LLANOS STORMS HOME TO WIN IRONMAN MELBOURNE

Posted in Other News

Triathlon, March 24, 2013: MELBOURNE, Australia – Eneko Llanos put down a blistering run leg to chase down Belgian Marino Vanhoenacker in the final 6km of the marathon run to win today's URBAN Hotel Group IRONMAN® Asia-Pacific Championship Melbourne.

Australia's two-time IRONMAN world champion Craig Alexander finished just seconds behind Vanhoenacker in third

Horrendous conditions greeted competitors at Frankston for the swim, which was reduced to half distance of 1.5km as swimmers battled 1.5m swells.

The Australian competitors, more used to open water conditions, made the initial push out of the swim before the field for the first lap of the bike together.

After the turn around at 90kms, Vanhoenacker, the world’s fastest Ironman, put the strongest pro field this side of the world championships to the sword, building a five minute lead into the teeth of the winds that gusted to 30 knots.

"They stopped pedalling (on the second lap) so I thought I would go to the front and next time I looked back I had 100 metres on them so I started riding my watts and the wind shifted that little bit which made it a little bit fast the second lap out, I did my thing and didn’t over do it. So it was good," said Vanhoenacker.

"We knew what he was going to do," Alexander said. "We had to just try and limit the damage."

Ironman Melbourne was Vanhoenacker's first Ironman after a soul-destroying experience at the 2012 IRONMAN World Championships where he lead until the 18km mark of the run before ending the day in an ambulance. Ironman Melbourne was his shot at redemption, but he fell agonisingly short, pushing himself so hard he finished his day in the medical tent.

"I’m really happy especially after last year in Kona. I thought for a long time in the race that I was in a position to win but I knew it would have to be someone special to come and get me. I didn’t slow down until I was passed so I’m really, really happy with this," he said.

The Belgian built a five-minute lead off the bike and looked to be the winner half way into the marathon.

It was at the half way point that Spain's Llanos pulled away from defending champion Alexander.

"Honestly I felt terrible coming off the bike, I was really tired trying to stay with Clayton Fettell and Crowie (Alexander). But when I started running I felt really good," Llanos said.

"Crowie started running really fast and I didn't know how long I could stay with him."

But Alexander was full of praise for the Spaniard.

"Full credit to Eneko, I have no excuses, he was the strongest man today, he thoroughly deserved the win."

Llanos finally caught Vanhoenacker at the 34km mark of the run, and then held his pace to take out the biggest win of his career.

"This is a huge confidence boost for me, my last few years at Kona have been terrible. I'm very happy to win."

In the women's race unheralded Welsh athlete Corinne Abraham's announced herself as the latest force in Ironman triathlon.

She set down a staggering 4:42 bike leg to move on to the run with a five minute lead over 46-year-old Natascha Badmann. The Swiss star, a six-time world champion, turned back the clock putting in a superb performance to eventually finish in fourth place after taking the lead in the tough bike conditions.

While a superb bike leg set up her win, a blistering 2:57 marathon was the icing on the cake for Abraham.

Defending champion Caroline Steffen (Switzerland) had a tough day at the office getting off the bike seven minutes back. She managed to overtake Badmann, but could not hold off a fast finishing Yvonne van Vlerken (Austria) to eventually finish in third place.

Van Vlerken started the bike 12 minutes off the lead and put down a 3:00:45 marathon.

Abraham, a former Welsh judo champion, has only been racing as a professional for two years. She watched her boyfriend do his first Ironman in 2009, after that experience she thought it looked like fun and decided to give it ago.

"On the bike my legs felt good and then felt better and better the further I went. I just held it together and thought I just need to run my own race," she said.

"It's an amazing feeling you train so hard, you never know what's going to happen on the day. You just have to go out and do your best. I felt like I worked hard for it, I'm a bit lost for words."
Van Vlerken was delighted with her day.

"I really enjoyed the swim which sounds stupid. I'm not a technically good swimmer so I swim on power. The Netherlands is always windy, so the wind was great for me," she said.

"I had a very solid run, I was very happy with my run today. To get second here for me, I think this course suits me."

Victorian Minister for Sport and Recreation the Hon Hugh Delahunty was at the finish line in St Kilda and congratulated Eneko Llanos and Corinne Abraham on their outstanding effort in taking out the prestigious titles.

“The hard work and dedication of these elite athletes is truly remarkable. The Victorian Government is very proud to be supporting this tremendous event which promotes our city and state across the world and delivers such inspiration to all those who view the almost superhuman feats of these men and women. I would also like to congratulate and thank the many volunteers who have worked so hard to support Ironman Melbourne - major events like this would not be possible without their efforts." Minister Delahunty said.

Despite the blustery conditions Melbourne served up today, 2200 competitors challenged themselves to complete the event and become an Ironman.
Results

Elite Men:
Eneko Llanos (ESP) 7:36.07, 1; Marino Vanhoenaker (BEL) 7:38.58, 2; Craig Alexander (AUS) 7:39.36, 3; Jordan Rapp (USA) 7:50.53, 4; Chris Legh (AUS) 7:52.28, 5; Per Bittner (GER) 7:58.27, 6; Jimmy Johnsen (AUS) 7:59.36, 7; Jeremy Jurkiewicz (FRA) 8:00.49, 8; Petr Vabrousek (CZE) 8:01.08, 9; Tyler Butterfield (USA) 8:02.05.

Elite Women:
Corinne Abraham (WAL) 8:10.55, 1; Yvonne van Vlerken (AUS) 8:26.39, 2; Caroline Steffen (SUI) 8:31.21, 3; Natascha Badmann (SUI) 8:34.37, 4; Gina Crawford (NZL) 8:37.22, 5; Amanda Stevens (USA) 8:39.38, 6; Carrie Lester (AUS) 8:41.21, 7; Sarah Piampiano (USA) 8:44.51, 8; Britta Martin (NZL) 8:45.49, 9; Anna Ross (NZL) 8:49.31, 10.

Issued by:

Ian Hanson