Age Group Men's Contenders: Part 1
Jim Scott previews Saturday's men's age group race
Published Monday, October 4, 2010
If you haven't seen this article in the last few years, I typically try to forecast the performances in each age group at the Ford Ironman World Championships.
Just to preface this article, we first have to be honest with each other: your husband, brother, son, nephew, uncle, father, grandfather are not as fast as you or they think they are, so I can’t include everyone. Oh, they’re fast because they’ve qualified for Kona, but they are not necessarily Kona-fast. It’s been proven that experience is an asset on the Big Island and a 9:30 at Ironman Austria does not equal a 9:30 in Kona. With that said, Kona is what it is because of the variability often seen in the race. Here’s hoping that your loved ones are on the favored side of Madame Pele.
18-24
The maturation of Marcel Bischof over the last few years is impressive. Bischof finished Ironman Florida in 8:59 in 2009; an improvement on his 9:20 in 2007. He has also been to Kona once before where he finished In 10:36, so he does have the experience. Anyone who has gone sub-nine in this age group is an athlete to look out for.
Another athlete is German Sebastian Küfner. Küfner raced at Ironman Germany this year and finished in 9:02. Surprise - he’s fast on the bike (4:50), but he is really a balanced athlete in all three disciplines. It appears he’ll be ready to race:
“I'll travel to Kona in a few days and we'll stay there from October 2 till October 14. So far the training went quite well, although it’s really cold in Germany.”
Other athletes to watch:
• Christian Mokros (Ironman European Championship 9:29)
25-29
This age group race looks to be, on paper, a very competitive field lining up with little separating them. If one athlete should be singled out based on 2010 performances, I would look to Dr. Karl Belzik. Belzik posted an 8:51 at Ironman Florida and, although a fast course, there’s no discounting a 4:41 bike split followed by a 3:00 marathon. Belzik is primed for a solid race and a potential top-5 placing:
“My preparation went well all year long. I'm confident that my performance will be better than 2007 or 2008. I worked hard on my key limiters swim and run.”
That 2008 performance, by the way, was a 9:25 and 8th place finish.
One athlete in this age group that I like is Kevin Taddonio. If you recall from a previous article, Taddonio qualified with a 9:07 at Ironman Arizona winning his age group in his first Ironman. Advertisement
“I feel like I am on the form of my life right now ... I have had a few hard race simulation workouts that suggest I am on good enough form to go under 9 hours at Kona if the wind isn't blowing horribly on the bike. “
Readers of this column always keep me honest as I routinely miss performances like those of Trevor Delsaut, as a friend of his correctly pointed out:
In 2010, Delsaut recorded an 8:33 at Ironman Austria and an 8:53 at Ironman South Africa. Look out for Delsaut in this race!
Other athletes to watch:
• Martin Droll (Ironman European Championship 9:03)
• Frank Mueller and Michael Rohleder (Ironman European Championship 9:13)
• Anthony Rule (Ironman New Zealand 9:12)
• Luca Della Giacoma (Ironman Lanzarote 9:23 with a 4:55 bike)
• Jose Maria Salom Arranz (Ironman Lanzarote 9:25 with a 2:53 run)
Originally from:
http://ironman.com/events/ironman/world ... z11mRdbC7W
remarque dimanche soir ce sera le cas 
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