Ironman Frankfurt European Championship Results 2011

Faris Al-Sultan and Caroline Steffen top the Ironman Frankfurt European Championship results 2011.

A BIT ABOUT THE RACE

From the very beginning since it's debut in Frankfurt, Ironman Germany has been a great success story.

It's no surprise when you consider how the country has embaced the sport of triathlon since it's beginnings and as result has been home to some of the greatest Ironman triathlon athletes ever.

THE COURSE

The Ironman Frankfurter European Championship swim is two-loops and takes place in the Langemaar Waldsee. It's a lake that is actually about 11 kilometers from the Frankfurt race center.

when the athletes get out of the water they will find themselves on a challenging bike course that is highly technical and fast at the same time. So expect to see some great bike splits in the Ironman Frankfurter European Championships results 2011.

The bike course is actually three legs, with a short one of 11k to start the bike course from the swim/bike transition that returns the riders to Frankfurt before they tackle two out-and-back loops before finally ending up at the bike/run transition in the Frankfurt race center for the start of the marathon.

The run course is three-loops of 14k.

The course includes several out and back sections and although the course might be fast and flat, all the turns it contains will most likely slow down the final times.

There are several 180 degree turns and it's next to impossible to keep up any sort of high speed momentum.

One thing is for sure, the athletes will constantly be seeing their competitors through-out the run and will be able to gauge what they have to do to stay ahead or catch up.

THE PRO ATHLETES(and my picks)

Okay, so I'm not always right, but I do enjoy making a pick and seeing how close I am to the final outcome.

PRO MEN

Cameron Brown..........NZLFaris Al-sultan........GERMichael Gohner.........GERPatrick Vernay.........FRAUwe Widmann............GERJan Raphael............GERFrank Vytrisal.........GERBert Jammaer...........BELLuke McKenzie..........AUSStephan Vuckovic.......GERPaul Amey..............GBRSimon Billeau..........FRAAndres Castillo........COLTrevor Delsaut.........FRAMIkel Elgezabal........ESPErich Felbabel.........HKGHirotsugu Kuwavara.....JPNAndrey Lyatskiy........RUSMike Schifferele.......SUIGudmond Snilstveit.....NORMichael Raelert........GERThomas Hellriegel......GERPer Bittner............GERPedro Gomez............PORMarc-Andre Hages.......GERJonathon Hotchkiss.....GBRMatjaz Kovac...........SLOTeemu Lemmettyla.......FINMarek Nemcik...........SVKGeorge Potrebitsch.....GERHorst Reichel..........GERSylvain Sundrie........FRAShinya Suganuma........JPNRene Gohler............GERStefan Riesen..........SUISergio Marques.........POR

Well, with 13 German pros in the race you would think at least one of them would be on the podium.

I would be surprised if Thomas Hellriegel can keep up with this group. I'm sure he will have a great bike but not so sure he will hang on in the run.

We also have Faris Al-Sultan going in this race and he is a real threat. Who will ever forget the stunning win by Faris in Kona in 2005. He had a winning time of 8:14:17 and Cameron Brown was second in a time of 8:19:36.

Faris went under 50 minutes in the swim that year and it would be no surprise if he leads out of the water in Frankfurt, however my pick to be on top of the Ironman Frankfurt european championships 2011 results is Cameron Brown.

That being said, I really would have given the edge to Michael Raelert to win this race, but he has withdrawn because of a nagging back injury. He still has to put in a great result in an Ironman somewhere in order to get into Kona.

YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST I pick Micael Raelert to come flying down Main Street In Penticton in the lead and to be called in for the victory in Ironman Canada 2011 in August by race Announcer Steve King. Actually, I don't even know if he has entered, but that's my guess.

And no, I do not change my picks after the race. What fun is that. The race is still 4 days away as I prepare this page for the Ironman Frankfurt european championships 2011 results.

THE WOMEN PROSCaroline Steffen.......SUIYvonne Van Vlerken.....NEDSonja Tajsich..........GERMeike Krebs............GERNicole Leder...........GERAmanda Balding.........AUSHeleen Bij de Vaate....NEDSusan Dietrich.........GERSilvia Felt............GERFernanda Keller........BRASaki Kubota............JPNMirjam Weerd...........NEDLucie Zelenkova........CZESimone Benz............SUIOlja Bregar............SLOUli Bromme.............GERDesiree Ficker.........USASamantha Warriner......NZLDiana Riesler..........GERVirginia Berasategui...ESP

This is going to be one great race for the women as there are probably five pros who could win if they peak on race day.

Silvia Felt won IRONMAN FRANCE 2011 less than three weeks ago and for that reason I do not pick her to win in Frankfurt.

Just my own thoughts on it but I believe she may fall off the pace in the run as a month does not seem to be enough rest time in between intense Ironman races.

Craig Alexander is a good example of what can happen. He won IRONMAN COEUR D'ALENE 2011 and within 3 weeks ran in the IRONMAN RACINE 70.3 2011 and faded to 8th place and was 20 minutes off the pace.

We know Desiree Ficker can sure run as she won the Austin Marathon this year, but I think she might be over-matched by this field of triathlon pros, however she has a shot at maybe third place on the strength of her running, and she did have a tune-up just recently in Edmonton at the ITU race.

I really think that Caroline Steffen and Samantha Warriner will be fighting it out for the top spot in the Ironman Frankfurt European championships 2011 results.

Samantha won Ironman New zealand 2011 and Caroline won Ironman IRONMAN AUSTRALIA 2011and IRONMAN SWITZERLAND 70.3 2011 as well.

I am going to go with Samantha Warriner to win this race as its just possible that Caroline has raced so hard and so well this year that she needs more of a break.

IT'S RACE DAY!

It's a wide open race today there were a few surprises as the men entered the swim/bike transition.

THE FIRST FIVE MEN IN THE SWIM1 Horst Reichel........00:48:232 Bart Colpaert........00:48:353 Ren? Gohler.........00:48:364 Andres Castillo......00:48:385 Sylvain Sudrie.......00:48:51

THE FIRST FIVE WOMEN IN THE SWIM1 Lucie Zelenkova......00:50:492 Simone Benz..........00:51:363 Caroline Steffen.....00:52:094 Dede Griesbauer......00:52:585 Mirjam Weerd.........00:53:26

OUT ON THE BIKE COURSE

It did not take long for Al-Sultan Faris to assert himself and just 12k into the bike he flys into the lead.

As is quite usual in any Ironman event, you really can't put too much emphasis on who finishes at or near the top in the swim.

There are some great swimmers out there, age-groupers and pros alike and usually it's not too long into the bike course when the real contenders make their way to the front. This is the case today in Frankfurt as well.

For the women it was Lucie Zelenkova holding the lead early on with Steffen Caroline in second place. Okay so, where is my pick Samantha Warriner? Okay, I see her now. She is just about 4:30 off the pace early on in the bike.

However as the bike race progresses Caroline Steffen takes control and builds a 7 minute lead ove Lucie Zelenkova and Samantha is almost 13 minutes back of the lead in 5th place.

Late in the bike I am not giving up on Samantha Warriner who has worked her way into 4th place at the 129k mark of the bike. She is almost 15 minutes behind, but anything can happen out on the marathon course.

THE RUN

Out on the run course, Faris Al-Sultan has himself a good lead of 8:53 over Sylvain Sundre who is in second place. George Potrebitsch of Germany is in third place and Luke McKenzie of Australia is in fourth.

It does not appear that my pick to challenge for the win, Cameron Brown is having a great day as he is almost 25 minutes off of the leaders pace.

For the pro women, I am doing a bit better with my pick of Samantha Warriner. At 13.5k she has a solid hold on 3rd place, 10:36 behind Caroline Stephen. Lucie is still running in second place 8:16 behind the leader and not that far in front of Samantha.

However, by the 34.5k mark things have really changed and Samantha has fallen back into 5th, but still just 8:24 off the lead as the women's race has really tightened up.

Caroline Steffen still leads but by only 3:25 over Lucie Zelenkova.

THE WINNER!

Al-Sultan Faris holds on to top the ironman frankfurt european championship results 2011 with a winning time of 8:13:50

Jan Raphael is second in 8:19:31, and Michael Gohner had a great race to take third place in 8:20:26 to make it a German sweep for the pro men.

Wow! Michael Gohner had a 2:47:55 marathon for the fastest run of the day so that explains his great finish result as he was well off the pace early on in the race.

On the womens side things were really heating up in the race. At 34k only 8:24 separates the top five women with Caroline Steffen in first back to Samantha Warriner in fifth.

Lucie Zelenkova is just 3:25 behind in second place.

With just one kilometer to ge Caroline Steffen was cramping badly and was trying to hang on for the win.

CAROLINE STEFFEN hangs on to top the ironman frankfurt European championship results 2011 with a winning time of 9:12:13. This is fast becoming my favorite picture of all the pro women as I have used it three times already this year as Caroline also won Ironman Australia 2011 and the Switzerland 70.3 race as well.

It was a close race for second place as Sonja Tajsich is about to pass Lucie Zelenkova but Lucie digs in and holds on for second place.

All in all, my picks to win didn't do too badly. Cameron Brown moved up quite a bit in the run and took seventh place. Samantha Warriner finished just 6 minutes behind winner Caroline Steffen and was fifth.

I felt that Caroline and Samantha would be fighting it out for the win, but that battle did not materialize as Caroline continues her streak of amazing results in 2011.

The only reason I did not pick her is because of how many top efforts she has put in this year and I thought she might be getting a bit tired.

Hopefully she will back off a little now for some well-earned rest and be a force in Kona 2011.

Al-Sultan Faris was not a surprise winner at all, but I really thought that Cameron Brown would be pressing him late in the marathon, however Cameron was too far back coming off the bike.

THE OFFICIAL TOP TEN PRO MEN IRONMAN FRANKFURT EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS 2011(1) Al-Sultan Faris.......GER....08:13:50 (2) Raphael Jan...........GER....08:19:31 (3) G?hner Michael........GER....08:20:26 (4) Potrebitsch George....GER....08:22:29 (5) Vuckovic Stephan......GER....08:26:03 (6) McKenzie Luke.........AUS....08:26:51 (7) Brown Cameron.........NZL....08:31:47 (8) Jammaer Bert..........BEL....08:32:26 (9) Vernay Patrick........FRA....08:32:59 (10) Colpaert Bart........BEL....08:33:54

THE OFFICIAL TOP TEN PRO WOMEN IRONMAN FRANKFURT EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS 2011(1) Caroline Steffen......SUI....09:12:13(2) Lucie Zelenkova.......CZE....09:13:46(3) Sonja Tajsich.........GER....09:14:14(4) Yvonne Van Vlerken....NED....09:15:37(5) Samantha Warriner.....NZL....09:18:04(6) Meike Krebs...........GER....09:22:43(7) Silvia Felt...........GER....09:26:21(8) Susan Dietrich........GER....09:28:08(9) Heleen Bij de Vaate...NED....09:32:51(10) Virginia Berasategui.ESP....09:37:00

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