a flat tire, which left her struggling to keep the rest of the women in touch through the ride.)
The race, though, truly was the Bella Bayliss show, as she claimed her second title here in Lanzarote in impressive style. The relieved, but completely exhausted, champion was quick to point out how much she'll appreciate this win.
“I've struggled to get myself together since the start of the year,” Bayliss said after the race. “It's been a trying few months where I've struggled. I've worked really hard over the last six weeks to get my strength back.”
All you need to do is ask her competitors – they will no-doubt assure you that Bayliss most definitely has “her strength back.”
For a complete recap of the day's live coverage, click on the Updates tab on the main page, or the coverage link from the Ironman Lanzarote page here at Ironman.com

Men
1.
Bert Jammaer
8:54:03
2.
Stephan Vuckovic
8:57:17
3.
Olaf Sabatschus
8:59:03
4.
Gregorio Cáceres Morales
9:01:06
5.
Stephen Bayliss
9:02:15
6.
Scott Neyedli
9:04:29
7.
Ain-Alar Juhanson
9:05:13
8.
Sergio Marques
9:08:38
9.
Joseph Spindler
9:13:17
10.
Chris Brands
9:16:01
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Women
1.
Bella Bayliss
9:54:58
2.
Rachel Joyce
10:15:05
3.
Michaela Giger
10:15:41
4.
Kathrin Paetzold
10:18:59
5.
Hillary Biscay
10:28:45
6.
irene kinnegim
10:32:13
7.
joanna carritt
10:45:32
8.
Nicole Woysch
10:46:19
9.
catherine houseaux
10:56:36
10.
Simone Ernst
11:03:57

[franky60]

tiens tiens
2. Stephan Vuckovic 8:57:17
c'est pas une chaudiere qui s'est fait toppée l'année derniere ??????
Comme quoi la reconversion sur IM....ça se pardonne!!!!

[ironturtle]

Oui et encore heureux , il n'a pas réussi à choper Jammaer sur le marathon.

[Joel]

et les niçois , tu les oublies?

C'est de l'autre côté du var ....

[aurelie.218]

...et c'est pas à J-7 semaines, mais à J-5 semaines

[SG]

le vent qui était soi disant annoncé à 25 - 30 km/h mais qui a fait comme d'habitude

Le problème des prévisions avec le vent c'est que selon ou tu regardes, ils annoncent des vitesses max. Après courses les données effectives sont :

Average speed Max Speed Average temp Max temp Min temp Average Hmidity
2008 : 22km/h 37km/h 22° 25° 20° 58
2009 : 19km/h 33km/h 20° 24° 17° 53

[ENERGYLAB]

Félicitations à Catherine HOUSEAUX pour sa 9 ème place, une gde championne de longue date, bravo.

et chapeau bas à NTQ qui fait la perf qu'il annoncait, comme pour ROTH 2008 et ts les finishers, car c'est surement l' ironman le plus dur de la série; Joel confirme tu?

[ironturtle]

Je n'en ai fait que 5 mais pour moi ça a été de loin le plus dur mais aussi du coup celui qui m'a laissé le plus de joie.

[lullabies]

+ dur qu'embrun?

[ironturtle]

Je te dirai ça l'an prochain.

[nestriman]

On dit souvent que le long de l'Alpe est aussi dur qu'Embrun...? comment savoir ? que ceux qui ont fait Embrun le long de l'Alpe et Lanza...nous disent...

[braziou]

sur le papier Embrun est + dur mais le vent et la chaleur sont des ennemis du triathlète
Hawaii peut etre aussi terrible
perso j'ai plus souffert en général à Nice qu'à Embrun

[-Antoine-]

sur le papier Embrun est + dur mais le vent et la chaleur sont des ennemis du triathlète
Hawaii peut etre aussi terrible
perso j'ai plus souffert en général à Nice qu'à Embrun

c'est parce que les embruns ça rafraichit...

[Joel]

C'est une histoire de feeling personnele avec les courses.
Perso Embrun a toujours été agréable pour moi alors que Lanzarote a été trés dur et Hawaii pénible ...

[ironturtle]

sur le papier Embrun est + dur mais le vent et la chaleur sont des ennemis du triathlète
Hawaii peut etre aussi terrible
perso j'ai plus souffert en général à Nice qu'à Embrun

c'est parce que les embruns ça rafraichit...

Et merci Joël pour ces paroles rassurantes. Espérons que j'ai le même feeling que toi.
Pour moi Lanzarote a été bien plus dur que Nice ou Hawaii.
Un copain qui a le même niveau de merde que moi est Embrunman mais a bâché pendant le marathon de Lanza tellement il n'en pouvait plus après le vélo.