Today, Romain Guillaume (FRA: 8:34:44) of the Uplace-BMC Pro Triathlon Team raced on home soil and finished 3rd in Ironman France. Boris Stein (GER: 8:27:32), last year’s winner of Ironman Switzerland, won after a strong run, while Victor Del Corral (ESP: 8:30:00), who ran the fastest marathon today, came 2nd.
Yesterday, Ronnie Schildknecht (SUI: 4:58:41) of the Uplace-BMC Pro Triathlon Team came 6th in ITU Long Distance World Championships in Motala, Sweden. It was a tight battle, the top 7 finished within 4 minutes. This edition was won by Cyril Viennot (FRA: 4:54:33), followed by Martin Jensen who was leading most of the race (DEN: 4:54:46), while Joe Skipper (GBR: 4:55:11) finished 3rd.
Romain Guillaume 3rd in Ironman France
Impressive bike leg
Romain Guillaume had a strong swim (3,8km: 50,46). He left the water with the leading group. Due to a fast transition, Romain Guillaume was first on the bike. With a very strong bike leg (180km: 4:39:01), fastest bike split of the day, Romain entered T2 with a lead of 8:34 on Boris Stein, 9:22 on Bertrand Billard (FRA) and 13:28 on Victor Del Corral. On the run, Romain started off with a solid first half marathon. Afterwards, he started losing his lead on the strong runners, Stein and Del Corral, who passed him respectively on km 28 and km 29. Romain managed to keep his podium finish in his ‘local’ race with a decent marathon (42,2km: 3:00:01).
Happy
Romain Guillaume had a strong day on the Cote D’Azur. He is really satisfied with the result: “The swim was not easy, but I felt comfortable. I was happy to be able to follow the leaders. I left the transition zone first, I pushed a little bit and I was surprised I made a gap. So, I continued to push on the bike. When I got off the bike, I was leading with 8 minutes on Boris Stein and 12 minutes on Del Corral. Honestly, I thought it would be sufficient for the victory. I did the first 15km at a good pace. I dropped to the second place after 28km and to the third place after 29km. During the last lap, I did everything to secure my 3rd place. I am happy; I did everything I could to win. Despite, I didn’t win, I did my best, so I cannot be disappointed. My marathon was good, but the others were better than me today. My next goal is being top 8 in Kona. ”
Ronnie Schildknecht 6th in ITU Ld World Championchips, Motala
Solid performance
The race was contested over a 1.5km swim, which was shortened due to the water temperature, a 120km bike and 30km run. Ronnie Schildknecht started off with a decent swim (1,5km: 19:42). He left the water on 1'56" from the leaders Joshua Amberger (AUS) and Nikolay Yaroshenko (RUS). Jensen powered away on the bike after exiting as one of the top swimmers to enter T2 with a lead of almost 4’ on Viennot. Ronnie Schildknecht made a strong comeback on the bike. He moved up from the 20th position leaving the water to the 8th position in T2 (120km: 2:44:50). On the run, Ronnie could move up 2 positions in order to finish in 6th position at the ITU World Championships (30km: 1:51:07). In the close battle for the podium, Viennot won 13” ahead of Jensen and 37” in front of Skipper.
Good preparation for Ironman Zurich
Ronnie Schildknecht was happy with the result: “My solid 6th place yesterday was a very hard fight. I am actually really happy with the race. Of course, I always aim for the podium or the win, but as a preparation race for Zurich, it was perfect. Today, I was good enough for 6th, there were some faster, congratulations to them. Now, it is all about recovery. I try to recover as fast as possible for my main race Ironman Zurich and also for Hawaii of course.”
Race results:
Ironman France:
http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/coverage/athlete-tracker.aspx?race=france&y=2015#axzz3eKUK3ATI
ITU Ld World Champs:
