(c) Ingo Kutsche

The IRONMAN Mallorca proved to be a solid competition in perfect conditions

With a sovereign performance Michi reached his minimum goal with the Top10. Summary: Nine athletes were faster than him. Point.

The swim went as planned. With about 6 minutes behind, the 40-year-old, with the start number 40, came out of the Mediterranean Sea. The conditions were mostly smooth with few waves further out.

On the bike Michi rode the first 20km up to the climb to the monastery of Lluc with the Belgian Bart Aernouts, among others, until he was able to break away from the group.

After about 110km he was able to catch up with the main group and attacked again until he met Samuel Huerzeler from Switzerland. The two of them reeled off the last 60km together. On the bike the feeling was already much better than at the IRONMAN Austria in Klagenfurt.

The Gumpoldskirchner started the run from 7th place. He managed to run relatively fast to 5th place. In the early afternoon it was very hot on the Balearic island. The winding, flat running course was not easy to run, in addition there were some problematic aid stations which were not optimally positioned. 

It was a standard race on the run course, which led to a slower pace of 10-15 seconds per kilometer on the second half, which is completely normal, but still too little for the places at the front. Michi ran into the beautiful finish line on the beach after 8:16:18h.

 

Race stats:
Swim: 52:45 / Bike: 4:26:29 / Run: 2:51:43

 

After a cold before the race it is now time to fully recover from it as well as from the race.

Next week it's time for full focus on moving to the new apartment in Gumpoldskirchen, which will also gives Michi new motivation. Before the IRONMAN Cozumel the form should be kept up then, which always worked well in the last years in October after Hawaii.
In mid-November Michi will travel to Mexico, where the usual program will be reeled off before the next long distance - Hasta luego!

Race pics IRONMAN Mallorca